If you like Impressionist art, a visit to Claude Monet’s house and garden at Giverny  in Normandy is a must. Most cruises on the Seine River north of Paris include this excursion, but if your cruise doesn’t take you there, you can easily do a day trip from Paris on the train.

Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926. His property has been restored to the way it was when he lived there. There is a flower garden called Clos Normand in front of the house plus a Japanese-inspired water garden, which is  featured in Monet’s well-known water lily paintings. Inside the house, you can visit the kitchen done in blue and white and the dining room with a sunshine yellow theme. Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures inside the house, but here are some of the gardens and the outside of the house:

If you have time in Giverny, there is also a Museum of Impressionism. This was formerly called the Museum of American Art because it was founded by an American and focused primarily on the American artists who flocked to Giverny to study the new way of painting epitomized by Monet.  You can visit the hotel where many of these artists stayed, as well as the grave of Monet in the Giverny churchyard.

Back in Paris, don’t miss the Orsay Museum’s huge collection of Impressionist paintings and the Orangerie, which was specially redesigned to house Monet’s larger works, the Nymphéas.

Do you enjoy drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages?

Most cruise packages include water, tea and coffee, but beyond that, policies vary. If you don’t drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, you can usually save money on a cruise that doesn’t include these or only includes wine with dinner, for example.

The usual options, depending on the cruise, are:

1. Wine with dinner only, all other alcoholic drinks extra  (soft drinks may or may not be included with meals)
2. Wine with lunch and dinner, all other alcoholic drinks extra
3. Wine with lunch and dinner, plus open bar between meals

Most cruises include at least one or two wine tastings of local vintages, but if you’re really interested in wine, look for a wine theme cruise. Many of the smaller luxury barges offer these for group charters. We even offer a “Wine and Chocolate Cruise” in the Chablis region of Burgundy. This cruise is open to both individuals and groups in the spring and fall.

Do you want to do a lot of sightseeing or just relax?

Most cruises include at least one sightseeing excursion per day, and these are usually included in the price of the cruise. However, it’s a good idea to find out if any of the excursions are “optional,” i.e., you have to pay extra for them. In addition to wine tastings at local vineyards, excursions can range from visiting a village farmers market to touring nearby chateaus and cathedrals.

If you just want to relax, you can skip the excursions, of course. And with a barge charter, your group can decide to do things like additional wine tastings instead of sightseeing.

Do you have a special interest?

Besides wine cruises, you can take a cruise focused on a special interest, like garden cruises, golf cruises, bicycle cruises, etc. Most of these require putting together a group for a charter, but this can be arranged for groups as small as four people.

As you can see, there are a lot of choices available for cruising in France, from larger boats that cruise the Seine and Rhone Rivers to small luxury barge-hotels that travel the networks of canals and smaller rivers in Burgundy, Provence, Champagne, the Loire Valley and other regions. So, whatever your interests and budget, you’re sure to find the perfect cruise that will provide a lifetime of wonderful memories.

I had been to the Loire Valley several times before, but my last trip to this region was different. My main goal was to visit a barge that cruises on the river Cher, near Tours. (The Loire River’s waters are usually too irregular or too shallow for commercial navigation.) The boat is a small barge - it accommodates only six passengers. And, with such a small number of guests, the cruises it offers are of the luxury kind, naturally. That day, the captain/owner was working on installing a new heating and air-conditioning system (it was during the off season). I spent some fun time with him. We even had a glass of the local Bourgeuil red wine together. It was a rainy and chilly day, so drinking wine felt good and warmed me up. The next day, I proceeded with my investigation of the area. You might have guessed that this meant… chateaus, more chateaus and yet more chateaus. Not quite to the point of ”a dime a dozen,” but you can find them at just about every turn in that area.

I wouldn’t have missed Chambord (above left) for the world, of course. It is hugely impressive. And, to think that it was used as a lowly “hunting lodge” by King Francis I! It is also a very popular day-trip destination for tourists from Paris. The parking lots are big and there are lots of tour buses. But that’s OK. Remember… the castle is enormous. Ditto for Chenonceau (above right) - a large building and lots of people. But it is so well done architecturally, and it contains so much history. By the way, the river that runs underneath it is the Cher, so cruising under the Chateau of Chenonceau is a high point on the barge cruise I talked about before.

The three pictures below show Cheverny, Chaumont and Ussé from left to right. Unlike Chambord and Chenonceau, Cheverny doesn’t overwhelm you with its size. It is more like a cozy and pretty country retreat - but still in the exquisite and ornate Renaissance style. They raise beagles for fox hunting on the grounds of this castle. I have never seen so many dogs of the same breed in one spot. And the barks of those hounds were something to hear!

Chaumont, another large castle, is known for its International Garden Festival, the French counterpart to the Chelsea Garden Show in England. Exhibitors come from all over the world to demonstrate their horticultural skills at the Chaumont show. Finally, the flamboyant style of Ussé… this castle is the picture postcard for all Renaissance chateaus. It is known to have inspired the author of the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.”

I must add Villandry to this list. The castle itself doesn’t compare in architectural sophistication to any of the others, but the gardens pictured below are wonderful: formal French boxwood designs for the “love” and “music garden,” a “jardin potager” (vegetable garden), an herb garden, a labyrinth,  and a peaceful water garden.

As I mentioned, there are many more, and I went on to see Blois, Langeais, Amboise, Chinon and Azay-le-Rideau. I found them all very fascinating! If you are interested in the Renaissance, the place to visit is Florence, of course. But the Loire Valley also played a role in that period’s newly discovered humanism. Leonardo da Vinci lived in the area for three years before his death. He is buried just outside Amboise at Clos de Lucé, where some of his ingenius creations are on display.

Welcome! This travel blog is about river and canal cruise vacations on luxury barge-hotels and riverboats in France. With its extensive network of rivers and canals, France offers dozens of cruising possibilities from Alsace to Normandy and the Loire valley, down to Burgundy, Provence and the Languedoc. The boats navigating French waterways can be as small as upscale barges for 4 guests on the Canal du Midi or as large as 150-passenger river cruisers on the river Seine through Paris. Cruising around the French countryside is a great way to spend a vacation. Exploring out-of-the-way places, seeing the locals up close and sampling the many regional dishes and wines is a lot of fun. So, we hope you enjoy your trip (or enjoyed, if you’ve already been there) and we look forward to chatting with you.

From our “About” page you will see that we are travel professionals who specialize in tours and cruises in France, Spain and Portugal. You might want to take a look at our website.