All About Hotel Barge Charters: October 2015

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

French Hotel Barge Anjodi opens an additional 2 weeks for 2016

We are delighted to let you know that the French Hotel Barge Anjodi has added two cruises to their 2016 calendar for March 20th and 27th departures.

French Hotel Barge Anjodi - Barging Cruises on Canal du Midi, France

Springtime on the Canal du Midi is a lovely time to travel, with its beautiful scenery and warm Mediterranean climate. Please click here for Anjodi's sample itinerary.

These additional departure dates incorporate the Easter weekend holiday, and are priced at Value Season rates, plus there is an early booking discount of 10% for all reservations confirmed before December 31, 2015.

Anjodi is a classic Dutch barge that was rebuilt for charter to specifically navigate the canal du midi. The barge is 100-feet long with a crew of 4, has both air conditioning and central heating, and accommodates up to 8 guests in 4 cabins with private, ensuite bathrooms. Anjodi has a spacious sun deck with teak furnishings, a jacuzzi/spa tub, and 8 touring bicycles.

Anjodi is available for private charters and also for cabin cruises where you share the barge with others. For private charters, Anjodi also offers Family with Children cruises, Golf cruises, and Wine Appreciation cruises.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us should you require any further details.

Go Barging in 2016!

Contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters to book ANJODI
View Anjodi's online brochure
Visit our website for more info on our barges and barging: www.BargeCharters.com

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Rocamadour Goat Cheese - French Hotel Barge Rosa

Today we have a guest post from Mike Crowson, chef on the French Hotel Barge Rosa, about cheese.

Enjoy an alfresco lunch aboard French Hotel Barge Rosa in southwest France

A light cheese course for the lunch menu, Rocamadour goat cheese baked in the oven on a crouton of baguette paysanne, a drizzle of local honey & served with a little herb salad & black cherry compote.

Rocamadour, black cherry compote, herb salad

Rocamadour goat cheese belongs to a family of goat cheeses called Cabecou from Quercy, the name is derived from the village of Rocamadour in the department of the Lot, the cheese was granted an AOC in 1996 & now has to be made under the conditions of the AOC, generally the cheese is 12- 15 days old & best served warm on a toasted crouton or in warm goat cheese salad, which you see on almost every restaurant menu in the region as either a main starter or main course.

Cabecou which is a generic name for all of these cheeses does not carry an AOC only Rocamadour.

Thanks, Mike!

Rosa's charming accommodation for eight guests features two double and two twin-bedded staterooms, all with private ensuite bathrooms, and a saloon that gives direct access onto the spacious sundeck. A cruise on Hotel Barge Rosa is the ideal way to explore this beautiful, pastoral region of Southwest France.

Rosa has two routes for cruising the Gascony/Bordeaux area:

Between Agen and Montauban (view itinerary): from April 17 through July 30, 2016
Between Castet-en-Dorthe and Boé (view itinerary): from July31 through October 29, 2016

See if Rosa has any special offers/discounts available: CLICK HERE

Enjoy yourself with a cruise aboard Rosa!

Contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters to book ROSA
View Rosa's online brochure
Visit our website for more info on our barges and barging: www.BargeCharters.com

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Barging in Holland 2016? Book soon!

We have just confirmed a charter booking for a Dutch Tulip Cruise aboard La Nouvelle Etoile for May 2016 and noticed that there are not too many opportunities left for a barge trip in Holland this spring.

Experience quaint Dutch windmills, world-famous flowers, small European towns, historic cities, art history, Delft pottery, and a distillery, all in one week.

( Updated November 4, 2015 )

LA NOUVELLE ETOILE
Accommodates up to 8 guests. Wheelchair accessible. Click for online brochure.

April 3-9: Open for private charter or cabin cruise (needs a minimum for 4 guests to guarantee the cruise)

May 1-7: 2 Cabins available

PANACHE
Accommodates up to 12 guests. Click for online brochure.

April 3-9: Open for private charter or cabin cruise (needs a minimum for 2 guests to guarantee the cruise)

April 17-23: 2 Cabins available

April 24-30: 5 Cabins available

May 15-21: 4 Cabins available. Holland (Delft) to Belgium (Courtrai)

So, if you fancy a barging trip in Holland this spring. Please contact Paradise Connections as soon as possible because these weeks tend to sell out fast.

Speaking of La Nouvelle Etoile, they only have a few weeks open for private charters for the 2016 barging season. They are currently fully open for the weeks of:

April 3-9: Dutch Tulip Cruise, Holland
May 15-21: Belgium, Picardy, Paris
June 5-11: Burgundy, Auxerre to Moret Sur Loing
July 3-9: Burgundy, Loire Valley
July 10-16: Burgundy
July 17-23: Burgundy, Paris
July 24-30: Paris, Champagne
August 7-13: Paris, Champagne

Let's Go Barging in 2016 !

Contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters to book
View Panache's online brochure
View La Nouvelle Etoile's online brochure
Visit our website for more info on our barges and barging: www.BargeCharters.com

It's not how far nor how fast, it's the pleasure of the journey that keeps people coming back for more.

Saturday, October 10, 2015

RECIPE from French Hotel Barge Renaissance: Sticky Toffee Pudding

We would like to share a recipe from the French Hotel Barge Renaissance.

Luke Dessain is a very talented young chef who loves the barging life. He started his career as an 18-year-old working as a sous chef in a French Alps ski resort where he learned to cook classic French cuisine with a Scottish chef as his mentor.

In the 8 years since then, he has refined his considerable skills and now loves nothing more than creating dishes using wonderful local ingredients as the chef aboard Renaissance in Western Burgundy.

This recipe for Sticky Toffee Pudding originates from Luke's English childhood.

Ingredients

2 cups of dates
3 Earl Grey English Breakfast tea bags
Brewed coffee
1 cup plain yogurt (don’t throw that cup away!)
1 yogurt container each of sunflower oil and sugar
3 yogurt containers of flour
1 teaspoon of baking powder
4 eggs
Between 1/3 and 1/2 cup of salted or unsalted butter
Between 1/3 and 1/2 cup soft of ight brown sugar
Generous 1/3 cup of cream

Method

De-seed the dates and chop finely. Put the dates in a saucepan with the coffee to almost cover, add the tea bags and cook on a medium heat until reduced.
Combine the flour, sugar, oil, yogurt and eggs until smooth.
Add the reduced dates, mix, then add the baking powder. (Don’t forget to take out the tea bags first!).
Heat the oven to 350F/180C.
Put the mixture into small buttered and floured ramekins (muffin tins could also be used) for cooking and bake for about 20 minutes or until set.
For the caramel sauce, melt the butter and brown sugar together, stirring over a medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, add cream, stirring, and reduce to a thick sauce. Note: if you don’t care for salted caramel, use unsalted butter.
To plate up, pop the pudding cakes out of their ramekins, warm through but don’t cook more and cover with the warmed caramel sauce (if there’s any left over, it will keep in the refrigerator).
Garnish with a raspberry and serve with vanilla ice cream.
Enjoy this indulgent pud!

Thank you, Luke, for sharing this recipe with us!

To learn more about cruising the French canals upon Renaissance, read a previous post which tells more about the barge, and view our online brochure.

Looking forward to your inquiries

Contact Paradise Connections Yacht Charters to book RENAISSANCE
View RENAISSANCE's online brochure
Visit our website for more info on our barges & barging: www.BargeCharters.com