Luxury French Barge Cruise | Loire Valley Tours and Activities on The Renaissance

Leisurely mornings and afternoons are often enjoyed aboard the Renaissance. Life moves ever so slowly on a luxury french barge cruise, so sitting back and taking it all in is one of the most relaxing parts of the journey. Whilst many would enjoy doing this all the time, the Loire Valley day tours and activities available as part of the planned program liven it all up, get the blood flowing, and take us on a cultural and learning experience in one of the most picturesque parts of France.

Kerri McConnel

Kerri enjoys some time on the deck with the Captain of the Renaissance luxury French barge cruise. Image © Kerri McConnel

Loire Valley Tours on Our Luxury French Barge Cruise

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The Renaissance cruise takes place in the canals of the Upper Loire and Burgundy regions, running down the border of two of the most well-known areas in France. They are, of course, known widely for two things; the first is wine. Both Burgundy and the Loire regions are at the heart of French wine regions. Their unique soil and other climatic conditions gives rise to some incredible, and very different, tasting wines. The Loire, is without a doubt, one of the more beautiful areas in all of France. Known for its château, there’s barely a moment that goes by where an incredibly ornate, and very old castle can’t be seen.

Whilst Loire Valley wine tours and châteaux tours form a strong part of the week-long adventures off the barge, there’s also a great array of other Loire day trips and activities to keep everyone interested.

Travel to and from all excursions are via the European Waterways private vehicle. It mirrors the cleanliness of the barge and provides transit in a spacious and comfortable manner. The air-conditioned vehicle has large windows allowing all guests to have a view and water is always supplied during and after the trips.

A private chateau that our tour guide slowed us via the back roads of the Loire Valley. Image © Kerri McConnel

A Private Tour Guide

All of our visits are guided by crew member, Matthew, an easy-going fellow with a penchant for history and telling stories. He has a manner in which he shares information of interest, without being boring, and without feeling as though we need to find a speedy exit for the closest door. His love for the role clearly shows, and it’s hard not to hold onto his every word. He gives everyone enough time to stop and take photos, to admire a painting or to read a signboard. He moved us along when he had too without being overbearing or pushy. Overall, his style meant that we enjoyed every single place we visited, and everything we heard.

He was also happy to stop for a few “surprise” visits to some of his latest finds, like a 10th-century church in a town boasting a population of around 300 people, or taking the back road to check out yet another glorious château.

The incredible Château de Fontainebleau was one of a handful of chateau tours we took during our barge cruise. Image © Kerri McConnel

Château de Fontainebleau

Our week starts off with a visit to Fontainebleau, a city about 68 kilometres south of Paris and home to not one but two areas of interest. The Forêt de Fontainebleau, a huge forest once the playground of royalty, is now a key attraction for rock climbers, hikers and those who love the great outdoors. Its 280 square kilometres of greenery completely surrounds one of the most prestigious castles, the Château de Fontainebleau.

The Château de Fontainebleau is equally impressive, with rich history and yet it receives only a portion of the annual visitors the more widely known Palace of Versailles receives. This is to our advantage, with smaller crowds, there’s more time to move about the palace admiring as much as you can. Dating back to at least 1137, the first recorded reference to the château, it is the only château to have been continuously occupied by members of the royal family for eight centuries. Through the Renaissance years in the 1500’s through to the 18th century, kings, queens and other members of French royalty lived here, making their own changes to a building that began as a hunting lodge and became an ever-growing palace.

Stunning details inside Château de Fontainebleau. Image © Kerri McConnel

The years were tough on the château at Fontainebleau and during the French Revolution, the furniture was removed and sold. Having been bought and sold many times, including by the French military, and occupied by the Germans during World War Two, the mainstream restoration was undertaken by President Charles de Gaulle in the mid to late 1960’s. The château was included as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1981. Despite the furniture being removed in the late 1700’s, the furniture seen here today is still hundreds of years old. Its opulence is a sight to behold, particularly in an age where this type of excess and richness is rarely on display outside of such unique properties.

The throne room at Chateau fontainebleau. Image © Kerri McConnel

To see this château in its entirety would take days. We were fortunate to be able to spend a little time here, looking through some of the more important rooms of the house, and getting a taste of what life would have been within its walls.

French Military School of Horse Riding

Close by the gates of the Fontainebleau, a very special tour had been prepared for us. A colonel in the French Army waited for us. A passionate horseman he was to be our guide as we made our way around the French Military School of Horse Riding.

Whilst this tour is available once a month, it is little-known to most visitors to the area. The crew of the Renaissance work in and around these local areas, building relationships with people and businesses, which in turn provide special access to the guests on board the barge. It’s not the first time we will see this happen during the week, and we are grateful for the unique opportunities European Waterways provides.

Looking almost like a second-hand store or the back of a farmer’s shed, we visited the museum with all manner of horse memorabilia, much of it from the war years. Dummies wear the uniforms of old, whilst saddles of various kinds compete for space with horseshoes and even an entire horse skeleton. As the Colonel takes us through this and other areas like the blacksmith’s foundry, and the medical quarters, his passion is obvious. He is particularly keen for us to learn how they repatriate and provide jobs for war-wounded soldiers. When he talks about the high number of women employed “because they have such an understanding of horses” and of the French team, including soldiers, winning medals in the equestrian events at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, his pride is palpable. When he takes us to the stables, where his personal horse “Estella” and others live, his love for the horses is immediately tangible. We can see they love him too.

The tour of the military school is unusual but totally unique. It’s the type of travel experience that we regularly seek out and to have it provided as part of a barge cruise was unexpected.

Château La Bussiere

Not every château can reach the heights of those like Fontainebleau. In fact, many of them scattered throughout France and Europe, lie in private hands. Those who live within the ancient walls, have usually inherited them, as they pass down through the generations, or buy them in private treaties. Whichever the case, government funding does not apply, leaving those who own them to do so at entirely their own cost. Privately owned or otherwise, though often aesthetically different, their similarity lies in their history.

Château de La Bussiere has been continuously inhabited for nine centuries, a stunning fact when you consider the more famous Fontainebleau was only eight. Originally a fortress, this smaller castle is surrounded by a lake that once upon a time would have fed into the moat, one of the castle’s security strongholds. In 1814, the Chasseval family owned the castle and have handed it down to their descendants ever since. Access to ten furnished rooms is provided to the public. This lesser known location often sees more school children than the likes of us, but that doesn’t make it any less interesting. In fact, it makes it more so.