The Luciole blog can also be seen on our home page

Each season seems to go so fast! 

We always enjoy looking back over the years and remembering the weeks and Luciole passengers.

The seasons of 2016 and 2017 can now be seen on the home page of our website:

www.bargeluciole.com/#blog

Memories of swimming this season from the Luciole, on the Nivernais

End of the 2015 season

The seasons come and the seasons go, faster it seems with every year.  For the first time in a number of years, the final cruise week with passengers finished in Auxerre, place of our winter mooring. Last season we cruised through Auxerre and on to Paris for the five yearly inspection. Two previous seasons in 2012 and 2013 we finished in Clamecy, which made for a busy few days cruising all the hours the locks were open, with a private lock-keeper to see us down.

On the Saturday morning, we waved the passengers off and began a busy end of season day, winterising the Luciole. Us girls working out the bed and table linen inventory (next season will be here before we know it) and the guys focusing on the outside duties.

The prize was sitting down to the traditional end of season Merguez Sausage Casserole followed by Apple Crumble (thank you William).  It was a birthday celebration night for Vicente, our Captain's lovely son, who is growing up fast, before our eyes.

Saturday supper on the night of the morning of the last day of our season

I would like to take the opportunity to thank the fabulous crew who have taken the Luciole through the season in such a professional and kindly way:

Captain - Francisco
Tour guide - Anna
Chef - Marc
Hostesses - The Stephanies - from Australia and the UK - and of course Emma and Izzy
Matelot - Tom - thumbs up too for his expert blog writing and for the humour in the detail that bring back the memories
Duties various - William

Wishing everyone a wonderful winter and thank you for cruising on the Luciole!
Blue sky
Penny

18th - 24th October 2015

Cruising with The Walking Party

For our last week of the season, we were joined by 'The Walking Party' led by the delightful James and Diana Tamlyn. Three families from Kenya joined them to cruise and walk through Burgundy's glowing autumnal countryside.  The colours of the vines and trees along the river and canal banks were stunning.

The crew were kept on their toes by the younger members of the families, whoe entertained with dancing, apron wearing (no fear of the cold there) and general jolity.  On the final evening, the saloon became a dance floor and music was played until curfew time of midnight in the magical setting in Auxerre, beneath the floodlit Cathedral of St Etienne.

Next season, we celebrate 50 years of hotel barging.  The first hotel barge was called the Palinurus and she began cruising in 1966. In 1985 she was bought by our company and renamed the Luciole.  We are looking forward to celebrating the golden anniversary of hotel barging next year.

Our mooring on the River Yonne, in Vincelles was spectacular

11th - 17th October 2015

Bike and Barge cruise with France à Vélo

The penultimate week of the 2015 season is upon us, and with it come many extremely successful and enjoyable variations to our normal schedule. This week we worked in partnership with a local business called France à Vélo, that run cycling tours all across France, so we spent the majority of the week with the very welcome and magnificently beautiful Charlotte, lovingly nicknamed the slave driver by our fearless passengers. She lead the cycle tours from the front, braving the weather and the hills with her group following closely behind. The combination of barge and bike worked seamlessly, as we cruised, Charlotte would muster those willing to take on the days cycling and lead them via the scenic route to rendezvous with our tour guide Anna at the days tour location, be it Chablis, Auxerre, Bazoches, Noyers or Vézelay. Unfortunately and rarely the weather wasn't entirely on our side this week and the temperature plummeted, but that didn't put our brave adventurers off, everyday the group got on their bikes, wrapped up warm and prepared for anything, and set off on their way. We look forward to cruising with France à Vélo again next season, and can envisage a long and very close relationship with this excellent organisation.

Smiles in the sunshine on the first day of our Bike and Barge cruise

We were also fortunate to welcome aboard not only 9 very funny and entertaining guests, one of whom, Lynne, joined us for her 3rd cruise and the 1st for 8 years! But also we were thankful to have with us a grand total of 3 Lileys including our lovely mastermind Penny and her 2 eldest sons William and Arthur, joining us for the sake of logistics and just generally being a helpful and constantly amusing bunch. Additionally we had long time friend of Penny and the barge, and very welcome guest Ant, complete with his ever present camera equipment, so hopefully a new video should be with us soon!

Finally I have another birthday to announce, that of perhaps the barges most popular resident, our most extraordinarily talented chef Marc, turning 24 this weekend, Happy Birthday from all of us here!

Burgundy on a glorious day on Bike and Barging

4th - 10th October 2015

We're steadily approaching the end of our season here on the Luciole, with only 3 weeks remaining! A sad thought that soon we will be back to the real world, I'm sure we won't know what to do with ourselves. Thankfully we have had a wonderfully relaxed, family orientated week, before the end of season madness resumes. Shared with a very excellent group of people, a mixture of Canadians, Americans and one lone Brit. When asked what their favourite aspects of the week were, they replied "being with family" as number one, followed by making new friends and meeting the other groups, and of course as is often the case food was mentioned very highly on the list. Hardly a surprise there then. It's was a treat to be joined by 2 lovely families, plus father and daughter pairing Martin and Claudia on their first joint adventure. It was very sweet to see the family interactions and new friendships blooming before our eyes.

As I mentioned it was a very relaxed week, the weather was good, and smiles were everywhere. Most days cruising were spent on the deck or sitting comfortably in the saloon with a book, or in the case of some, with an enormous jigsaw! Brought specially in the event of a rainy day which in fact never happened, but of course it was completed anyway thanks to the masterful efforts of Sharon, Janet, Dennis and Becky. Our most active member this week was Loree, a very nice Canadian lady who spent most of the day walking, cycling and on one occasion managing to convince a local fisherman to hand over his rod and give her a go at angling. I'm not so sure everyone believed her story that she managed to catch a fish, but as we cruised past the fisherman in question later that day he backed her up and people were left eating their words.

Finally I have a special shout out to another one of my elusive blog readers, so hello to the ever smiley and always sincere Dennis. Thank you for being as charming as you were, hopefully you're home safe and sound by now but one can only assume, secretly wishing you could come back!

             Blue sky and Autumnal colours in Burgundy.  

27th September - 3rd October 2015

We've had a wonderfully sunny autumnal time in Burgundy this last week, shared with our extremely lovely bunch of passengers all from America. I'm not sure I've ever met a more helpful and involved group of people, stacking their plates and moving all the unused glasses to the end of the table to offer a helping hand to hostesses Steph and Steph. I'd like to say a special thank you to extremely helpful chaps Bob and Larry who didn't miss turning around a single lock, though not them alone, as practically everyone had a go at opening the locks or turning the manivelle. However Bob was so dedicated he would stand at the edge of the boat ready to jump off and dive into action closing the lock gates behind us.

Speaking of diving into action perhaps this is the time to mention the funniest moment of the week, as marvellous moustachioed Kent along with the aforementioned Bob decided it would be good fun to swing off the boat using the boom arm. They had been insisting all week before Captain Francisco finally gave them permission on Thursday afternoon, in fact they may well be the last passengers to get such permission as their exploits were heart stopping but equally hilarious. Bob made it to dry land but his landing was primarily on his face, finished by a rather impressive forward roll, Kent on the other hand made rather a splash as he fell from the boom backwards and straight into the canal. No one was hurt thankfully except possibly for Kent's pride.

We've also had a real celebratory mood on the Luciole this week as we had amongst us a grand total of 4 birthdays! So many happy returns to the impeccable Kent, Marlene, Gladys, and our very own hostess Stephanie. The English Steph this time, celebrating her 23rd birthday, not the Australian Steph who celebrated her 23rd birthday last week. Bizarre quite frankly, but an excellent excuse for more cake so I'm sure no one's complaining.

The 'birthday girl' Steph pauses before giving the cheese speech out on deck, as we cruise under a bridge

20th - 26th September 2015

What an excellent, entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable week it's been on the Luciole. The sun is still with us, usually after a little morning mist, the scenery and skies seem to get more beautiful by the day and our passengers this week have been a truly amazing group of people. They were always happy, always talking and joking, and pretty much always with a glass in their hands. Indeed "more wine" was probably the most commonly used phrase of the week and led to many hilarious exploits throughout the week. Perhaps most memorably we had the lovely Keith falling off his chair in the process of trying to stick a spoon to his nose, or perhaps Melvin playing with the boat's boom pole, swinging on and off the boat to the disappointed looks of his partner Beverly but with the encouragement of a rather nervous Francisco. Evenings on the boat were always a spectactle and a party, the group getting lively as the night passed, big group singalongs at the dinner table accompanied by Pina Colada loving Anne on the Ukulele.

We were also very happy to celebrate the wedding anniversary of Zan and Paul, celebrated in style with and pair of candles in their desserts and a bottle of bubbly in their cabin. I'd also like to say Happy Birthday to our wonderful hostess all the way from Australia, affectionately known as Stephie. So congratulations to all, let's hope we wake up feeling ok for our next group of passengers on Sunday!

13th - 19th September 2015

It's been an adventurous, exciting and extremely funny week here on the Luciole. Autumn is beginning to creep across the land, bringing falling leaves and sudden storms, the days are getting shorter and the country is beginning to take on a different look as the exceptional greenness of Burgundy slowly shifts to golden brown and yellow hues, while the evening skies drift from orange, to pink, to purple and finalise in truly dramatic sunsets. Autumn is a very beautiful time of year around here.

Our charming guests this week joined us mostly from the states with a lovely couple from Canada, all strangers at first but seemingly great friends even by Tuesday as the jokes were flying non stop all week, almost as much as they flew along the towpaths on their bikes. Almost everyone this week took up the call to cycle and regularly departed as one big group exploring the countryside and finding nice spots to sit and wait for the grand old lady The Luciole to catch them up. During one such excursion, indeed only 5 minutes after their departure, the heavens opened in perhaps the most dramatic storm I've ever witnessed in this part of the world, it laste
d only 5 minutes, but was so extreme our very courageous and soaking wet captain was forced to stop the boat and take shelter under a bridge as he couldn't even see the Burgundy flag flying on the boat's prow, perhaps only as much as 30 meters in front. The passengers on their bikes seemed to fair extremely well for the most part, all except for poor John, selflessly sheltering the others with his body as they took refuge under another bridge. Betsy, mother of the 3 marvellous ladies Carole, Susan and Wendy, managed to do even better during this storm, as she was sat very comfortably in the warmth of the boat's saloon, I think we all know who the real winner was here.

Tour guide Anna's had a nice surprise, bumping into her hero 'Vauban' at the Chateau of Bazoches

Finally I have several mentions to make and a few congratulations from the crew to pass on. First of all congratulations to Ellen on her retirement from teaching. Wendy on her 20th Wedding Anniversary with her husband who unfortunately for him wasn't invited! And finally to Shawn and John on 25 years of marriage. Congratulations to all, we hope your time on the Luciole was the perfect celebration of such big and memorable days.

6th - 12th September 2015

It's September already, though you wouldn't have thought so from the weather, it's still hot and bright out here in Burgundy, though the nights and early mornings are beginning to get the chill of Autumn and the boat starts each day with a fresh layer of dew coating it. The crew holidays are finally at an end with myself, Tom the deckhand, returning from 2 weeks in Normandy, so we're completing the final 7 weeks of the season in style with our regular crew all together again at last. Anna, Francisco, Marc, the 2 Stephs and Tom raring to go.

My first week back here has been a wonderful one, with 12 very nice and extremely funny American passengers joining us on board as we cruise to Auxerre from Clamecy. I'd like to say one particularly special mention to lovely, smiley Karen, always cracking jokes and constantly saying the nicest things, but most importantly, an avid reader of the blog who very kindly told me she had been missing my updates! So thank you for that Karen, I hope you read this one especially! Captain Francisco has also been a very happy man this week as he has had a Spanish speaking friend on board in the form of Sandy, an ex language teacher with flawless Spanish and rather good French to boot. She very kindly lent Francisco a Chilean book of all things which he seemed to find completely fascinating, indeed every time I saw him he had it in his hand with another 100 pages or so behind him. So thank you Sandy I think you made the Captain's week.

Finally I would like to mention Sandy one last time as we congratulate her on not only her birthday which was celebrated one evening with the addition of an extremely large cake, expertly cooked up by Chef Marc, but also to congratulate her and husband Chuck on their 30th wedding anniversary. Cheers to the both of you!

23rd - 29th August

The first of Tom's two weeks holiday means I (Will) am back onboard the Luciole as deckhand, after three years of taking on a more land based and office role. I was not the only old school Luciole member of crew to be joining, as Mike, who last worked for us in 2009 came to cover as tour guide, now even more experienced, he slotted in very well, the week bringing back many memories for him, during his time nearly a decade ago on the Luciole he also met his wife, who was chef at the time. The Luciole has been the start and catalyst for many relationships, including that of my parents!

The week included a special guest, with Monty Waldin, a wine maker of BBC fame, who has vineyards in Italy and  bravely tried making a wine in England, he joined for the week to sample our wines. We also had photographer Lizzie Sheppard onboard, her work is well worth a look: http://www.lizzieshepherd.com/ taking the picture located bellow.

Fabulous picture of the Luciole moored in Auxerre, taken by Lizzie Sheppard

Overall a great week with good weather, John Liley steering the boat at the start of the week before returning back to England. Also the work cleaning Vézelay Bascilica, which has been on going for some time, is now finished - so less hoovering for the Nuns - who have been known even to interrupt our tour to hoover the alter.

16th - 22nd August

A week off for the Luciole, and her crew. The Luciole spent the week moored in the port of Clamecy, a week off gives us the opportunity to put some time into the cabins and boat, touching up the interior and even some major improvements in the bathrooms and crew areas, maintaining our standards all round.

Tom and our new hostess Steph, from the UK, not to be confused with our Australian Steph, spent the week onboard, Steph giving the bathrooms and cabins a very deep clean, while Tom focused on maintenance, improving storage and getting the paint brushes out. Captain Francisco spent the week in Barcelona with his son, Anna returned to England to see the family, Marc returning to Scotland to see his family and a lot of rain. Steph made a trip to Disney land and the UK, catching up with friends.

'The Stephies' the Luciole's lovely hostesses

The week also meant an invasion of Lileys on the Luciole. With John visiting the boat, accompanied by youngest son Tristram and oldest Will (me) We spent the week working on the boat in the sunshine. The next 2 weeks is Tom's holiday, so I will be the deckhand for the period and also writing the blogs!

9th - 15th August 2015

Week 15 of the season and the last week before the crew start disappearing on their various holidays to places far and near, and a week in which several welcome visitors showed their faces in preparation for the upcoming week with no passengers. So to kick things off we waved Anna the tour guide off on Thursday for her adventures with her regularly appearing other half Neil. Replacing her just for the end of the week we have the well known technical director Will, up for a spot of tour guiding before a week of activity improving the boat along with younger brother Tristram and Matelot Tom. Directing this merry bunch is father of the Luciole and most esteemed guest John Liley, fortunately arriving on time to pilot the barge for an afternoon and join the passengers for Friday night's customary Captain's Dinner, alongside Captain Francisco.

The week itself was magnificent, 13 extremely pleasant people joined us from the States, Australia and Britain and acted as though they knew each other for years from the first night of meeting. Wine thankfully seems to have such an effect! This group spent most of their days together, going on long distance cycling adventures, finding places to swim and places to drink before returning to us on the boat. In fact they managed to find themselves drinking in a small bar in the tiny village of Lucy, a bar I previously thought was no longer open! They must have been very persuasive because their persistence paid off and they all returned to us later that day with big smiles on their faces. We've been very fortunate this week as the skies have for the most part been extremely clear, especially at night, and the stars have been quite exceptional. The milky way is often visible in this remote part of the world, but it's less common to see such vast numbers of shooting stars. The night in Mailly-le-Chateau in particular with the beautiful chateau silhouetted against the brightness of the stars was quite a view to behold, but unfortunately one my camera wasn't quite capable of capturing.

As the end of the week is upon us it seems a good time to say "Bonnes Vacances" to several other crew members as they leave us for a week or two, Australian Steph to England, Marc to Scotland and Francisco to Barcelona with his son. Enjoy your holidays and see you all soon.

2nd - 8th August 2015

It's been a memorable and bitter-sweet week on the Luciole, a week of mixed emotions and unusual happenings. First of all we have had a very nice and very mixed group of passengers with us, Australian, New Zealander, American, English and Scottish, along with our own Chilean Captain we formed a very cosmopolitan bunch floating down the Nivernais together. This group were active every day, enjoying a good cycle and big walks together, as well as a little swimming in the evenings, infact the fantastically brave Pru even threw herself into the waters of Vincelles with style using the barge's boom arm, a long steel arm designed to swing you off the boat and onto the shore. Alongside that we had our second successful angler of the season in the form of 16 year old Gabriel, who did fantastically well reeling in his catch. Unfortunately on the cycle back to the boat the poor lad broke too hard and flew over his handlebars, luckily he wasn't too hurt but in the crash managed to chip a front tooth, hopefully a quick visit to the dentist will sort that out for him.

The saddest news of the week is that of much beloved hostess Emma's departure to pastures new, she who shared almost 4 months of cruising alongside us and was always impeccable in all respects. So tearful and fond farewells were had on Saturday, with passengers and crew alike. We all wish her the best of luck, though I'm sure she doesn't need it, she will excel no doubt.

Now of course the departure of one hostess means the imminent arrival of another, so may I present the rather lovely Steph, here to join current hostess Steph, in a now rather confusing double act of a hosting team. Depending on your outlook perhaps that just makes things more convenient, no one will ever have an excuse to forget their names again, that's for certain.

Luciole crew the day of  Emma's departure. From left to right: Neil (Anna's right hand man and general nice guy), Tour guide Anna, Hostesses Steph and Emma, Matelot Tom, Chef Marc and Captain Francisco

26th July - 1st August 2015

Week 14 of the season, just over half way, and what a real pleasure these past few days have been. We were joined by a family with branches spanning both sides of the Atlantic, a really delightful group of people who kept us talking, laughing and happy all week. Remarkably amongst them we had five mothers and five daughters, plus an extremely sweet grandmother and three excellent gentleman, and none of them could have been nicer, funnier or more charming.

The pace of the week was comfortably sedate as one would hope, days spent out on the deck in the sun, people playing scrabble in one corner while others sketched and painted the passing landscape. Two or three people would often be out on their bicycles getting way ahead of the barge and exploring the local area, while others paced along beside us on foot, waving, shouting jokes towards us and generally just being well humoured and natural. It's weeks like this that show us just how easy our jobs can seem and remind us how lucky we are to be in the position we are in. When the line between passenger and crew blurs and friendship and camaraderie prevail, that's the Luciole's speciality, and I wouldn't change that feeling for anything. A flawless week.

19th - 25th July 2015

What a week it's been here on the Luciole, we're on our 13th week of the season and have with us our 3rd adventure themed charter group, a very sweet and kind American family of 11, including grandparents, parents and kids, and we had a really great time with them. The family were on holiday celebrating the 50th wedding anniversary of grandparents Ken and Peggy, joined by their 2 children and their partners, and their 5 grandchildren.

The kids all week were fantastic, always full of energy and laughter as one would expect, but also surprising all of us with their politeness and brightness. Morgan and Alison at the helm with Captain Francisco, steering us into locks and practically giving the Captain a week off from piloting, the same could be said for Chef Marc and his little helper Vicky, who did a wonderful job creating Chocolate brownie and Canapes and just generally being a great commi chef at age 13, and Daniel and his week long fishing adventure with his uncle Wayne, only one successful catch between the two of them but what a beauty of a Pike Wayne landed.

In other unusual events for the week, we had horses crossing the boat once more at l'ecluse de Vaux, in order to help out lock keeper and friend of the boat, Olivier. In a normal season the horses cross back from the isolated pastures at the far side of the lock quite late in the year, but this year due to extremely low rain fall, and lots of sunshine, the grass was exhausted and so the horses had to make the return journey earlier than expected. It's always nice to see everyone so excited at the crossing, the passengers forming the deck chairs into a make shift auditorium, everyone with cameras out , including crew that see it every year, but somehow it still remains entertaining.

Finally I would like to wish many happy returns to our truly excellent hostess Emma, who turned 30 on Saturday. I can only speak for myself perhaps but I think there may well have been a few sore heads this morning, totally worth it however as we had a night to remember. Happy birthday Emma!

 Wayne and his formidable catch.

12th - 18th July 2015

The Luciole has had a very exciting and unusual week this past week as we were joined by a lovely family from the States. Seeking not just the Luciole's special brand of peace, local beauty and indulgence, but also adventure and excitement hidden amongst the greenery and tranquility. The family spanned three generations, which is always a pleasure to have onboard, including five teens, so aside from the mid-morning starts this was a very active and busy week. Cruises were marked by mass cycling, ten or eleven of our passengers rampaging down the towpaths and up to see the sights such as the beautiful as ever Roche de Saussois, or the multitude of pretty villages and hidden Lavoires. The tours were a good mixture of local culture and adventure activities, with the group splitting on certain days to fit as much in as possible, the kids going climbing, kayaking, horse riding, while the parents and grandparents enjoyed the vinyards, cathedrals and chateaus Burgundy has to offer.

Additionally Tuesday was the 14th of July, Bastille day in France and the opportunity for a huge celebration. Auxerre hosted a firework display on the river on Monday night, so we changed our cruise schedule slightly to accommodate and in order to reserve our front row tickets to a spectacular display we departed from the pretty little town of Gurgy, just north of Auxerre. It was a fantastic family orientated week, and hopefully everyone enjoyed themselves as much as we enjoyed having them on board.

A Panoramic view of Auxerre, courtesy of our very own hostess Steph.

 Happy Bastille day!

5th - 11th July 2015

We have officially passed the half way point of the season here on the Luciole and what a fantastic three months it's been. What better way to celebrate such a milestone than with the wonderful group we've had with us this week. Group leader James was with us alone in May to scout out the route and organise himself for this week, a unique idea in which he chose to combine barging with his usual group activity of walking. Along with wife Diana, they chose the Luciole as their base of operations and organised their own outings alongside our usual visits and cruising schedule. What a huge success it was too and a great idea, the walking tours to local towns, places of beauty, swimming spots and on one occasion the local pub worked flawlessly when paired with our own itinerary, thus it was an active and enjoyable week for all.

This week was a first as far as I'm aware in that we were fortunate enough to have our first ever Maltese guests, six of them in all, along with two Australians and six Brits, all extremely courteous and friendly people, and seemingly having an excellent time. Hopefully it was a chance for all to relax a little also, especially James and Diana themselves, who generally cater and look after their tours alone, so perhaps it was a nice change for them to sit on deck with their friends, sipping one of the many bloody marys consumed over the course of the week, swimming off the boat almost every day and night, and of course being fed by our master chef Marc, most definitely the highlight of the week for such a food loving group of people. 

The final words of the week were spoken by James, after Francisco's customary Captain's Dinner speech, and finer and nicer words could not be spoken, summing up the week, crew and passengers in one rather lengthy poem dedicated to all. Unfortunately I don't have a copy, and perhaps it's best it remains that way, as another memory of a magical week on the Luciole.

28th June - 4th July 2015

The first week of July is upon us heralding summer at it's finest, the sun is shining and the skies are big and bright blue, Indeed I've experienced some of the hottest weather I've seen in Burgundy so far, but no complaints from anyone over here, it might be scorching hot but when you've always got a fresh and extremely cool river next to the boat, it's certainly not so bad. Aside from all the paddling and diving into the water that seemed to be a recurrent theme of the week, everything was extremely calm on board.When it's this hot it seems the world moves in slow motion, the barge itself being an exception, as it always moves in slow motion, a relaxed pace we prefer to call it.

Otherwise it's been an extremely pleasant week, we were joined by 3 Americans, 5 Brits including long time visitors and friends of the Luciole, Leslie and Malcolm, as well as Julia, the sister of tour guide Anna, and the always charming French-Australian Antoine. This group melded with each other extremely quickly and spent all hours of the day together as one big family, sharing games of scrabble in the wonderfully cool air conditioned saloon, or sitting on deck in the shade of the parasol, creating water colours of all they could see. If not there then perhaps in some fascinating place being shown around by Anna, otherwise at the table together eating some fantastic creation of Chef Marcs and finishing off a good few bottles of wine. Either way it was all done with a smile on the faces of all and will keep a special place in everyone's memories as Burgundy truly at it's finest

 We get weather in Burgundy! The passengers plus our very own Penny line up on the deck after an unfortunate wind related incident with the parasol.

 Two very lovely pairs of sisters on the Luciole. From left to right: Leslie, Sue, Julia and our exceptional tour guide Anna.

Unfortunately not a very good picture, but it depicts host George successfully closing the gate of a lock, while student lock keeper Daniel sleeps peacefully in his chair. We managed to enter the lock, stop the boat and close the gates before he finally woke up. Quite an achievement nonetheless and certainly a first for everyone. The poor lad was definitely red faced when he awoke.

21st - 27th June 2015

Another gorgeous week on the Luciole, a week of music, laughter and sun. It didn't take long for this mixed group of Brits and Americans to discover not only the CD player and the bar, but also Ken's hidden and rather unsuspected profession as a dance teacher, so naturally a demonstration was mandatory and exemplary.The music stayed blasting out all week in the saloon, very fitting timing indeed as France's national Fete de Musique was in full flow from the 21st of the month onwards.

Fuelling the party was an array of cocktails created by host George and hostess Steph, and as the boats official guinea pig and taster that I am, I can testify to just how delicious they were, provided you like your drinks with a little bit of a kick, I think it's fair to say this weeks lot certainly did! The affable and always funny Bob being the one exception, not being much of a cocktail drinker, but I know he was happy regardless, sitting on the deck in the sun with a glass of the ever elusive Grey Goose vodka, his particular favourite, it's rare to see a man with such a big smile across his face. It must be true what they say about simple pleasures.

Adding to the party atmosphere was our weeks reasons to celebrate, and excellent reasons they are too; the joint birthdays of 90 year old Rosalie and her niece Sharon who just turned 70, for every major birthday these two travel away together along witgh Rosalie's daughter Meralie. So this year I'm very glad you made the right decision and came to join us on the Luciole, Happy Birthday to the two of you, we hope you had a very special day and a wonderful week with all of us.

The group line up on deck in Auxerre, complete with Captain Francisco and Tour guide Anna.

14th June - 20th June 2015

It started as a peaceful week in Burgundy as usual, gently cruising down the canal and seeing the sights, joined by several familiar faces and a few new ones too. Of the new arrivals we were fortunate enough to be joined by Texan sisters Gwyn and Karen, Canadians Caroline and Carey and British couple Meg and Bob, and very nice it was to meet them all too. As for the more familiar amongst us we were very happy to have onboard once again Fra and Steve, and Matelot Tom's Parents Rob and Jan. Additionally we were also extremely lucky to have with us again Arthur, Penny and Jon Liley's middle son, and all around good guy who couldn't have been more helpful, especially at night time as he very helpfully pointed things out with his newly acquired lazer pen, things like your eyes for example.

Shattering the peace and quiet midweek were our sudden arrivals, but very welcome ones all the same. So with that said perhaps it's time to reintroduce George the host, host from last season on the Luciole, covering Emma's two week holiday and taking his opportunity to escape busy London life and replace it with a bit of serenity. On wednesday evening we also had yet another set of welcome faces as Alice, another hostess from previous seasons, and her mother Mary, came to visit from near Dijon and join us for dinner, the lucky souls. So a busy week it's been, with our many visitors and all the catching up with old friends that had to be done, but what a pleasure it's been to see them all again, who knows who will come to stay next week, around these parts it could be anyone.

Sunday evening sunset over Auxerre