Languedoc Vineyards and Endless Wine Tastings

In addition to a full week’s luxury barge cruise, Athos endeavors to find at least one wine tasting in the Languedoc area each week. As the same tastings are new to passengers each week, we often do the same wineries. Having said that, over the years we’ve found wine tastings and visits so varied, interesting and educational that it’s well worth breaking an easy routine in favour of going somewhere new.

Some of the Athos’ recommended Languedoc wine visits:

Domaine de Guery – friends of the family, a charming visit of an 18thC winery and traditional equipment still in use
Domaine Pain de Sucre – new to Athos, thorough and a very pleasant setting
Mas Daumas Gassac – a bit of a drive from the Canal du Midi area, but well-acclaimed internationally and worth the extra time spent on the road
Borie du Maurel – a stunning corner of the Minervois, and scrummy wines to boot. Glamorous tasting Cave.
Domaine la Colombette – just outside Beziers, dangerously quaffable Sauvignon Blanc
Les Trois Blasons – an upmarket Cave Co-op close to the town of Minerve
Chateau la Vernède – fabulous historical Chateau setting, huge cave & broad selection of wines
Chateau Perdiguier –thorough estate visit and tasting
Chateau Ventenac – Cave co-op directly borders the Canal du Midi
Domaine Saint Brhune – in Athos’ home port of Argeliers, fruity summertime rosé & smooth, rounded reds.
Chateau de Brau – close to Carcassonne, offering some organic wines.

Languedoc Grapes on Languedoc vines — Languedoc Grapes & Vines

Thank you to Athos passengers for the great photos!

The problem with writing a blog for a luxury hotel-barge is that the management side of the business is just about has heavy as the barge. You’ll no doubt have observed that writing has been pretty low on the priority list these past few months. Fortunately, one of our first passengers of this barging season was kind enough to provide some fantastic blog-fodder. Thanks to David Wright who was on Athos’ “shake-down” week for 2011, I don’t need to witter on about how much he enjoyed his week onboard. Great photos – thanks David!

Luxury hotel barge dog — Jilly the luxury hotel barge Athos' onboard doggy

Canal du Midi luxury hotel barge cruising — Tall bridge at Portiragne on the Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi Onshore excursions from hotel barge AThos, Carcassonne

Luxury hotel barge Athos has her own top deck herb garden — Chef cutting fresh herbs from the deck herb-garden

Athos cruises to Marseillan port from the Canal du Midi — Luxury hotel barge Athos in Mediterranean Marseillan Port, Etang de Thau

Canal du Midi 1681, WIFI 2011

hotel barge Athos' salon — Comfortable salon onboard hotel barge AThos

Luxury Hotel Barge Athos offers onboard WIFI

Since the beginning of 2011, Luxury hotel barge Athos has had onboard WIFI. Athos cruise passengers are invited to bring their own IPads and laptops, and easily connect to send email or surf online in the comfort of the Athos salon or the sunshine of the upper deck. It’s a bit of a revelation on the 17thC Canal du Midi, to say the least.

Equally, Athos offers an onboard IPod dock, and welcomes passengers who travel with their own music to plug in and share their tunes. Many any evening has been spent grooving in the Athos salon with passengers favourite and specially-chosen music.

Luxury hotel barge Athos has 24-hour electricity, suitable for running CPAP machines, charging laptops and mobile telephones etc. We even have complimentary adaptors for US-Euro and UK-Euro plugs onboard…but it’s a good idea to pack your own for any nights you might spend in a hotel on your way to or from your cruise onboard Athos.

Endless Vineyards and Wine Tastings

Carcassonne, Chateau de Brau — Chateau de Brau wine tasting

In addition to a luxury barge cruise, the Athos itinerary plans at least one wine-tasting in the Languedoc area during a cruise week. As the same tastings are new to passengers each week, we’ve often done the same wineries week after week. Having said that, over the years we’ve found Languedoc wine tastings and visits so plentiful, varied, and educational that it’s well worth breaking routine and going somewhere new.

Some of the Athos’ recommended Languedoc wine visits:

Domaine de Guery – friends of the family, a charming visit of an 18thC winery and traditional equipment still in use
Domaine Pain de Sucre – new to Athos, thorough and a very pleasant setting
Mas Daumas Gassac – a bit of a drive from the Canal du Midi area, but well-acclaimed internationally and worth the extra time spent on the road
Borie du Maurel – a stunning corner of the Minervois and scrummy wines to boot, glamorous tasting Cave.
Domaine la Colombette – just outside Beziers, dangerously quaffable Sauvignon Blanc
Les Trois Blasons – an upmarket Cave Co-op close to the town of Minerve
Chateau la Vernede – fabulous historical Chateau setting, huge cave & selection of wines
Chateau Perdiguier –thorough estate visit and tasting
Chateau Ventenac – Cave co-op virtually on the Canal du Midi quai
Domaine Saint Brhune – in Athos’ home village of Argeliers, fruity summer-time rose & smooth, rounded reds.
Chateau de Brau – close to Carcassonne, offers a selection of organic wines

Languedoc grapes, in the vineyard — Languedoc Grapes on the Vine

Winter of Luxury, Hotel Barging

Barging and the Off-Season

If I had a euro for every time I’d been asked what we do during the winter when our Canal du Midi hotel barging season is finished – I’d be a rich woman. It’s ironic that as we look to winding down our cruises at the end of the fall, I know from 14 years’ experience in this business that the work actually begins now. My departments lean more to the telephone, computer, list-making, hiring and planning subjects.

Julian, however, has been deep in winter planning since August. He’s been busy researching the installation of a new engine for Athos. So along with the usual questions of maintenance, budget, pricing, next years’ bookings – we’re toying with the moral and practical dilemmas of which engine to buy?

Deutz or Baudoin? Do we install a Deutzs – a Chinese-built German engine similar to the engine already in Athos which has run relatively well for 15 years? Or, do we try to stay away from the Chinese-built engine (an infamous cliché for bad quality according to Julian and numerous followers) to go to a more old-world quality and find a rebuilt Baudoin?

Watch this space… 😉

Hotel barge Athos in winter — Athos barge in winter

Hotel barge Athos has ensuite bathrooms for each cabin

Luxury en-suite bathrooms get a vote of confidence

Last week’s passengers were guided into their cabins to get settled in before having a toast of the bubbly and a chitchat about the week. Julian was delighted when they reported that they found the Athos’ ensuite bathrooms to be extremely luxurious…much moreso than other boat bathrooms they’d been in, and on a par they felt, with luxury hotel bathrooms. They loved the oiled hardwood floors and cabins, and found the shiny white & royal blue tile work fresh and bright. We aim to please – thanks for the compliment Athos passengers!!

Ensuite bathrooms with hardwood floors and cabinets — Athos ensuite bathrooms have hardwood floors and cabinets

Ensuite bathroom on Athos — Ensuite bathroom onboard barge Athos

Luxury Hotel Barge, Athos and her Top Deck.

Most spacious hotel barge deck on the Canal du Midi

We were flattered when I recently received a phone call from a valued agent based in the US, who called to compliment Athos on her deck furniture. Apparently, passengers who had cruised the canal for a week on another Midi barge had returned home and complained that their hotel barge didn’t have sun loungers like on the Athos!

Athos has the largest deck space on the Canal du Midi, measuring at 13m x 5m. At 10 passengers, Athos has the greatest passenger capacity of the Midi hotel-barges. Equally, she has the deck space to offer hardwood sun loungers that convert into generous outdoor dining chairs for each passenger. Canal du Midi cruise-comfort!