La Renaissance:
Day-by-Day Cruise Diary

From: A Barge Cruise in France

Sunday: Paris, 1:30 p.m.

Jean-Pierre, captain of La Renaissance, collected us at the Hotel Ampère in Paris, which is the meeting point for several European Waterways barge cruises.

From the hotel, which is located in the 17th arrondissement, it's roughly a 90-minute drive in the barge's VW minibus to Rogny-les-Sept-Écluses (where our cruise began) or 60 minutes to Saint-Mammès (where the cruise begins in alternating weeks).

Most recent cruise reviews:

• Costa Magica (Costa Cruises)

• MSC Poesia (MSC Cruises)

• Rotterdam (Holland America Line)

• Renaissance (European Waterways) 

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