JOE PRESTON
Airplane pilot Joe Preston on amazing boat engines, orgasmic gastronomy, and why he’ll leave barge piloting to the experts.
My wife Melanie and I live in a beautiful part of New Jersey pretty close to the Pennsylvania border and the Delaware River. I’m a pilot and fly quite a bit in the area, so I get to see what it’s really like from the air. (Flying is really fun!)
Visiting France was on our bucket list and we had tried to book a barge trip for our 25th wedding anniversary. Then Covid hit and it was cancelled, so we decided to get around to doing it in 2024. After some research we ran into French Waterways. The trip would be my first time to France; Melanie had been to Paris once, a long time ago.
We picked Burgundy – and as it turned out that was a good choice. I had wanted to do Bordeaux and they were sold out. But our decision to see Burgundy on Hotel Barge Luciole turned into a trip I will never forget.
From the first time we set foot on the boat we were provided a nice sampling of appetisers from a crew that was all smiles and engaging. Everything provided by Chef Nicholas – from breakfast to lunch and then dinner – was an explosion of flavour. Roast beef that melted in your mouth; an incredible salad made with fig; another with smoked salmon, shrimp and avocado. It was amazing what this guy could put out in such a small space: everything he did was just tremendous. Take a bite and it was, “Wow, oh my God, wow.” Every meal.
The best way to describe it is “Gastro-Orgasmic.” Yes, I coined that term, and I think it is a very accurate description of the food and wine and the service we received. Great reds were served every lunch and dinner (reds are my favourite). Everything was to die for, it really was.
I can’t say enough good things about our guide, Vincent. He picked us up from Paris, took us to the hotel barge, and led all our excursions. He was extremely knowledgeable about everything. Over the course of the trip, I tried to test him with off-the-wall questions to see if he knew the answers, and he knew every one of them.
Captain Kevin was just as outgoing and even let me drive the boat a few kilometres. I was surprised how non-responsive it was compared to a plane! It didn’t make me want to take up a new career as a barge pilot. I’ll save that for Kevin.
His tour of the engine room was a highlight of the trip. It was fascinating. I know engines very well – we recently replaced the engine on my plane – so it was pretty interesting to see the similarities and the systems. It’s such a small room on the barge that, when they replaced it, they had to take off the whole of the top of the boat (which was Kevin’s cabin!) to get out the engine.
It was nice to spend time both on and off the Luciole. In the beginning we stayed inside for the first day or two because of the weather. As the week progressed, we got off the boat and walked along the canal. In the mornings we’d have coffee and sit inside or outside, just looking around. The crew were really good about servicing us, bringing up blankets and drinks.
For me, the most memorable excursion was to an old church on top of a mountain. It was several hundred years old and built on top of another church that was even older. Vincent took us underneath to show us where the original was and talked about how they built it using body parts as measurements – the length of arms; the distance from chins to navels; even the angles between different body parts. It’s amazing how they were able to come up with ways to build these buildings at the time. And the view from there was incredible.
Most nights I invited some of the crew to have drinks with us. We were moored and had cigars, and were sitting there talking, asking about what’s going on with the crew’s lives – even giving them marital advice! (“Yes, dear…”) When Nicholas the chef came up we really hit it off: he played his guitar and serenaded us with various songs. Then he introduced me to some Japanese whisky and Irish whiskey they had onboard which was fantastic. It was fun. He’s a real character and a fantastic artist as well.
The crew is what really made this trip. Our first mate Cailan was tremendous: a fountain of knowledge. He and Kevin would work together to operate the boat, and it seemed as if he knew all the lock keepers like family members. Sarah was a fantastic maestro too, coordinating and making sure we had everything we could possibly want. Hosts James and Ebba were equally impressive: charming, engaging, and full of service. And Penny, the owner, went out of her way to organise a Bordeaux tasting in Auxerre for us. It was fantastic.
Our 30th wedding anniversary is happening in 2025 and we’re thinking of a hotel barge cruise in Bordeaux. On the Luciole, I didn’t even think about bringing wine back with us: I didn’t realise that a lot of the vineyards are so small they don’t sell their stuff in America. So, next time, we’ll change that!
Joe travelled on the 4* Excellence Hotel Barge Luciole, which cruises North Burgundy along the Canal du Nivernais.
To experience the charms of Northern Burgundy aboard Luciole, contact us today to discuss your travel plans.
More first hand cruising experiences and la vie en eau
We’ve been chatting to hotel barge owners and operators, private chefs, hosts and hostesses, and cruise guests to discover, first hand, what life on the water in France is really like. Continue reading about these experiences:
