The Burgundy Barge
COTE D’OR , France | Clearly, this will be my kind of trip: The instant we board the Esprit, the barge that will carry us through Burgundy, our captain and crew put flutes of Champagne in our hands and urge us to help ourselves to the bubbly as often as we like. Otherwise, how can we possibly embrace the joie de vivre that defines this brand of voyage?
For six days and nights, these flutes barely leave my paws or those of my fellow 12 passengers. Well, yes, we have to relinquish them for sleeping, shopping in medieval French villages, bicycling alongside the canals and for a hot-air balloon ride. And we place them aside to pick up other stemware as we partake in numerous daily tastings of exalted vintages for which Burgundy is famous.
But the beauty of a barge tour in the legendary Cote d’Or isn’t just about the grapes. What leaves such a deep impression is the languid pace at which we consume this elegantly storied region of France. Along the waterways between Dijon and St. Leger-sur-Dheune, we absorb every delicious detail.
Sightseeing
Our captain coaxes us off the barge each day for a new discovery on land.
A native of the region, Capt. Anna Wuppermann combines her background as a tour guide and a wine competition judge to impart her understanding of this complex and richly historic corner of France. She peppers history lessons with warmth and humor, particularly when we wander around the old center of Dijon — where we buy locally made mustards and crème de cassis to take home — as well as when we tour the wine museum in the 12th-century Chateau Clos de Vougeot.
Anna’s enthusiasm and her knowledge of where best to buy chocolate or perfume make each outing a fascination. When there’s no organized expedition, several of us take the barge’s bicycles onto the canal path or for a quick trip down a rocky trail to poke around the nearest village.
When we’re simply sailing down the canals and rivers, we’re generally surrounded by one bucolic vista after another. Often cottonwoods line the banks, with fields of brilliant, canary-yellow canola beyond.
Tasting wine
If we venture out in the morning, we’re always back in time for lunch, when we learn more about Burgundy’s gifts. Although the sole oenophile in our group tries to engage Anna in serious wine discussions, our captain readily steers it back to an accessible, relevant chat for the rest of us.
At lunch and dinner, we’re treated to at least two new whites and reds from the cellar that Anna has built for the barge company. At the end of the week Anna surprises us with copies of the labels from all the wines we’ve enjoyed.
On several occasions Anna also takes us to meet some of her favorite vintners, whose families have been making wines for centuries and whose products we sample on the Esprit. At the cave Domaine Prieur-Brunet, the owners hand Anna the keys to show us through a labyrinth of cellars, and at Domaine Christian Confuron we sip wines and play fetch with the winemakers’ friendly dog.
Savoring Burgundian cuisine
Rising early a couple of mornings, two or three of us take our strong coffee onto the deck to enjoy the quiet sunrise. That way we’re the first to see the elegant pastries being delivered; each morning a new supply is brought fresh from the nearest village.
Chef Cyril Bedu turns out miracles in his little kitchen, with lunches always starring a new and sinfully rich quiche studded with fresh vegetables and an accompanying parade of salads. At dinner he woos us with a roasted monkfish in a fennel-balsamic treatment; shredded veal with morels inside twists of phyllo; and garlicky escargot profiteroles.
The piece de resistance each day and night is the offering of cheeses, carefully chosen from more than 350 kinds produced in France. At each lunch and dinner we find new romance in three new cheeses. We start light at the beginning of the week, with mild, runny Brie, a buttery blue and a light and airy goat cheese, and advance through stronger flavors until we end with richer goat cheese rolled in mustard seeds and a nutty herbal cow’s milk cheese called Reblochon.
Drinking in the joie de vivre
Anna and her happy crew see to everything. Three stewardesses make sure our cabins — nicely appointed but tres petite — stay tidy, and they do a dynamite job of guiding us through our elaborate cheese courses, too. When any of us needs help finding an Internet café, buying train tickets for other journeys in France, booking restaurants for post-cruise excursions, finding a pharmacist or wine merchant, Anna has the answer before the question is finished.
And certainly, if more Champagne needs to be fetched from the cellar, someone has the cork popped within moments.
TRAVELER’S CHECK | CRUISING BURGUNDY: The Esprit, cruising Burgundy’s waterways from April through October, can carry 18 passengers. French Country Waterways’ other barges include the 12-passenger Adrienne in the Upper Loire Valley; the eight-passenger Horizon II, also in Burgundy; the eight-passenger Princess in Alsace-Lorraine; and the 12-passenger Nenuphar, cruising Champagne. All-inclusive rates are $4,895 to $5,995 per person, double occupancy; with value-season discounts of $800 per couple available during some weeks in April, June and September. Deeper discounts are offered at the season’s start in April. Contact French Country Waterways at 800-222-1236 or fcwl.com.
During meals aboard the Esprit, you’re reminded why Larousse Gastronomique, the bible of cuisine, says Burgundy “considers itself to be the centre of French cuisine.”
Daily stops along the canal trip allow passengers to explore stone walkways and cobblestone streets in villages influenced for centuries by dukes and vintners.
ON THE COVER: A Burgundy barge cruise follows canals and rivers through the famous French wine region, where bucolic views frequently include the fields of brilliant canary-yellow flowers and quaint lock-keepers' cottages. PHOTOS FROM FRENCH COUNTRY WATERWAYS