Cruising with European Waterways provides subtle visitors insider experiences. Luxurious aboard the eight-passenger Enchanté barge begins with a pleasant open-air deck, elegant eating room, and well-appointed cabins. It continues with unbelievable consideration to element by your complete crew and gastronomy of epic proportions. It’s a five-star cruise from service to eating and ingesting, with the bonus of extraordinary landscapes alongside the Canal du Midi as backdrops for all of it.
Crusing alongside the Canal du Midi underneath the command of pilot Elie Fisher is stress-free but exhilarating, with breathtaking views of medieval fortress villages and 1000’s of acres of vineyards. A six-night cruise is simply the correct quantity of time to discover the French countryside.
Though the barge hosts households or teams of buddies most weeks, there are some “lodge” weeks whereby people guide particular person staterooms and take a “potluck” strategy like several lodge visitor. My buddy Rachel and I had been sport for lodge week and received the lottery. The eight of us had been convivial; conversations flowed effortlessly.
Some visitors fly into close by airports, and others, like us, take the prepare from different elements of France or Europe. We opted to spend a couple of nights earlier than the cruise in Narbonne on the trendy lodge La Mosaique, conveniently situated inside a couple of blocks from the Canal de la Robine and glorious buying and out of doors cafes.
Bespoke Itinerary
Day One: Salleles d’Aude to Le Somail
On embarkation day, a minibus chauffeured by Captain Beth Calvert took the group from Narbonne to the upscale Enchanté. Captain Beth gave us an outline of the itinerary as we sipped a champagne welcome drink, and an introduction to the crew adopted. A brief cruise ensued up the Canal de la Robine earlier than dinner. Upon return, we had sufficient time to dash to the eclectic used guide store Le Trouve Tout du Livre, “Discover it All within the Ebook.” Boasting over 50,000 titles in a historic barn, don’t miss this marvel.
Day Two: Le Somail to Roubia
We headed to Mas d’Antonin for truffle searching and olive oil tasting. Regardless of the regular rain, we loved following our host, Clemence Anton, and her younger truffle-hunting pup, Soika, who demonstrated her eager truffle-seeking abilities. After lunch on board, we ventured west alongside the canal Grand Bief, crossing the Répudre Aqueduct, the oldest on the Canal du Midi alongside the way in which. Roubia just isn’t a vacationer vacation spot. The inhabitants is alleged to be 500, however we suspect that is throughout the peak of the wine harvesting season. We wandered the almost vacant streets admiring the French blue-painted shutters and wrought iron balconies.
Day Three: Roubia to Homps
Submit-petit-dejeuner, “breakfast,” we returned to the Roman Mediterranean capital of Narbonne for a foodie tour of Les Halles – the native meals market with Chef Hannah. Sixty-six purveyors show their merchandise, the place every thing from oysters farmed in Normandy to aged comté to perfumed rice may be discovered every day. We visited the Archbishop’s Palace and the Roman Horreum and had a while to buy, though, in our case, most shops had been closed for a French financial institution vacation. Within the afternoon, we cruised to Homps, the place we tied as much as a picturesque mooring within the coronary heart of a French village.
Day 4: Homps to Puicheric
After a breakfast of flaky croissants, contemporary fruit, and eggs cooked to order, we headed to the walled metropolis of Minerve, a pristine, well-preserved Thirteenth-century medieval city perched on a rocky spur overlooking the Cévennes and Noire Mountain areas. Meandering by way of the slender pedestrian-only streets was magical. We virtually had your complete village to ourselves in early Could. One can think about what it is perhaps like in the summertime months with crowds flocking to go to what’s been formally named one in every of France’s most stunning villages.
Subsequent, Captain Beth dispatched us to the family-owned seventeenth century Château de Paraza for a wine tasting, adopted by an beautiful non-public four-course lunch within the chateau’s opulent salon. The caterer for this luncheon affair is LOCA, a Nomadic kitchen whose chef, Jules, is dedicated to sourcing merchandise regionally. We dined on a turbot filet with butter sauce and fava bean stew, and the dessert was a inventive chilled strawberry soup poured over rosemary meringues
Day 5: Puicheric to Marseillette
Just a few visitors opted to stroll a part of the route from Puicheric to Marseillette. In distinction, others remained aboard for a leisurely sail, marveling how Pierre Paul Riquet, the person liable for constructing the 340-year-old Canal du Midi, an almost 150-mile-long synthetic waterway that hyperlinks the southern coast of France to Toulouse, introduced his imaginative and prescient to fruition. It’s some of the exceptional engineering feats of the seventeenth century.
As soon as moored, we boarded the van for a brief drive to Lagrasse, a commune (civil township) within the Occitanie area on the foot of the Pyrenees. The charming cobblestone village is a part of the “Les Plus Beaux,” a designation as some of the stunning villages in France. The highlights of Lagrasse are the medieval bridges and the Abbey of St. Mary of Lagrasse, a Romanesque abbey whose origins date again to the seventh and eighth centuries.
Lagrasse is understood right this moment for being a champion of native artisans. Guests can discover signature pottery, linens, leather-based items, soaps, artwork, and Minervois area wines. Tastings can be found between Could and September at vintners or year-round on the town at wine retailers. Syrah, Grenache, Carignan, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Bourboulenc, Maccabeu, and Marsanne grapes do properly within the limestone plateaus on the slopes plunging in direction of the Canal du Midi, leading to elegant reds and energetic whites.
Vinegar tasting at Cyril Codina was a novel expertise. Of the 42 varieties, one of many extra unique flavors is the Balsamique au grué (crushed and roasted cocoa bean) de cacao. It’s a seven-year-old balsamic base with Valrhona cacao bits and grué. Probably the most decadent is the 70-year-old pure balsamic aged in amphora – a pottery vessel formed with a big oval physique, slender neck for pouring, and handles that rise to the extent of the mouth.
After freshening up, we met on the deck for what we thought could be an everyday cocktail hour, however the crew shocked us with chansons by duet Dorine Portmann and Eric Payan. Their repertoire was like a playlist of the very best reside French cafe music. They took requests for favourite songs; mine was “C’est si bon,” which Dorine fortunately obliged and sang superbly. Eric not solely sings, however he additionally performs the keyboards masterfully. They’ve been a duet for 13 years, however Eric additionally has been a musician with the Gypsy Kings by Diego Baliardo and Michèle Torr.
Day Six: Marseillette to Trèbes
We cruised previous picturesque hamlets and vineyards to Trèbes after which took a brief journey to Carcassonne’s enchanted Gallo-Roman period medieval fortified metropolis. It’s an enchanting walled intact construction with 52 watchtowers, portcullis, and a unprecedented variety of intact wall defenses that armies used to stop the surge of enemies from storming this wonderful Camelot setting. There’s a plethora of eating places and out of doors cafes, and artisan retailers are lots. Sadly, it was our final night time aboard the superb ship Enchanté, however the sting of leaving lessened with the standard farewell toasts and crescendo dinner.
Day Seven: 7 Trèbes
Disembarkation following one final implausible breakfast, signing the visitor guide is the one activity left to finish earlier than departing by non-public switch to the rail station or vacation spot of the passenger’s selecting.
Lodging
European Waterways have a number of barges that cruise the canal; ours appropriately named, Enchanté “Good to fulfill you.” We had been blissful to get to know this specifically outfitted ship. 4 cabins are excellent for 4 {couples}, buddies, or households touring collectively. Every cabin has charming décor and sufficient house to unpack and really feel well-settled. The bogs are trendy and environment friendly with out skimping on luxurious. Every stateroom has upscale toiletries, plush bathrobes, slippers, highly effective blow dryers, and handy bedside plugs.
The linens on the mattress had been of the best high quality, and the hostesses ensured that each consideration to element was full with turn-down service.
If there’s one downfall to the boat, it could be the WiFi has insufficient bandwidth for regular internet browsing utilization. The barge might use an improve with Starlink. However it was good to unplug for many of the journey and give attention to being current throughout the passages.
Culinary Delights
Each meal was served both within the mild and cheerful eating room or on the deck with the attractive surroundings because the backdrop. The guts of the ship is the open kitchen the place non-public cooks create magical dishes paired with distinctive native Languedoc/Roussillon wines, together with ones from wine powerhouses within the Bordeaux and Burgundy areas.
Breakfast included fluffy eggs, flaky and buttery pastries, yogurts, cereal, and in-season fruits from the Narbonne market. Lunch was a casual sit-down, three-course meal bearing in mind particular person preferences. Chef Hannah Dunleavy made a particular effort to accommodate quirky preferences like no cucumber for my buddy Rachel, a pescatarian on board, and my intolerance for wheat. Chef Hannah was unfazed by all of it and served various choices simply as savory as the remainder of the dishes. Though each dessert deserves point out, my absolute favourite got here on the final day of the journey – home made Mille Feuille with strawberries and lightweight Chantilly cream.
Dinner nightly was an over-the-top Michelin-star-worthy expertise. We started with an aperitif each night, adopted by a luxurious four-course extravaganza. The primary night time, we had been blown away by the white asparagus with smoked duck and truffle appetizer, adopted by Bouillabaisse, then the cheese board with a petit Camelot, good Savarin, and Forme d’Ambert. Dessert was a chocolate Delice. All of us commented that the bar was set excessive, and Chef Hannah, with out hesitation, stated, “You haven’t seen something but.” Every day was a constructing block of a monumental culinary skyscraper.
The piece de resistance is our last dinner, starting with a purple onion and goat’s cheese tart, adopted by a lamb filet with carrot purée, fondant potatoes, white asparagus, child carrots, and mange tout. Subsequent, Hostess Léa Balet regaled us with pertinent details about the cheese course – we tried dreamy creamy Camembert and stylish 36-month-old aged Valancy Comté, and the punchy Roquefort introduced the cheeseboard to new ranges. We rose to the highest of a meal with a white chocolate mousse, home made shortbread (from Hannah’s grandmother’s recipe), and raspberry sorbet with contemporary berries. The sensation all of us left with was like being on the prime of the Eiffel Tower on a transparent night time with views of town – magical! Chef Hannah was proper; every meal exceeded new heights because the cruise continued. To an individual, we commented she must do a cooking present, or on the very least, a cookbook, which we are going to all buy with dispatch.
Wine and Cocktails Galore
Returning to Enchanté after excursions, greetings had been by the stunning Hostess Agathe Power, who had specifically crafted cocktails ready. The boat boasts a strong bar with each conceivable spirit accessible, and Agathe added engaging garnishes that complemented the cocktails properly. Her “Pink Margarita” was as tasty because it was festive trying; made with Tequila, Cointreau, contemporary lime, and a easy syrup of Hibiscus, garnished with a cherry and served in a salt-rimmed glass.
Agathe introduced expertly paired wines for every course and supplied details about the vineyards producing every bottle. We regarded ahead to tasting varieties from vintners we knew little about and from the extra well-known ones we knew we might be wowed by. After all, Champagne was a preferred après outing or afternoon lunch alternative.
Particulars
Costs for a six-night cruise aboard the 8-passenger Enchanté begin at $7,550 per particular person (primarily based on two individuals sharing a cabin) and embody all connoisseur meals, high quality wines, an open bar in the course of the cruise, every day escorted excursions, admissions, and personal transfers at both finish of the cruise. Full barge charters are additionally accessible for households and teams. European Waterways has 18 vessels that cruise in 9 totally different international locations throughout Europe.
