L'Art de Vivre barge

The L'Art de Vivre barge ship (translated as "The Art of Living") was built in Deptford, England, in 1917 as a cargo barge. Currently, the vessel serves as a luxury hotel barge - owned and operated by European Waterways.

Originally named "Marie Brizzard", the barge's original purpose was to ferry ammunition to the Normandy beaches to help the Allies fighting in Somme. The ship was built notably strong to resist the harsh weather conditions in the English Channel and groundings on Normandy beach. After the end of WW2, she was delivered along the French north and west coasts and taken to Rochefort in River Charente's estuary where she delivered barrels of Cognac from Angouleme to Rochefort. 

In 1975, the ship was converted into a luxury hotel barge by Florian Waleski, the man who operated the barge until 1997. Then she was bought by European Waterways and had an interior makeover of the galley and cabins. For the next 10 years, L'Art de Vivre was the one and only hotel barge to navigate the shoal reaches of upper Nivernais Canal, Burgundy. In 2008, the barge ship underwent the 3rd refit, with more than USD 200,000 invested in only 4 new cabins.

The L'Art de Vivre ship now has 4 double cabins allowing it to carry up to 8 passengers. She has separate crew quarters that house the crew of 4 people, consisting of the master chef, housekeeper, deckhand, tour guide, Captain and pilot.

Note: You can see the CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All companies and their fleets are listed there.