River/canal barge trip-France
 

<BR>We are considering a barge trip for late June,but which area? which barge company? We like creature comforts & wonder if this is the right choice.Can anyone share their exeriences ? <BR>

I returned from France on September 10, having taken a 7-day river trip from Lyon to Avignon on a boat called the M.S. Cezanne. I chose it over barges after having talked to a number of people who have taken barges and having discussed barges specifically with friend's sister who owns a river barge in France. There is more creature comfort on the boat, as opposed to the barge, which was a consideration in my case as I travel with my elderly mother. This said, the trip down the Rhone was very pleasant but I found the sights to be seen in France to be considerably less interesting than those I saw a year before when I did a river trip down the Danube from Nurnberg, Germany to Budapest, Hungary on the KD River line from Germany. Were I to recommend a must do it would be one of the German tours on the Rhine or Danube s opposed to the French trip which was frankly disappointing from the perspective of itinerary. If you have specific questions feel free to e-mal me.

Try http://www.europeanwaterways.com/ for information on a range of barges available, mostly in France. I agree that word of mouth is probably best in making a choice.

Sending this up. <BR>

My mother has invited me to join her on a barge trip in May from Paris to Dijon. It is a 10-day Smithsonian Study Tour. Once Dijon is reached the group returns on the TGV train. It is a very costly trip and I just would like to know if anyone has taken this trip (or for that matter any trip with the Smithsonian?