Champagne & the Wild Ardennes Barge Cruise |
 Reims
to Charleville-Mezieres (Cruise
runs Saturday to Friday)
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Highlights: Charleville-Mezieres Place Ducale - 27 Locks of the Montgon Flight - Intensely rural scenery - The Champagne Capital of Reims |
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There is so much to see and do here. Reims' Notre- Dame Cathedral is spectacular with a facade containing some 2300 statues! It's 38 metre high nave has borne witness to the coronation of French Kings from Clovis in 498 AD until Charles X in 1825. It contains no less than two UNESCO world heritage monuments, the stunning 'Palais du Tau' and interior of the 'Basilique St. Remi'. I have details of a self guided 2 hour walking tour if you are interested in following it. Reims is a wonderful city to explore at your leisure and you might decide that tonight's the night to kick start your week and splash out on a meal out in one of Reims' very chic and fashionable restaurants. 'Foch' and 'Le Millenaire' are but two of Reims three fork Michelin rated establishments. I would recommend that you consider arriving a day or so earlier to fully appreciate all the city has to offer, maybe booking a hotel in town?
On Monday we'll cruise onward to Asfeld. You can take a walk to see the villages extraordinary seventeenth century brick built baroque church while I prepare lunch which if weather permits, we'll enjoy outside on deck. In the afternoon we are cruising through some particularly wonderful overgrown stretches of canal and have a very good chance of spotting bird life including the usually elusive Kingfisher. Our destination today is the Town of 'Rethel', where you might choose to dine ashore, possibly enjoying some of the town's famous white sausages known as 'Boudin Blanc de Rethel'. There is a great restaurant in town which specialises in specialties of the region.
On Wednesday we'll climb the balance of locks and pass by the small town of 'Le Chesne' to a very rural place somewhere near the village of Malmy. It's a wild bank area with two tiny hamlets nearby. Tonight, we'll either be self catering aboard or you might choose to walk a couple of kilometres to a pleasant restaurant in the neighbouring village. If you are game for more exercise, you might choose to head off for a long walk across the fields to the 13th Century church and 16th Century ruined Chateau' at 'la Cassine', maybe returning via 'Vendresse' with its ruined chateau and monastery. It'll build up your appetite nicely!
You'll be leaving the barge after breakfast on Friday morning. Trains from Charleville-Mezieres to Paris take about ninety minutes and from Paris to Reims around an hour.
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IMPORTANT NOTE: Unforeseen circumstances sometimes affect our cruising schedule. These can include, but are not limited to: illness, floods, weather, canal closures, canal maintenance, lack of moorings, bureaucracy, strikes, civil disturbance, acts of god, the engine, and whims and fancies of both skipper, guests and crew. All of these things might cause last minute changes to the above and cruise routes. Although rare, we reserve the right to alter any and all routes accordingly. Flexibility is the name of the game and any such changes cannot be considered grounds for cancellation of the cruise. |
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You'll
be joining the barge at our mooring in the fabulous City of Reims, famed
throughout the world for its involvement in the Champagne industry! It is
highly likely that you'll visit the 'odd' Champagne cave in town, possibly
even forcing yourselves to drink yet more of the celebrated liquid? The
champagne houses of 
Having
consumed a hearty continental breakfast, on Sunday morning we'll be
steaming out of Reims following the 'Canal de l'Aisne a la Marne'
through to the important canal junction with the '
Tuesday
sees us cruise through to Attigny for lunch before beginning to climb
through one of the highlights of this navigation, the Montgon flight of 27
ecluses (locks) that raise the barge slowly between the towns of Attigny
and Le-Chesne. It's a lot of hard work for the crew, taking up to
seven hours to cover what is little more than nine kilometres in distance.
One thing you'll notice as we climb through the ecluses it that virtually
every one has its derelict lock-keepers cottage. Last autumn ago when
I passed through this flight, the overgrown gardens were so bursting with
fruit that it would have been a crime not to go 'scrumping'. As a
result, we feasted on apple and fruit pies for weeks and weeks afterward.
I aim to break the flight in two by mooring half way up at the small
village of Neuville-Day in order to enjoy a well earned drink and possibly
even dinner at a pleasant little hostelry there. I enjoyed several beers
there two years ago and was delighted when the owner delivered fresh
baguettes and his 90 year old mother to the barge in the morning. I'd
forgotten that the previous night I'd promised her a ride on the barge!
On
Thursday we pass through the short 'St. Aignan' tunnel, arriving in
Pont-a-Bar for lunch. Shortly after, we'll join the Canal de
l'Est taking us right into the heart of Charleville-Mezieres. Charleville
is a pleasant town laid out in the 17th century around the Place Ducale,
supposedly one of the most beautiful Louis XIII style squares in France.
It's home to a museum celebrating the life and works of French poet Arthur
Rimbaud as well as the International Marionette institute. The institute's
building has an hourly automaton that recites the local legend of the Four
Aymon brothers or Quatre Fils Aymon as it is known locally. It's well
worth seeing. Charleville offers some excellent dining opportunities plus
has a great bar in the hold of a cavernous French Freycinet (Barge). If you
fancy something light with a glass of beer or wine, why not try the
'tarte-flambe'. It's a bit like a pizza with cheese, onion and bacon. Very
tasty!