Barge Day 3
Itinerary
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Litote departs
Enjoy your morning cruise
12:30 Lunch
14:30 Excursion to the wine region of Chablis where the famous vineyards
grow on the hills surrounding the town. A visit of the picturesque
town of Chablis itself will be followed by a wine tasting in a private
cellar in the nearby village of Bersan St. Bris
Return to the Litote
19:30 Dinner on board
Today was much warmer first thing in the morning. Breakfast was from
8:00 to 9:30am but the barge started down the canal at 9:00am so some
people were still eating with the barge moving. We again had a mix of
people running, walking or biking along the tow path while the barge
moved leisurely down the canal. Others enjoyed reading, taking pictures
or other leisure activities on the barge. One of the locks was unique in that
just before the lock the canal went over a river on a bridge carrying water.
The aqueduct was the same width as the lock and so it looked like a very long
lock. Another of the locks was unusual in that it was about a foot wider than
all the other locks. Most of the locks are standardized and our barge is designed
to just fit in the lock and under the bridges. In addition the roof on the barge
is curved so it could go through a 6Km tunnel when the barge was originally
used to transport grain from the wheat fields of southern France to Paris when
the boat was built in 1929. When trains took over that function in the 50s the
barge was converted to be used as a passenger boat.
We had a great lunch of Quiche Loraine, salads, and chocolate mousse. A little
After 2:00pm while were going through a lock, we exited the barge and got
on the bus for our excursion to Chablis. The barge continued going downstream
to Brienon where we joined it after the excursion. We first went to a hill overlooking
the town of Chablis and saw the various areas that produce different levels of the
chardonnay grape in the Chablis region. We then went to a little town nearby
that used to be a quarry town and had cellars underneath most of the town from
digging rock.. They then switched to growing grapes and used the cellars for
storing and making wine. We tasted several of the local products and then
headed back to the Litote in Brienon. It was still light so several of us got bikes
out and rode around town to see if there was an internet café. No luck.
Hopefully tomorrow.
Kws
The dinner menu was:
Diner
Soufflé au fromage
Cheese soufflé
Boeuf Bourguignon, tagliatelle
Beef Bourguignon with tagliatelle pasta
Plateau de fromages, salade
Cheese platter & salad
Pain perdu, coulis de framboises et abricots
Bred pudding with raspberry and apricot sauces
Café au bar
Coffee at the bar
Chablis
Cahors
Activity at a lock
If you look closely you can see the canal is in a bridge over a river!
Out of time will add more pictures soon!
kws