''Renaissance'' was built in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

in 1960 as a standard péniche barge to carry cargo along the canals of Europe. Her original cargo was grain and iron ore. She presently serves as a

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 barges offering luxury cruises on French waterways.

History

The barge was built as ''La Bonne Humeur'' ('good mood') in 1960, and measures 39 m (128 ft) long by 5.20 m (17 ft) wide. She has a rectangular hull section, bluff bow and a counter-hung rudder, and is effectively the largest-size vessel which can pass through the Freycinet locks in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

. This corresponds to a potential loading capacity of 350 tons if loading to the maximum draught if 2.20m (a little over 7 ft). In 1997, she was converted to a hotel barge and underwent another refit in 2006. She was purchased by

in 2007. She was then taken to a boatyard in

for inspection, maintenance and modifications. The hull has two wear strips welded outside the chine which mean the hard wear of rubbing against lock walls will be absorbed by this sacrificial steel strip.

Hotel barge

The barge was renamed ''Renaissance'' and began operations on the canals of western

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 ...

and the upper

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

in May, 2008. She currently has 4 double cabins allowing her to carry up to 8 passengers. She also has separate crew quarters. The crew of five consists of captain and pilot, deck hand and tour guide, master chef, housekeeper, and waiter. She has a top speed of 10 knots, but usually cruises at the canal speed limit of 6 km/h.

External links

Renaissance
official page on europeanwaterways.com
La Renaissance
on french-waterways-com
Review of luxury barge cruise on the Renaissance
- Loire Valley France

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:La Renaissance (Barge) Hotel barges Barges of France Barges Hotels in France