3 Star Clair de Lune boat/barge tour reviews — 1 to 6 of 6

Arriving in Nevers I was surprised at how difficult it was to get a taxi at 4:30 pm and no ride share companies, took well over an hour.
Was pleasantly surprised at how good the food was, Chris has a great personality and a fabulous chef. Sara, served us well and the bike/barge trip was good. It was slow season so towns we rode to were pretty but desolate.

Crew was engaging and friendly.
Hats off to Chris the food was delicious.
Bike maintenance was sub par. My front bikes never worked. Some riders had Saddle issues, chains/derailers not shifting correctly. One of the e-bikes was broken and the guest was forced to ride hybrid bike. Another ebike should have been offered to her.
Ed, our guide did the best he could regarding the route since he was not familiar with the area. Most of the ladies were under the impression there was going to be more wine tastings along the way. I was there to cycle and easily could’ve done 60 miles a day or more. I realize there was many different cycling levels in the group. I personally own Mtn ebike and an analog mountain bike. I wasn’t too impressed with the e-bikes provided.

There were several memorable parts:
Both Strasbourg and Nancy are beautiful cities with a great deal of medieval charm; the Valley of the Locks with its dried abandoned channels and locks, and of course, the St Louis-Arzviller lock, where lock, water and boats are lifted (or lowered) 42 m, replacing 17 locks we saw abandoned; our boat, the Clair de Lune and its friendly and competent crew, the smallest barge we had ventured in till then, but that it showed us the efficiency of its cabin layouts to remove previous concerns about barge size to the point that we are booking another trip on a similar sized barge next year.

I have used Tripsite for 10 bike trips and have always enjoyed the concept, scenery and people I have met. Nothing I am about to say has anything to do with those qualities I have come to expect and love about bike/barge experiences with Tripsite.

However (and there's always a "however") this tour, which was described on your website as "easy" was anything but.
I am 68 years old and have never used an e-bike on any tour, including the hills of Provence, but the hills encountered on this trip were challenging even for the riders half my age. The tour description was erroneous and misleading. I say misleading because looking at the tour guides' maps, the elevation levels were clearly labeled but not communicated to the guests. So those on e-bikes had a much different experience than those of us (4 out of 10 guests) who did not. Those of us who did not struggled.

The other complaint was a lack of things to see in the middle of the tour, unless churches are your thing and that's all I seemed to see in the form of tours, which got repetitive.

Nothing I have complained about here would prevent me from traveling with Tripsite again, as I am a true believer in this experience. BTW, the crew and the culinary staff were superb, as always.

The boat elevator.

The attentiveness and skill of the crew was most memorable. Chris was an awesome guide, encouraging everyone and being a wealth of knowledge about the environs. Conor was personable and available to share her knowledge and experience. Kim is a great cook and quite a character. Together, they overcame the limitation of an outdated too small barge to create an environment that allowed the riders to really enjoy the countryside and each other.