Explore Paris and beyond on a premium canal barge

Explore Paris and beyond on a premium canal barge. Photo / Getty Images

Throngs of tourists will soon descend on Paris for the summer Olympics, but it’s still possible to enjoy the city and its surrounds in a leisurely manner, and it’s all thanks to the country’s canal system, writes Gillian Vine

It took two hours by coach to travel north from Paris to Noyen and five days to return by river.

Apart from the leisurely pace, a barge cruise on the Oise and Seine rivers had much to recommend it. The package included all meals and guided off-ship sightseeing (including entrance fees) which are often expensive extras on other tours, and the lively company of a small group of like-minded travellers was a bonus.

Cruising on CroisiEurope’s MS Raymonde, a purpose-built high-end barge that takes just 22 passengers in its 11 cabins, was definitely the best way to experience the region, macerated in 2000 years of history.

MS Raymonde cruises the Oise River north of Paris. Photo / Gillian Vine

We join the vessel at Pont-l’Eveque, near Noyon, a town about half the size of Te Kuiti, yet boasting the Notre Dame cathedral, a massive edifice dating from the 12th century.

After introductory drinks and a four-course dinner on board, it’s off by coach to the cathedral, its atmosphere enhanced by the darkness and the enthusiasm of knowledgeable local guide Gerald.

David (left) and Tony Franklin-Ross, of Auckland, toast their cruise from the Raymonde’s jacuzzi. Photo / Gillian Vine

Some 300 years ago, paintings on the plaster walls had white paint slapped over them. In recent years, ghostly images of those 15th century originals have begun reappearing, including a strongly drawn crucifixion scene. It seems you can’t get rid of good art, even after a three-century cover-up.

Next morning, breakfast is a leisurely affair and at 9am our ship is heading downstream towards Compiegne.

We laze away the morning on the tranquil Oise, watching the commercial barges that still use the river, enjoying the leafy scenery, catching an occasional glimpse of a village and navigating the first of the seven locks on the journey.

Raymonde glides towards one of the locks on the Oise. Photo / Gillian Vine

I assume that lunch will be simple but it’s not: two salads for starters, then roast pork with zucchini and tagliatelle, two local cheeses and finally chocolate mousse.

It sets the scene for the lavish meals served throughout the trip. “Just as well food on board has no calories,” quips one of my fellow passengers.

Classic French cuisine, including duck a l’Orange, featured on the boat’s menu. Photo / Gillian Vine

Gerald joins us to drive to Chateau de Compiegne to see its sumptuously furnished Second Empire museum, one of three in the 1300-room mansion.

It is stunningly furnished, with Napoleon III’s bedroom the lushest setting imaginable for an emperor.

Napoleon’s bedroom in the Chateau de Compiegne. Photo / Gillian Vine

We walk around the town, popping into the parish church of St James, a building started in the 15th century and still not finished: some aspects of French Catholicism are a bit sluggish, it seems.

Commercial barges still carry goods to Paris on the Oise and Seine rivers. Photo / Gillian Vine

Outside, a memorial to fallen soldiers is a sobering testimonial to the devastation two world wars have caused the region.

Another significant wartime memorial is the Armistice Museum in a quiet glade near Compiegne. Here, in the dining car of Marshall Ferdinand Foch’s private train, on November 11, 1918, the Germans signed the armistice that ended World War I.

After Germany won the battle of France in 1940, Adolf Hitler chose the same place, even the original railway carriage, to sign the armistice. In a typically petty and malicious gesture, he had the site ripped apart and the carriage taken to Berlin, where it was put on show by the Brandenburg Gate.

The carriage in the Glade of Compiegne is not the original, which was destroyed in a fire in Germany, but another from Marshall Foch’s train, donated by its builders Wagon-Lits. Painstakingly restored to replicate the 1918 carriage, it forms part of an excellent display with photographs and artifacts that illustrate French suffering in the wars.

Grand living is the theme of the next day’s outing to Chateau de Chantilly, famous for its 1840s racecourse, Europe’s largest stables, and Raphael’s painting The Three Graces.

As a garden nut, I am blown away by the 115ha grounds, partly laid out in the 17th century by Andre Le Notre, Louis XIV’s principal landscaper, who also designed the gardens at the Palace of Versailles. A handy little train trundles around the woodland and canal area, well worth the €8 ($14.18) for the 45-minute trip.

Chantilly cream is another of the chateau’s claims to fame and back on the Raymonde we learn how to make an authentic version of the famous whipped cream.

Two passengers successfully make the product, with David Franklin-Ross, of Auckland, demonstrating the perfection of his by holding the bowl of cream upside-down above his head. Apparently, that’s the test and – apart from a dash of cream landing on one ear – he’s now considered an expert.

Visiting Auvers-sur-Oise, where Vincent van Gogh lived for the last couple of months of his life, was a highlight for many. Copies of paintings he did in and around Auvers are displayed by the original subjects, including the local church and grain fields (Wheatfield with crows was possibly his last painting). In a fitting touch, the paddocks, not far from the cemetery where the artist is buried, are still planted with wheat.

Van Gogh was not the first artist to find inspiration in the village. Charles-Francois Daubigny, considered an important forerunner of impressionism, made his home here and others followed, including Cezanne, Corot and Pissarro.

The studio of artist Charles-Francois Daubigny in the pretty village where Vincent van Gogh is buried. Photo / Gillian Vine

Daubigny was the first to paint river scenes from the water and in a nice touch, a colourful replica of the boat from which he worked is moored just along the Oise from the Raymonde.

After a riverside wine-tasting, it’s a wrench to leave Auvers-sur-Oise, which I long to walk around once more, but I’m happily anticipating our visit to Malmaison, the home of Josephine Bonaparte, wife of Napoleon.

She sneakily bought the chateau in 1799 when her husband-to-be was away campaigning, borrowing money to do so. Known as a spendthrift, Josephine splashed out more money restoring the mansion and its gardens, which centred on her passion for roses.

A visit to Josephine’s beautifully restored home, Malmaison, was a popular off-ship excursion. Photo / Gillian Vine

The interior of Malmaison is now beautifully restored and a delight to visit but the gardens are a little disappointing. Those on either side of the main entranceway were well-tended but the paths and beds of the famous rose gardens needed weeding and I longed to get stuck in and deadhead the bearded irises. They are worth visiting, nonetheless.

All too soon, our time on the water is coming to an end, as we head along the Seine to Paris.

Sipping bubbles and nibbling frogs’ legs, we glide under Parisian bridges, excited by landmarks, especially the Eiffel Tower.

Seeing Paris at night from the Raymonde was a cruise highlight. Photo / Gillian Vine

A slap-up final dinner, frantic packing, and last sleep on the water.

In the morning, after a week of glorious spring weather, it’s raining in Paris. Somehow, it makes me feel better about disembarking from the Raymonde.

Checklist

PARIS, FRANCE

GETTING THERE

Cathay Pacific, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Singapore Airlines all fly from Auckland to Paris with one stopover.

DETAILS

MS Raymonde’s six-night cruises on the Oise and Seine travel Noyon-Paris or Paris-Noyon. Cruises include all meals, off-ship excursions and land transport to or from Noyon.

CroisiEurope specialises in small-boat cruising in many parts of the world. For details, see croisieurope.co.nz

Gillian Vine travelled as a guest of CroisiEurope.