Loire Valley Barge Cruise | Gourmet Dining on the Renaissance Luxury Barge

Food, fresh produce and wine is integral to French culture. This way of life is also celebrated on board the Renaissance, a luxury barge cruise in the Loire Valley giving guests a front row seat to the Upper Loire and Burgundy regions of France. With menus that support local regional fare, showcasing Loire Valley cuisine and a chef who adores French cooking, a week aboard this barge will make you feel as though you are at a fine dining restaurant, every day.

Kerri McConnel

Mixed asparagus with parma ham, poached egg and hollandaise sauce for breakfast on the Renaissance. Image © Kerri McConnel

Fresh, Local Loire Valley Cuisine

Contents

A Casual Breakfast

The smell of fresh coffee permeates the corridor outside our cabin on the lower deck. Despite not liking coffee, it’s that familiar sign that breakfast is calling us. Upstairs, the crew are busy bringing delicious items out of the kitchen that will keep us nourished until our midday meal. There is so much food served on board the Renaissance that snacking is not a word that is ever spoken nor thought of. It’s that time of day when we know we have to pull ourselves away from the luxury of our cabins and join the other guests upstairs in the saloon.

Breakfast is an informal affair, served mostly in a buffet style with the option for a hot dish that changed daily. We learned on the first morning that the small blackboard behind the bar told the story of our upcoming meal. It became the first port of call each day as our curiosity got the better of us, anxious to find out what food delights would be coming our way.

The perfect setting for a casual meal with a view. Image © Kerri McConnel

Over the course of the week, we had eggs in every form. They came softly poached with a delicate hollandaise sauce drizzled over the top, lightly scrambled with a serve of smoked salmon, and as omelettes filled with soft cheese and ham.

On other occasions, pancakes and French toast added a touch of decadence. All hot dishes are cooked to order should you wish to include these in your breakfast ritual. If you are keen on having the same kind of breakfast each day, like scrambled eggs, for example, the chef on board is more than accommodating.

In addition, each breakfast buffet included a selection of beautiful charcuterie, French cheese, fresh fruits, yoghurt and nuts. No French breakfast is complete without the appearance of croissants and we were spoilt with a selection of these and other pastries, acquired each day from a local boulangerie.

In hindsight, I didn’t eat as many croissants as I would have liked. My addiction was forced to make way for an abundance of food and clearly, only one stomach. With so much on offer, you need to pace yourself. After all, the day is still young at this point.

Chef Hannah prepping the artichoke for a cooking class onboard the Renaissance luxury barge. Image © Kerri McConnel

The Luxury Barge Kitchen

As we continued with our day and departed on a day trip, or made the difficult decision as to which deck chair we want to sit on outside, the kitchen never stopped. At the rear of the saloon, Chef Hannah plans, prepares and executes all of the food eaten on this barge from an area approximately three metres by three metres.

We spent some time in here, in Hannah’s stainless steel food headquarters, learning more about her style of cooking and the food being prepared. As people who enjoy our food, including learning, shopping, cooking and eating it, the ability to spend this time with the chef is an intangible benefit. It’s an experience that sets apart these small, intimate barge cruises from the larger riverboats and cruise ships.

Fresh, colourful sole chablisienne. Image © Kerri McConnel

Mimosa with leek poached egg and vinaigrette. Image © Kerri McConnel

Delicious and fresh Caprese salad on the Renaissance luxury barge. Image © Kerri McConnel

French Cooking Lesson

The artichokes sat on the main preparation bench in the kitchen awaiting our arrival. These prehistoric looking vegetables have been the subject of many a cook’s terror as they have tried to convert them from something unwieldy into something more edible.

Stories of previous attempts and subsequent failures flew about the kitchen as Hannah showed us step by step how to trim down the artichoke. “Artichokes are known as the rich man’s vegetable”, Hannah chimed in, “because so much of it gets cut off and thrown away”. As the heart of the artichoke is scooped out, one of the guests leant over to his wife and stated “that’s why yours were so hard to eat, you left the heart in”. As it arrives at its final state, a little smaller and with a large hole in the centre, we all realised we’ve been taught a good lesson. All that was left was to stuff the artichoke and bake it ready to be served for our lunch.

The Leisurely Lunch on the Barge

Lunch is served on the stone table outside on the deck, taking full advantage of the stunning French weather. Mirroring the French colours of red white and blue, our 39-metre luxury barge cruises slowly through the canals, as we sit back and relax over lunch for several hours.

Each day the table settings changed and we admired the handiwork of the hostesses who seem to also have a degree in origami, such is the styling of a simple paper napkin. Against a backdrop of smooth waters, stone villages and countryside, we indulged in this daily ritual with a mutual sense of satisfaction and amazement.

We eagerly awaited the arrival of a hostess, a telling sign that our first wine lesson of the day was about to begin. We travelled, viticulturally speaking, through the vineyards of Saumur, Sancerre, Bordeaux and Burgundy, to name but a few, as we heard of the myths and legends surrounding many of their origins. Mostly we learned about the various factors that influence a wine’s taste and what we should expect once our glass was filled.

We sniffed each glass, searching for the flavours of fresh berries as our hostess intimated we might find. We swirled the reds around in our glass, waiting for the aromas to rise, and allowing our palates to determine whether it was a hint of berries, violets or chestnuts that we could taste.

We tasted and drank, learning about these wines and trying ever so hard to identify a favourite amongst them all. The wines are carefully matched to the food you eat.

Lunches were served as a mix of buffets or a more formal plated option. On the day we joined the chef at the Gien markets, it made perfect sense to bring together the fresh produce Hannah had brought home from her favourite local vendors.

We helped add to Hannah’s ingredients through a selection of cheese and other fruit and vegetables that we all agreed we would like to eat. There were some that never made it back to the barge however as we all sat huddled around Hannah eating ripe, red and very delicious strawberries straight from the punnet.

Cheese was always served as a course with lunch. Chèvre, or goat’s cheese,