Lorraine
Alsace/Lorraine
Seven Days / Six Nights
The Lorraine's classic route covers some fine rural cruising,
with plenty of opportunity to cycle and stroll along the tow-path and
wander into nearby villages.
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Cruise
Highlights
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Wines, gourmet cuisine, entry
fees to excursions |
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Visit the
Unterlinden museum |
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The
famous Arzviller barge lift: raising craft 52 meters |
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Chapel
of the Cordelieres where we can see the stained glass
window created by Marc Chagall |
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Haut-Barr a ruined chateau
from the 11c with magnificent views of the plain of
Alsace |
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Gastronomic dinner ashore |
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Optional
Hot Air Ballooning |
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Culinary Notes |
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Regional Dishes
Bonbon de Veau Fondue de
St Nectaire
Suprême de Poulet à la
Crème Bressane avec des Pâtes Fraîches
Salade and Two Cheeses
Tartare de Fraises au
Poivre de Sechuan sur Croûte Dorée
Regional Wines
Alsace Riesling
Gewurztraminer
Pinot Blanc
Tokay Pinot Gris
Sylvaner
Crémant d'Alsace
Regional Cheeses
Trami d'Alsace
Munster |
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Wholeboat charter prices: (2007) - subject to change |
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For 22 passengers |
$39,800 |
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$43,800 |
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• 6 nights full board accommodation on Lorraine, Champagne
Welcome, excursions including admittance fees, use of
bicycles and other facilities on board. Transfers not-Included. |
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Boat
Features |
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128 feet long |
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22 passengers |
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7 crew |
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11 suites |
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Air-conditioned |
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Centrally
heated |
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Bar, Lounge & separate dining room |
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Air-conditioned
private excursion coach |
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Touring bikes |
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DAY 1
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Saturday
Meet at the
Strasbourg rail station at 2.30 p.m., or for those who have chosen
to reserve the transfer option, at 9.00 am in the lobby of
the Hôtel Régina, 192, Rue de Rivoli in Paris. Train transfer
to Strasbourg and coach transfer to the boat moored in the village
of KRAFT, some twenty five kilometres to the South of
Strasbourg, close to the junction of the canal with the river Rhine.
The crew will welcome you aboard with “apéritifs” as the luggage is
taken to the cabins and there will be time to settle in before
dinner. |
DAY 2
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Sunday
After
breakfast we cruise on the Canal du Rhône au Rhin, a peaceful
waterway that has seen little use since the building of the Grand
Canal d’Alsace (the canalisation of the Rhine) in the
nineteen-fifties. We moor during lunch and from here we take the
coach to drive south to Colmar for a guided tour of the city
centre with its magnificent medieval and Renaissance buildings, 13th
century collegiate church and waterside “little Venice” area.
Afterwards there will be free time to explore the city further, its
shops and museums, particularly the Unterlinden museum,
famous for its collection of Renaissance art works and specifically
for the masterpiece of Mathias Grünewald, the Issenheim altarpiece.
Towards the end of the afternoon we shall head back northwards along
the “Route des Vins”, a small road running at the base of the
foothills of the Vosges parallel to the Rhine through the
famous vineyards of Alsace. We pass through several typical
wine growing villages and make a short stop at the famous beauty
spot of Riquewihr for a visit to a cellar to taste some local
vintages before returning to the Lorraine now moored in
Strasbourg. |
| DAY 3 |
Monday
Cast off
early and cruise over breakfast and through the morning passing the
European parliament. After lunch, disembark for a guided
walking tour of the principal sights of Strasbourg including
the picturesque “petite France” riverside district and the
remarkable cathedral of Notre Dame whose construction spread over
five centuries from the Romanesque choir to the flamboyant gothic
spire. Afterwards there will be time free to explore the capital of
Alsace, perhaps visit one of the museums, take advantage of the
excellent shopping or just stroll through the cobbled streets of
timbered houses before returning to the Lorraine at her mooring
close by in the village of Waltenheim sur Zorn. |
| DAY 4 |
Tuesday
We cast off
after breakfast and cruise through the morning, passing several
typical Alsatian villages. A number of locks and the recently
restored towpath give excellent opportunities for walking alongside
the boat or maybe cycling into one of the villages to appreciate the
produce of a local brewery in a “Bierstub”. After lunch we moor in
Saverne, an attractive, bustling town with a population of
some ten thousand inhabitants. From our mooring we have an excellent
view of the imposing red sandstone château built by the Rohan family
during the eighteenth century. After a stroll in the town, a visit
to Haut-Barr a ruined chateau from the 11c with magnificent views of
the plain of Alsace, then a delightful afternoon cruise into the
picturesque small town of Lutzelbourg. |
| DAY 5 |
Wednesday
After
breakfast we can make a short drive to visit a crystal workshop
and see how some of the most famous products of this area are still
individually fashioned by hand. We join the boat a few kilometres
further on and cruise over the border into Lorraine where the canal
follows the steep-sided, tree-lined valley of the river Zorn to the
famous inclined plane of Arzwiller. Here a ladder of
seventeen locks has been replaced by a counterbalanced barge lift
that hauls us up nearly 150 feet to the summit level of the Marne to
Rhine canal. We then cruise through a cutting and two tunnels under
the peak of the Vosges Mountains before mooring for the evening at a
quiet spot near the village of Hesse. |
| DAY 6 |
Thursday
After
breakfast we continue to cruise along the summit pound, or highest
section, of the Marne to Rhine canal. This section of some thirty
kilometres with no locks passes through the regional park of
Lorraine, an officially recognised nature reserve with numerous
lakes and vast areas of woodland. The canal then begins its descent
towards the plain of Lorraine through a series of locks, the first
of which was built in the nineteen-fifties to replace a flight of
seven of the original early nineteenth century locks and has a drop
of nearly fifty feet. After lunch we take the coach for a drive to
Sarrebourg and visit the chapel of the Cordelieres where we can see
the stained glass window created by Marc Chagall. We return to
Lorraine, moored in Xouaxange for our farewell gala dinner. |
| DAY 7 |
Friday
Leave the Lorraine after breakfast and
transfer to Nancy train station for the train at 11.08am, arriving
into Paris at 14.00 (2pm) |
| NOTE: |
On alternate weeks, cruise will be in reverse
direction. This is a sample itinerary and is subject to change. |
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