GETTING THERE
Rebecca Barnes gets her culture fix by riverboat in northern France, discovering art and history on the Seine
Standing on our riverboat in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, glass of champagne in hand, we all agreed that Paris had never looked more enchanting. And with the Eurostar and regular flights to whisk you from the UK, it’s the perfect starting point for a cruise combining stunning scenery and culture, with our own itinerary taking us on a 443-mile journey through northern France.
On board the newly refurbished 98-passenger MS Swiss Sapphire, for our ‘Cruising The Seine plus Versailles, Paris and London’ itinerary with Tauck, everything is all-inclusive — travel, accommodation, meals, unlimited
TAUCK’S Cruising the Seine Northbound trip costs from £4,995 per person for 14 days, for trips in April 2018, including time in Paris before the river cruise section and in London afterwards. Excludes travel to Paris. www.tauck.co.uk drinks plus complimentary water in your suite, unlimited WiFi, all gratuities, and all guided shore excursions.
Even better than the bottomless champagne is Tauck’s ethos of helping guests to “travel deeper”; expect access to the best attractions before they open, exclusive dinners, and many other above-and-beyond extras along the way.
Journeys are designed to include as many interesting stops and points of interest as can be comfortably visited in one day. And with much of the sightseeing in the morning, there’s free time in the afternoon to explore — we made the most of the ship’s bicycles — or relax on the riverboat.
With most of my fellow passengers having cruised with Tauck before, it’s evidently a winning formula. Once you’re on board, you realise too that while this is a luxury offering by river cruise standards, it’s actually very good value. Prefer champagne to wine? Staff will take notice and your flute will be topped up at regular intervals. Fancy dinner a deux in the privacy of your cabin one evening? No problem.
Most of the cabins themselves are a spacious 225 square foot; all feature large floor-to-ceiling windows which open fully to make the most of the scenery. Beds are super comfortable, linen is 400 thread count, and bathrooms are equipped with Grohe power showers and Molton Brown toiletries.
After starting in style with our photo opportunity at the Eiffel Tower, it was time to head towards our first port of call, Conflans and Auvers-sur-Oise, the resting place of Vincent Van Gogh.
The following morning, we strolled through the town and fields where the artist spent his final days, saw some of the scenes and places that inspired his paintings, and viewed ‘room 5’ — the modest room in which he resided and eventually died in 1890.