As I mentioned in my Fireman’s Ball post, I met an interesting guy named Don Galles, who invited me to visit his barge turned houseboat.
Never one to turn down an opportunity for a possible blog article, I arranged to meet him at the boat on Sunday afternoon with my friend Rosemary. We arrived at about 5PM straight from our Velib fiasco, at the Arsenal boat lock located by the Bastille.
It was hot and sunny and the Libertijn, a Dutch cargo barge built in 1910, glistened in the bright daylight.
Don and his girlfriend Emma graciously welcomed us on board and we joined 2 other couples, who had their boats docked in the same basin. We had the unexpected pleasure of arriving just in time for late lunch/early dinner. Don made delicious Moroccan merguez sausages and followed it up with authentic chicken fajitas with all the trimmings. As I enjoyed the good food and wine, the lovely company, and just being on this amazing boat, I said, this is the life for me.
The outdoor area on top was decorated with typically French red geranium boxes, a long wood plank dining table with comfy chairs, and a flagpole proudly displaying the French flag.
Captain Don
Don and Emma and the 2 other couples shared stories about barge life and the closely-knit barge community. I learned interestingly enough, the boating community in France outside of Paris were mostly Americans and/or English speaking, where as Paris was mostly French/French speaking. They spun funny and sometimes perilous tales of sailing the barges to remote towns in France that most people never heard of. It all sounded so romantic and intriguing and made me immediately want to do a barge cruise.
Vigie, their sweet Basset hound and the boat’s mascot, parked herself on a lounge chair and snoozed like a lazy dog almost the whole time.
Vigie, You Lazy Dog!
Emma took me on a tour of the ships interior and I was knocked out by the beautiful job they had done. They meticulously restored the master bedroom with classic, handsome wood paneling and luxurious brown marble bathtub. Kitchen aficionados would love the gorgeous kitchen of an oval island with a black granite countertop, state of the art appliances including 6 stovetop burners, colorful yellow and hot pink cabinets with etched patterned glass, and even an icemaker, which Emma proudly said was her most necessary appliance. The sunken living room with bright primary colored leather sofas had a serious sound system and an electric powered, huge drop down screen to view movies and television.
Chef Don
We finished the meal with grilled pineapple with a hint of chili peppers topped with vanilla ice cream.
My hats off to Emma & Don for this wonderful, unexpected treat and an experience I won’t forget.
For a full history of the barge, and the renovation process
Click on to www.lady-bea.com
Dog lovers will be happy to know that Vigie, the boat’s hound, has her own web page- http://lady-bea.com/PublicWeb/Vigie.htm

I am pleased as punch to announce the launch of Eye Prefer Paris Tours, which are 3-hour walking tours I will personally be leading. The Eye Prefer Paris Tour
includes many of the places I have written about such as small museums & galleries, restaurants, cafes & food markets, secret addresses, fashion & home boutiques, parks, and much more.
I look forward to meeting you on my tours and it will be my pleasure and delight to show you my insiders Paris.
Check it out at www.eyepreferparistours.com
It's always been a dream of mine to live on a peniche -- for a while. So thanks for this post, Richard! A good book to read on the subject is "The Secret Life of the Seine" by Mort Rosenblum, who lives (or used to) on a houseboat on the Seine.
Posted by: Polly | July 20, 2007 at 07:51 PM
I've spent a total of about a month floating around the middle of France, cruising through backyards and eating in the middle of forests and hanging out with cows aboard two peniches. One, a tour boat, owned by friends (now divorced), was as well equipt as the one you visited. The other began as a boat built for two, then twins came, and after a certain amount of time, it became too dangers as the toddlers became mobile. But we had a fantastic time, ambling about and staking in for the night, eating great local food and drinking wines right out of the cask. Best way to see France.
Posted by: MATTHEW ROSE | July 21, 2007 at 03:52 PM