__NOTOC__ The ''L'Art de Vivre'' (''The Art of Living'') was built in 1917 in

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dock ...

, England, as a cargo barge but currently serves as a luxury

hotel barge A hotel barge (fr. ''péniche hôtel'') is a barge that has been built or converted to serve as a hotel or other kind of lodging. Hotel barges are generally found on rivers and canals in Europe, and may be used for river cruises or permanently moo ...

owned and operated by

European Waterways European Waterways is an international company based in Berkshire, England that operates a fleet of 17 river cruising vessels along the rivers and canals of Europe. The company takes old trading barges and converts them into hotel barges. Co ...

. She is one of around 60 hotel barges operating on European waterways, mostly on the smaller French canals.

History

Originally christened as ''Marie Brizzard'', her purpose was to ferry ammunition to the beaches of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

to help the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

fighting in the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

. She was built particularly strong to resist the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

's harsh weather conditions and groundings on a Normandy beach. After the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she was moved round the north and west coasts of France and into the River Charente estuary to Rochefort. Here, she delivered barrels of

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cog ...

from

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

Rochefort Rochefort () may refer to: Places France * Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, in the Charente-Maritime department ** Arsenal de Rochefort, a former naval base and dockyard * Rochefort, Savoie in the Savoie department * Rochefort-du-Gard, in the Ga ...

. She was renamed ''Cognac'', ''Royal Cognac'', ''Napoleon'', ''Mark Twain'', ''Magellan'', and ''Kir Royal''. In 1975 she was converted into a

by Florian Waleski, who operated the hotel barge until 1997, when she was purchased by

. After an interior refit of the cabins and

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

, ''L'Art de Vivre'' was for the next 10 years the only hotel barge to navigate the shallow reaches of the upper Nivernais Canal in

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

. In 2008 she underwent a third refit and over $200,000 was invested in four new cabins.

Amenities

''L'Art de Vivre'' has four double cabins allowing her to carry up to eight passengers. She also has separate crew quarters which house the crew of four people. The crew consists of the captain and pilot, deck hand, and tour guide, housekeeper, and master chef.

References

External links

*
L'Art de Vivre
' on the owner's website {{coord missing, France Hotel barges Barges of France Barges Hotels in France 1917 ships