Barging & Biking Through Burgundy At Exactly The Right Speed
On a canal barge in Burgundy, slow is not a limitation — it is the whole point. With 54 locks between Besançon and Dijon, the barge sets its own pace, and the towpaths invite you to match it on foot or by bike. Ralph Grizzle explores what it means to move through France at exactly the right speed.
Notes From Daniele: Dispatches From Our Barge On The Canal du Rhône au Rhin
Our first excursion came early morning. But I’d been to the Saline Royale before — it’s worth every minute — so this morning I decided to stay on board as Daniele made her way along the Doubs. While the others were on tour, I enjoyed slow travel along the river and canal with just the trees, the melodies of songbirds, and Sylvie, our sailor, taking it all in with the quiet contentment of someone who has the best job — and knows it.
Besançon: Where Our Barge Through Burgundy Begins
Along the Promenade de l’Helvétie, on the banks of the Doubs, a bronze statue commemorates a man most river cruisers have never heard of: Claude Dorothée Marquis de Jouffroy d’Abbans. In 1776, just upriver from here, at Baume-les-Dames where the Cusancin joins the Doubs, de Jouffroy ran the world’s first experiments with a steam-powered boat. The attempts were imperfect, but they led him, in 1783, to a successful voyage up the Saône in Lyon — the moment historians mark as the birth of steam navigation. France honored him a century later with that statue. There is something fitting about beginning a barge journey in the city that honors the man who made it all possible.
Paris: A Soft Landing Before Burgundy
In Paris for five days before heading to Besançon and Burgundy, I found Montmartre to be the ideal soft landing — long walks, café life, a good first meal and the quiet pleasure of easing back into Europe.
French Canals Cruise Guide: What Does It Cost?
If a Rhine river cruise is a scenic stroll, a French canal cruise is a gentle sit on a porch swing. These are not “river cruises” in the traditional sense; they are barge cruises. While a river ship might carry 190 passengers, a luxury hotel barge typically carries between 6 and 22 guests, navigating narrow […]
From The Canals Of The Camargue To The Rhône River: Two Journeys Through Southern France
This story continues our travels through southern France, as we traded the quiet intimacy of the canals for the steady current of the Rhône River. From Arles, we joined AmaWaterways’ AmaKristina for a weeklong voyage north to Lyon — a river cruise that, paired with our week on the canals, offered two very different ways to experience France.