Champagne & the Wild Ardennes Barge Cruise |
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Highlights: Charleville-Mezieres Place Ducale - 27 Locks of the Montgon Flight - Intensely rural scenery - The Champagne Capital of Reims |
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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