The Maiden Voyage of the Chardonnay
May 6, 2000
On May 6, 2000 Continental Waterway's newest Luxury French Hotel Barge, The Chardonnay, boarded is first paying passengers who would embark on the maiden voyage of this truly luxury vessel. Nearly 50 persons with a new, untried crew, set out from Lyon and sailed up the Soane to Dijon's river port of St Jean de Losne. For the next six days, passengers and crew bonded in a way that few have ever witnessed on a cruise. By the next Friday true friendships would be made, not only among passengers, but between passengers and crew as well. We were even treated to dinner with the two founders of Continental Waterways. Guy Bardet and Richard Parsons who began to turn their dreams into reality more than 30 years ago.
The passengers were the best one could hope for on an inaugural cruise. They were a curious mix of Continental Waterway investors, travel agents, press, artists, poets, a film maker, airline pilots, doctors, entrepreneurs, engineers, and a few of those lucky individuals who call themselves retired. The crowd jelled together from the first welcome glass of Champagne Saturday evening.
Fellow passenger and poet Gary Holman summed up the trip as follows:
Cruise the Soane from Lyon, on Chardonnay. In warm, sunny France, days in May.
With wine glasses and spoons hanging from noses like goons
The inauguals passengers had their play.
The Bateau was a sight to be seen, once an oil barge, now refurbished and clean
with a smart, sprightly crew, fine wine, food and brew, transformed mortals to faux kings and queens.
One foible involved the gang plank, quick of fate and machinery to thank.
Poor Swend lost his grip, which caused him to slip, and gave him a crick in his crank.
Alas we are nearing the end, your last postcards tomorrow you'll send
extolling with pride the first Chardonnay Ride
To all your relations and friends.
As I said before the crew was new to the boat, as was the machinery. The crew had not yet used the large gang plank which is stored on the upper deck terrace while underway. This massive gang plank is put in place with a large crane type electric arm. Saturday and Sunday they looked like the new crew that they were. Swend, the leader of the cabin staff, lost his grip and got a crack on the head. But by Tuesday they were setting the plank like pros.
One evening one of the guests stuck a spoon on her nose. It is a neat trick that not everyone can do. Every one tried and eventually succeeded. Then once spoons were mastered, wine glasses were tried. Then once they were mastered, wine was put into the wine glasses to make them heavier. I think you can grasp the great fun we all had during the week.
Our guide, Mugay, was the best. Her enthusiasm for history and art was evident. In fact everyone loved their jobs and it was very obvious. As she led us through the streets of Lyon, Perouges, Cluny, Beaune and Dijon we developed a new understanding of just how important this section of Burgundy was to the history of France.
One evening we were enchanted by a local singer whose vocal range mirrored that of Edith Piaf. She did a one woman show and if you closed your eyes you would swear that you were listening to the "little sparrow." It was one of the best evenings of the cruise and we all wished that she had thought to make a CD of her performance so we could purchase them and take this magic moment home with us. I was surprised that this evening many of the passengers were introduced to the songs of Piaf for the very first time. They were thrilled even though the songs were in French, the spirit was universal.
All Continental Waterways cruises include at least one visit to a vineyard. Ours was to the grand cur village of Brouilly. Here we were treated to a very generous tasting of both Brouilly and Cote de Brouilly. The guardian of the vineyards carefully explained the nature of the vine and the difference between those vineyards on the flat and those on the side of the hill. They we retired into the cellars to see for our selves the difference. It was a very tasty visit.
This was the sixth time my wife and I have traveled on the waterways of France. It was certainly the most luxurious. The cabins are actually mini suites. But in reality very few people spent much time in the cabins. They were either in one of the two lounges or on the rooftop terrace relaxing or perhaps trying out one of the two hottubs on board. My group took long walks in the evening after dinner and before retiring. Each of the stops lent itself to that.
But the Chardonnay was not always luxury. A year ago another investor and myself went to Dijon to see this new boat in which we had invested our money. What you see below is what we saw.
And now Today
We were so impressed that we are going to join the Chardonnay again in November to do the Provence Itinerary. Join Us.
Ed DeChant
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