Lovely goodies and chilled champagne...

The complete staff was outside to welcome us, inviting their new charges to sit and enjoy copious, piping hot appetizers and chilled glasses of champagne. That first warm welcome and friendly attitude would repeat itself continuously over the next seven days. A large basket of fresh fruit was always available; the open bar crammed with wines, sodas, juices and bottled water. Guests' requests were taken care of immediately. This crew made it exceedingly clear that they were there to help us enjoy our stay to the fullest.

By the time we made our way inside our luggage was already stowed in the proper suites. We replenished our sunscreen, grabbed cameras, and went off to explore the charming town of Auxerre with its splendid church, half-timbered buildings and interesting shopping opportunities. We had only one responsibility -- to get back to the barge in time to enjoy our first sumptuous dinner aboard.

Our comfy barge-hotel room...

Marilyn and I shared a wood-paneled junior cabin with two single beds adjacent to each other. Our belongings were stored in a big drawer under the beds while pants, skirts and hiking jackets fit nicely into a shared small cupboard. Our modern, immaculately clean marble bathroom with shower was en suite. Fluffy blue towels (as many as we needed) and bath products sporting the upscale L'Occitaine brand were a perfect touch of elegance. Of course, with so much to do we spent little time in our room however when we did we never felt cramped.

Choose your own pace...

A barging holiday can be as active or inactive as you wish. Each day La Belle Epoque continued it's unhurried journey through the locks of the Nivernais canal meandering from one tiny town in Burgundy to the next. The boat moved so slowly that guests could hop on and off, walking solo alongside the barge or biking ahead to explore a tow path or bustling country market.

Going through the manually operated locks was an unhurried process. Barges lined up for their turn and often we were left waiting as the lockkeeper went off for lunch. That sometimes put our barge behind schedule but we enjoyed every minute of the delay. It gave us time to laze on the deck, reading, chatting, taking photos and studying the distinct character of each lockkeeper and the small, stone cottages that served as their headquarters.

There were gorgeous summer flowers on display everywhere -- a riot of pinks, reds and whites -- in baskets, informal beds and huge ceramic pots. An enterprising female lockkeeper offered a stand of local products -- jams, T-shirts, honey -- that we jokingly nicknamed, 'The Lock Boutique', another older couple showed off a statue of a comely stone mermaid while one gent (who looked an awful lot like Santa Claus in shorts) worked with the help of his cavorting, twin sons. It took the combined strength of those two young boys, but they made operating their lock pure play and we took pleasure in watching them have fun. The sun shone, the sky was bright blue and we were happily becoming acquainted with a tiny, charming corner of rural France.