Cruise Description

6 Night Cruise sailing from Chalons-en-Champagne to Chateau-Thierry aboard Panache.

NOTE: This is a sample itinerary and is subject to change. On alternate weeks the cruise is in the reverse direction.

Sunday, Day 1 Châlons-en-Champagne
Embark the hotel barge moored in Châlons-en-Champagne. Enjoy a Champagne welcome while your Captain introduces you to the crew. Dinner on board.

Monday, Day 2 Châlons-en-Champagne to Tours-sur-Marne
This morning we cruise from Châlons-en-Champagne along the Canal Lateral à la Marne to our pretty mooring at Tours-sur-Marne. After lunch on board, we visit the magnificent 800-year-old Reims cathedral, a Gothic masterpiece where the Kings of France were crowned, before some free time perhaps to wander around this delightful city with its grand squares and elegant shopping arcades. Dinner on board.

Tuesday, Day 3 Tours-sur-Marne to Dizy
This morning we visit one of the best known Champagne houses in the world, Moët & Chandon, founded in 1743, where we are guided through their vast underground cellars, the largest in the region, which were carved out of the chalk to offer the maturing wine the perfect temperature and humidity. This is followed by a tasting of some of Moët’s renowned vintages in an elegant private salon, hosted by an experienced cellar master. Later we return to the barge for lunch and continue our cruise along the canal, with the opportunity to explore on foot or bicycle en route, and moor at Dizy, near Epernay. Dinner on board.

Wednesday, Day 4 Dizy to Damery
After a leisurely breakfast, we head off for a private champagne tasting and tour at the boutique Grand Cru winery of Frerejean Frères with a stop en route at a hillside vineyard to learn some of the key attributes of champagne grape growing. After the tasting we enjoy a gourmet private lunch in the salon of the family domaine. Return to the barge to continue our cruise along the Marne to Damery. Dinner onboard.

Thursday, Day 5 Damery to Dormans
Today the hotel barge continues her cruise along the meandering Marne to moor at the pretty riverside town of Dormans, the site of a château, water mill and World War One memorial. In the afternoon, we visit the 42-acre World War I American cemetery at Belleau Wood, it was here that US forces fought one of their bloodiest battles during World War One. Dinner on board.

Friday, Day 6 Dormans to Château-Thierry
This morning, we visit La Maison Pannier, a select champagne house with a labyrinth of medieval underground cellars, for a tour and a private tasting. After lunch on board, we cruise to our final mooring at Château-Thierry, an historic, strategically-situated town overlooking the river, surrounded by vineyards that produce some of the region’s famous sparkling wine. Captain’s Farewell Dinner on board.

Saturday, Day 7 Château-Thierry
After breakfast guests disembark.