Share Aboard Belmond s By Nina Caplan March 05, 2021
The women and children who once worked the barges along the canals of France would probably sigh with wonder to hear that this form of travel is now a luxury activity. Those lacking horses or mules were sent down the towpath with canvas strips across their chests to pull the shallow boats, piled high with commercial goods, using muscle and willpower. Sometimes the men joined them, but usually, they stayed aboard to steer.
That was more than a century ago, and things have changed. How they have changed! On the Belmond
Amaryllis, a private-charter barge with four en suite cabins, a living room, and a small but perfectly formed heated swimming pool on deck, we rolled along effortlessly, thanks to a very quiet combustion engine. The trip was so smooth that the gently steaming pool water never so much as splashed.