European Waterways is offering a six-week, 1,000-mile journey from Avignon to Amsterdam on the hotel barge Anjodi, which rose to fame a few years back when Rick Stein and his film crew were on board to make a 400-mile French Odyssey for TV.
Stein won't be on this journey, but it sounds as if it'll be pretty good without him, visiting cities such as Lyon, Paris and Cologne, cruising the Rhone, Seine and Rhine and the Canal de Bourgogne (the canal, 150 miles long, with 209 locks, connects the Med to the Atlantic via the Yonne and Seine to the Saône and Rhone). The full itinerary is here.
You'll spend the days cruising, sightseeing and enjoying good food, prepared by the on-board chef, and wine from the regions you are sailing through. And you'll have to do that for six weeks, from November 8 to December 18. How tough is that!
Anjodi is small, with room for just eight passengers in four cabins, and looks lovely with lots of wood panelling and brass. All the accommodation is en-suite with air-conditioning, and there is a sun deck with heated sunken jacuzzi.
Prices start from £15,000 per person including all food, an open bar and excursions. Alternatively, you can charter the vessel for £110,000.
Jane Archer
