Family and friends French barge trip.

Hello fellow travelers. My 85 year young father in law announced that riding a bicycle in Europe was on his bucket list. Now we don't need much encouragement for a European trip so I got to work on my lap top over breakfast to see what is out there. I found lots of bike and barge trips but the prices were all over the place with up charges on meals, helmets, and canal locks. Then I found the Johanna barge captained by a retired British nurse named John Wilson (Johanna barge france.com). This is an 8 passenger, SELF CATTERING barge that came with bikes included at a great price! The barge has two staterooms with queen size bed and bathroom in each. A bedroom with bunk beds with a full bathroom in the hallway and the dinette in the kitchen/ living room converts into a double bed. There were 6 in our group, 4 family members and 2 close friends and we booked the trip from Toul to Strasbourg France in August of 2016. Captain Wilson said this is his favorite route with lots of small towns, interesting locks and biking opportunities. We couldn't agree more!
We started this trip in Paris arriving on a Tuesday morning and because we had senior family member we arranged for a shuttle to take us to our hotel, the Jeanne d' Arc in the Marais district. This is a great hotel in a great area, it has an elevator and is located close to a metro station! Ask for a room facing the street for best ventilation. We stayed 3 nights and breakfast was included. The staff was very friendly and helpful. This hotel is listed in R.S. France. On Friday afternoon the hotel arranged for a taxi to take the 6 of us with our luggage to the train station for our trip to Toul to meet up with the Johanna and Captain Wilson. After introductions and a champagne toast the captain went over the ground rules and answered questions, it was time to hit the market for provisions. We had a terrific meal that night at the café Victor Hugo across from the marina in Toul. Our waiter had worked a couple of years at Disney world in Florida and enjoyed practicing English with us as we tried out our French.
We took advantage of the discount offered by the Johanna if we booked by the end of the year and I locked in a great hotel rate by also booking in late December( 8 months in advance).
The Johanna is not a luxury cruise ship but a comfortable user/family friendly craft, it was a good fit for us. We all pitched in to shop, cook, pop the cork on great cheap wine, wash dishes, play cards, listen to music (bring CD'S), dance, and a lot of laughter. I am fortunate to have such great friends and family.