A Barge on the Seine in Paris – what better holiday accommodation can you get?

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I haven’t seen my cousin Geraldine in about 50 years and it’s her first time in Paris. I advised her to try and get accommodation in the 1st arrondissement because it’s so central. I’ve been following her adventures in Lucca in Italy on Facebook and am stunned when I see her first photos of Paris.

Geraldine on the deck
Geraldine on the deck

She is staying on a péniche – a barge – on the Seine, right in the middle of Paris. What a location! “I knew that this would be good but not THIS good”, she comments.

Lunch at Café Diane in the Tuileries Gardens
Lunch at Café Diane in the Tuileries Gardens

We meet up at one of my favourite lunch spots, Café Diane in the Tuileries Gardens, where you can always get a shady table and eat an excellent quiche Lorraine accompanied by a glass of cold rosé. We deserve it – it’s over 30°C!

Le Cathare from Pont des Arts
Houseboats on the Seine in summer

“Do you still want to see the barge?” asks Geraldine at the end of the meal. Well, of course I do! I’ve dreamed of living on a barge since my high school days when I followed the adventures of a French family on a barge on TV. She thought that having lived in Paris so long, I would be completely jaded. Not so!

House boats on the Seine in spring
House boats on the Seine in spring

“Oh no!” says Geraldine, when we reach the barge. “They’ve all gone out and I don’t have my key. It’s in my other bag”. When she left to meet me, her husband Ian, and their daughter and her partner were watching a State of Origin football match but either the match is over or the wrong team won.

Geraldine rummaging for her missing keys
Geraldine rummaging for her missing keys

Geraldine is very apologetic as she rummages desperately through her bag, but I don’t care. I am already sitting on the deck watching the world go by. It is sheer magic. It’s amazing how actually being on the river makes you suddenly a part of Paris.

Working barge on the Seine
Working barge on the Seine

Geraldine tells me that the day they arrived, they couldn’t tear themselves away from the deck, even with the Louvre so close. I can understand that perfectly!

River police
River police

There are not only tourist boats (Vedettes du Pont Neuf, Bateaux Mouches, Vedettes de Paris) plying the Seine, but also the Batobus, a police boat and numerous working barges. There’s even a bullet-proof government boat taking VIPS to the Finance Ministry!

View from the kitchen window!
View from the kitchen window!

We text Ian and drag him back from the Louvre. He opens the hatch and I’m close on his heels, eager to see the inside. He good naturedly makes me coffee in the well-equipped kitchen. He and Geraldine opt for a cold beer.

A Paris Canal boat
A Paris Canal boat

The interior is surprisingly big, with an attractive open-plan galley and living room and dining area although they usually eat up on the deck. Can you blame them?

A corner of the living room
A corner of the living room

After they bought the barge in the 1970s, the owners loving restored it in perfect respect of its original style – a Dutch tjalk built in 1902. That is why the only furniture on the deck is a teak table and chairs.

There is a double bedroom down one end with a bathroom and separate toilet and two single bedrooms down the other. I see there are heaters for winter and a pot-belly stove which must make it nice and cosy. There’s also wifi and a flat-screen TV.

The gaily coloured engine room
The gaily coloured engine room

I have a peek into the engine room as well. I know Jean Michel will want to know what it’s like.

Ian and Geraldine living it up on the deck
Ian and Geraldine living it up on the deck

Downstairs is a bit hot (but no more than any other Paris apartment in a heat wave) so we take our drinks up on the deck where I sip my coffee and eat macaroons from Ladurée. This is the life!

Sadly, Geraldine has to go back to Australia tomorrow, flying via Dubai with Emirates. “But I’m coming back”, she says. “And definitely staying here if it’s available.”

You can find house boats on the airbnb.com website from 250 euro a night. Type Paris, then enter “barge” in keywords. 

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25 thoughts on “A Barge on the Seine in Paris – what better holiday accommodation can you get?”

  1. Wow! I’ve always wondered what it would be like staying on one of these barges! At one stage there I thought I wasn’t going to get to see inside. argh! But no, you came through 🙂 Looks good..although, Paris may be on show , so would be the residents…I can imagine a lot of waving would be in order 🙂

  2. How absolutely lovely! I’ve dreamed of a canal holiday too but a barge on the Seine, moored so close to the Louvre – an item for the bucket list!!!. thanks to you and Geraldine for sharing.

    1. Astounding isn’t it? Of course, no that I’ve let the cat out of the bag, it may never be vacant again …

  3. could you tell me if geraldine is a woman l met in a clothing shop where l work in heathmont melb vic [ she owns a house in the basin ???, , she gave me her email if l ever wanted to visit her in england???????!!!!!!!

  4. Rosemary, I have reservations for this barge next year. I see that there is a boat docked next to the one you stayed on. How do you get from the walkway to the boat? Do you have to pass thru the first boat? Do you have any negatives to mention? Is it as wonderful as it looks?
    Thanks for any information you can give me.

    Merci,
    Jan Cox
    Arizona US A

    1. Hi Jan, for security reasons the owner asked me not to be more explicit, but I’ll send you a photo by email showing the access. It was my cousin who stayed on it and she didn’t have any negatives.

  5. I like the look of this and will look to try this version of accomm in Paris when I come in 2015 when I visit with a couple of friends. Looking also to try to ‘work’ an hour at the Sacre Coeur to then stay in the rooms they proide cheaply for my work.

  6. traveling in Paris and River Seine is really romantic, but i would like to go at rive in evening or night. The view is really really awesome at night.

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