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Marie and Mark Gallé (left),
The Barge Company Directors and hands-on experts on hotel-barge cruising. Seen here aboard the beautiful and welcoming Luciole barge in Burgundy. |
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YOUR DIRECT LINK TO THE SPECIAL WORLD OF BARGING…
We are a small but industrious team, and are utterly dedicated to what we do. We are Marie and Mark Gallé (see photo above), and together we are the face of The Barge Company. If you call us (note our toll-free number from the USA and CANADA), you’ll always get through to me (Marie) on the telephone and I’ll be delighted to hear from you and help you with your barge booking. If you’ve a good idea of what you want, and just need the reassurance that it’s the right barge for your cruise, then I’m the right person to talk to. Or, if you’re just thinking of cruising somewhere, sometime, and have questions, I’ll always be happy to help you out, go through the possibilities and to share my in-depth knowledge of the barges, canals and rivers with you. I will be honored to be your personal and direct link to the barging world… |
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WE’RE TOTALLY INDEPENDENT…
As we approach our twelfth season as The Barge Company we continue to reinforce our position as the leading European barge bookers. All our reviews and comments on the barges are ABSOLUTELY INDEPENDENT – we aren’t sponsored by anyone, we don’t have shares in any of the barges and no one gives us money to say nice things about them.. |
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(Left) Mark of The Barge Company and Ruairi (Irish Captain of the Shannon Princess II in Ireland) enjoy a pause between sight-seeing on the beautiful Ireland cruise itinerary, when we visited them in March 2005. In sunnier climes we cruised on the glorious Saroche barge in May 2006 and Mark took an opportunity to study the Visitors’ Book and see what past clients had said about this wonderful barge and her renowned gourmet cuisine (right). |
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WE MAKE VERY FREQUENT BARGE VISITS… We love ‘talking barging’ and many of our clients become friends, regularly re-booking for next season and sending us postcards and news from all over the world. With our frequent visits to the barges we make sure they’re still in tip-top condition for you, ensuring that we’re up to date with their facilities and are maintaining their excellent standards. Happily, this also means that we enjoy excellent relationships with the barge-owners, and remain full of admiration for what they do. |
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| Our August 2006 inspection of the Alouette barge (above) was superb as we cruised in total decadence on the UNESCO Heritage site which is the Canal du Midi; an intimate-feeling waterway originally constricted to link the Atlantic Ocean with the Meditterranean Sea. The ancient, swaying trees over our heads and gently meandering water was very restful and the delightful villages along the way were a sheer triumph in glorious sunshine (see pics above). Our April 2006 visit to the traditional and very welcoming La Tortue barge was also truly wonderful rural adventure on the Canal du Midi, with sumptuous food each evening, glorious wines and a super crew. To read more about this barge more please click here to read an article dedicated to our visit. |
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ON TWO WHEELS… We also make frequent educational visits to areas that may be of particular interest to our clients pre or post-cruise, and collect information on the cruise regions, so that we can pass it on to you. Since our permanent relocation to France in February 2004 we have been able to tour around a lot at weekends or during holiday times to research the various regions on your behalf. Keep your eyes on our Barge of the Month section as we feature a barge recently visited on there in detail each month. It makes interesting reading as our main means of transport is our trusty Pan European ST1300 motorbike (a sharp contrast to the gentle slow pace of life on board a barge!) Even our baby son Felix is getting into it (see below..!) |
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· “We particularly appreciated your persuading them to run the cruise for just the two of us! I felt like a queen, with a royal barge” |
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Mark (far left) enjoying the very light and spacious saloon on the Colibri in June 2006, and (second from left) a pleasant aperitif in La Tortue’s classic saloon on our one of our Spring 2006 visits to the Canal du Midi region. See La Tortue above, second from right. In April 2006 we ventured up to the relatively unknown (outside of France that is) Upper Loire region, which lies about an hour and a half’s drive south of Paris, to spend some days on board a relatively recent addition to our collection— La Bonne Humeur (see above right). Ultra-luxurious and very spacious she represents the height of luxury, and we were thrilled to be able to spend some time on her and take many excellent photographs of her following her winter 2006 total re-fit. See more in our feature article here and also the dedicated set of pages for the barge here ABOUT GETTING THE BARGE CRUISE YOU WANT… Some barges always become booked up very quickly each year – often more than a year in advance, so we urge you to get in touch with us as soon as you are thinking of booking a barge cruise so that we can ensure you get your first choice barge if at all possible. Sometimes your favourite barge or cruise week will not be available, but we will always propose a similar barge or cruise area, if there is one. The general rule though, is ‘get in touch as soon as possible’ – even if only to discuss the various possibilities. WE SINCERELY LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU SOON... |
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TO CONTACT US Phone: +33 563 02 87 04, Fax: +33 563 02 24 11 Phone (Toll-Free from USA + Canada):1-800-688-0245 Email:info@bargecompany.com
The Barge Cruise Company Ltd. 501 Chemin Lacoste 82170 Grisolles FRANCE
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