My third day on board European Waterways‘ La Belle Époque was such a fun combination of relaxation and sightseeing. As the barge moved slowly through the various locks to Ancy le Franc, we biked alongside the canal and enjoyed the gorgeous French spring sunshine. It was a short cruising day, so just before lunch we docked at Ancy le Franc and climbed into the van for a ride to the famous wine town of Chablis.

Burgundy Canal. Credit: Susan Lanier-Graham

Visit to Chablis

The town of Chablis, in the northwest part of the Burgundy region, is picturesque with vineyard-covered hills, small boutiques, little specialty shops, a broad selection of restaurants and some luxurious hotels. After a quick lunch in one of the cafés, we headed to Laroche Wine Bar at 10 rue Auxerroise. The wine bar for Domaine Michel Laroche is a great spot to sample Chablis wines. For just €10 , you can sample three wines.

Laroche Wines in Chablis. Credit: Susan Lanier-Graham

After our wine tasting, we wandered behind the tasting room through narrow passageways to the Obediencery – a 9th century monastery for monks of the Order of Saint Martin from Tours. This gorgeous building holds much of the stock for Laroche Vineyards and you can even see the 13th century oak press.

Evening on board the barge

After a day of sightseeing in Chablis, we returned to the barge for a quick change of clothing before meeting up again in the saloon. Our stewardess served us traditional British Pimms on the deck before the chef called us in for dinner.

Sainte-maure-de-touraine cheese. Credit: Wikipedia

Dinner was centered around the white wine we passengers picked out as a group during our Chablis tasting – 2008 Chablis Grand Cru, Domaine Laroche. We enjoyed beef carpaccio and duck with butternut squash puree. Our second wine, the red one, was Savigny-Lès-Beaune, Premier Cru “Les Peuillets,” Bouchard Aîné & Fils. The cheeses offered were St. Maure de Touraine and Brique Jussac. The Sainte Maure de Touraine is a log-shaped goat’s milk cheese with a long stick through the middle. According to tradition, it’s bad luck if anyone cuts through the stick while eating the cheese, so we were all careful to ensure good luck for the remainder of the trip.

After dinner, we sipped on the rest of our wine and talked about all the beautiful places to see in the world, but each of us felt incredibly lucky to be sitting under the stars in the French countryside that Spring evening.

Missed the first two days of my trip with European Waterways? Check out the first day on board La Belle Époque here or you can continue along to the fourth day of my journey, exploring medieval France.