Belmond has introduced a barge called Marguerite, which will be drifting through Burgundy this summer and costs roughly the same as a reasonably good sports car, except it doesn’t go anywhere in a hurry.
It is 128 feet long, which sounds quite large until you remember that it isn’t trying to cross an ocean or win a race, and was originally built in 1962, a time when things were generally made to last but not necessarily to be particularly comfortable. It has since been reworked—extensively, by the look of it—and now forms part of Belmond’s collection of canal boats, which are essentially a way of turning the act of going somewhere into something you can stretch out for an entire week.
The name means “daisy”, which suggests something light and pastoral, and this idea has been carried into the interior with soft yellows, floral references, and stained glass elements made by Atelier Loire. This could easily have gone wrong and ended up looking like a gift shop, but instead it appears to have been handled with a degree of restraint—well, care—that keeps it on the right side of tasteful.
There are four cabins, so eight guests in total, which is a sensible number because it avoids the peculiar social dynamics that occur when too many strangers are placed together in a confined space with good wine. Each has its own bathroom, and there is a shared salon and dining area, which is where you will spend a surprising amount of time, largely because there is nowhere urgent to be.
Outside, there’s a lovely deck with plants, a cozy place to eat, and a plunge pool, which might seem unnecessary given that you are already on water, but it’s heated and very clean, and the canal is probably not, so perhaps it makes more sense than it initially appears.
Food is taken seriously on this Belmond boat, as you would expect, with menus tastefully designed by Dominique Crenn. This means that even something as simple as lunch will be extraordinary.
And the itinerary itself is equally interesting, including even a mustard masterclass in Dijon, which is exactly the sort of thing that sounds like too much, until you realise that Dijon has built an entire identity around mustard and is therefore quite entitled to explain it properly.
There is also a private lunch in a 12th-century castle, because in Burgundy that is apparently a normal thing to do.
You can cycle along the Route des Grands Crus, stopping at vineyards along the way, although I suspect most people will spend more time stopping than cycling, which is arguably the correct approach.
Other luxury hotel brands – such as Orient Express, Ritz-Carlton, Aman, and Four Seasons – have gone off in the direction of enormous ships that resemble floating cities. Belmond, on the other hand, has chosen something smaller and slower, which, in a place like Burgundy, is probably the point.
Prices for Marguerite start from €85,100 (approximately $98,200) per week.
