PamelaMaeSnap

So glad to know my new addiction to Duolingo will not be completely wasted :) Now if re-learning to ride a bike goes half as well as re-learning enough French to be reasonably conversational I will be happy!

Meanwhile, every week or so I put aside an hour to just relax (with a glass of French wine) and read/re-read people's posts and stories about their barge cruises ... we think this is the best of both worlds!

Thank you SOOOOO much!!! So sorry I've been out of the loop for a few days ... work smash and promising myself to settle back in here when I have time ...

Can't wait to read your links!!! I know it's crazy to already be so excited about something we won't be doing for almost a YEAR but hey, anticipation is such a huge part of the experience!

We did lock and load ... will be on the Renaissance with European Waterways next summer doing the Burgundy cruise. I'm already working on refreshing my French (I know, I know, I won't need it on the barge ... but we're hoping to take advantage of the ability to wander through the towns and villages and while on last two "big trips" to Spain and Italy my husband was very well-versed in Spanish and Italian, he's struggling with French whereas I studied it for seven years ... MANY years ago, though ... but I've taken on the "learn enough to be able to communicate with the people in the markets and towns" duties! (It's also good to sharpen my memory, which took a big hit due to minor medical issues).

Not 100% sure of the itinerary yet (I see sample itineraries on their site but not positive that those will still be the same stops next summer). Looking forward to a lot of walking and a LOT of wine and amazing food ... and to relearning how to ride a bike before we go!

Planning on giving ourselves two nights in Paris beforehand and another two afterwards to avoid the worries of delays and, you know, to spend a few days and nights in Paris!

Decided against posting on a thread that goes back 4 years.

But now it only goes back a day or two :D

Kat, thank you SO much for responding and the details ... I swear to all of you I really did try to find other posts that were on this specific subject but had little luck and I know this board is as good as it gets when it comes to cruising!

We've been debating back and forth for a day or two on this (sticker shock vs once-in-a-lifetime trip) ... we're both middle-aged-bordering-on-maybe-a-little-past-that LOL ... and who knows how many years we (collectively or separately) have left where we can do something like this? So I THINK we have decided YES YES YES ... and now it's down to looking more carefully at the two options (European and FCW) and going all in ... I DO think we want to do Burgundy, though we will consider Loire Valley as well, and your (Kat) thoughts that Loire is preferable is one we'll take into account for sure ... And we also plan to get to Paris about two days in advance and leave a few days later so that we can enjoy some Paris AND be doing our international travel on weekdays (lesson learned our last two trips when we had some Sunday travel in there. Bad idea. Very bad. And we have the flexibility to do it, so we will!)

Also VERY glad to know about the informal atmosphere in terms of dress.

Once we lock and load, I will definitely be asking more questions here and also spend a lot of time reading the threads that I think probably discuss some of the other aspects of river/canal cruising as well as the ports and sites that are relevant.

I'm ridiculously excited already and we haven't even reserved yet (though I am guessing we need to do that soon, especially if we want choice of cabin, since we really only have a few weeks that work for us.)

Thank you, Portofino ...

Hoping all is well with Oktobercat and her family ...

As a newcomer, I know it's hard for me to just barge into a conversation (no pun intended!!!) but am kind of overwhelmed with our sort of sudden decision to move up this long-time amorphous dream trip of mine into reality within the next year ...

Of course, the first place I looked was this board ... in fact, I admit I had to rejoin with a new name because I can't for the life of me remember what my original board name was (I was a lurker, so it's not like I created a trail of breadcrumbs).

I am grateful for everything anyone has shared in detail and have a lot to read ...

Thanks in advance to anyone who HAS posted and I look forward to putting together some ideas. I know what we want to do is going to be costly but on the other hand, as they say, you just never know when you may run out of time to go after those dreams.

Apologies for what may be known as "necrobumping" on some boards but we're finally piecing together plans for an upcoming trip and I've had this site bookmarked for a while and can finally utilize it!

OCTOBERKAT, our initial choice/hopes are to do a barge cruise with European Waterways next summer in Burgundy ... cannot seem to find much on here one way or the other about the company but everything on the site looks like exactly what we are looking for ...

Would LOVE to know a little more about what you thought of the company, barge, facilities, etc.? It's a big occasion for us and we don't know how many more years we have of being able to complete our bucket list of dream trips (and this one specifically is mine ... it would be my 60th birthday celebration but doing a barge trip has been one of hubby's dream since hearing about them from a friend at work ... he doesn't love the idea of a cruise generally as much as I do but this really appeals to him!)

Would love any extra thoughts you could share as a well-respected CC member (and I promise to be more active now that we're moving into active planning etc.)

Thanks in advance!!!