Sailing the Seine

A NEW way to travel French rivers is by river boats that carry a hundred or more passengers. The French Cruise Line, anxious to move in on the burgeoning barge-hotel business, designed and built two river boats three or four years ago, the M/S Arlene, which cruises the Rhone and Saône rivers in Burgundy, and the M/S Normandie, which plies the Seine from Paris to Honfleur and back.

My sister Jane and I joined the M/S Normandie one hot June evening at the Quai de Grenelle in Paris, just west of the Eiffel Tower. The Normandie is a spick-and-span white two-decker, 91 meters (299 feet) long and 10.2 meters (33 feet) wide, with fifty small but pleasant double cabins, each with its own bathroom. The public rooms include a large, tastefully decorated, and comfortable lounge, a good-sized dining room, and an upper sundeck, half covered, half open, with a roof that slides down to permit the Normandie to squeeze under the low bridges of Paris and its delighted passengers to view the City of Light at night.

PL

About the Author

Priscilla L. Buckley

Featured Tags

A NEW way to travel French rivers is by river boats that carry a hundred or more passengers. The French Cruise Line, anxious to move in on the burgeoning barge-hotel business, designed and built two river boats three or four years ago, the M/S Arlene, which cruises the Rhone and Saône rivers in Burgundy, and the M/S Normandie, which plies the Seine from Paris to Honfleur and back.

My sister Jane and I joined the M/S Normandie one hot June evening at the Quai de Grenelle in Paris, just west of the Eiffel Tower. The Normandie is a spick-and-span white two-decker, 91 meters (299 feet) long and 10.2 meters (33 feet) wide, with fifty small but pleasant double cabins, each with its own bathroom. The public rooms include a large, tastefully decorated, and comfortable lounge, a good-sized dining room, and an upper sundeck, half covered, half open, with a roof that slides down to permit the Normandie to squeeze under the low bridges of Paris and its delighted passengers to view the City of Light at night.