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The creation of hotel Barging

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How Hotel Barging First Started 

The Luciole is privately owned and celebrating over 48 years as a family-run business

The business was founded by John Liley, following a detailed exploration of waterways in Europe that began in the in the 1960s. At the time John was editor of a leading British yachting magazine. His books include 'France - the Quiet Way', an exploration of the entire French canal and river system. These early journeys inspired him to select the Nivernais cruising area and establish the present hotel-barge business in 1976. This was with another canal barge 'Secunda', fore-runner to Luciole. John's latest book 'Keeping Afloat' is a lively account of those early years. John is now semi-retired and able to spend more time writing and working towards his next publication.

Penny trained as a chef, cooking for schoolmasters at Eton College and Formula 1 racing drivers, before joining the Luciole in 1986. Since then she has played a major role in creating a warm, welcoming atmosphere on barge Luciole, where a feeling of calm with attention to detail is apparent as soon as one steps aboard. Nowadays, Penny is responsible for the overall running of the business having swapped apron for computer. With her hands-on approach she divides her time between England and France.

Will has been on the Luciole since he was born, he understands the boat inside out and has overseen many changes and improvements in the last few years. Mostly working in the UK office having built the website and taken the photos, he is always working behind the scenes to keep things moving. Will balances this with being an On-Call firefighter in the UK.

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Hotel barging is celebrating 58 years of cruising

Our barge began life on the French canals in 1926 as a mule-drawn freight vessel carrying coal. Her first name was the 'Ponctuel'. Later equipped with an engine, she carried a heavier cargo of up to 180 tonnes. In 1966 she was bought by the entrepreneur, Richard Parsons and taken to the French port of Dunkirk, where she was converted to become the first 'hotel-barge' and renamed the 'Palinurus'. She carried 22 passengers and cruised the waterways of France. American authoress Emily Kimbrough cruised on the barge in 1968 and published ‘Floating Island’ an affectionate account of cruising the Burgundy Canal on the Palinurus.

Acquired by our company Inland Voyages Limited in 1985, she was renamed 'Luciole' (Firefly). The bunk bedded cabins and two bathrooms became a thing of the past with a major redesign to accommodate twelve passengers in larger en-suite cabins. The saloon roof was also raised. On the front bow deck the curved cargo hatch cover was retained, a reminder of her past cargo carrying days.

There are continuous upgrades to the Luciole. The hull was rebuilt and a new engine and generators installed in 2000. In 2010 the Luciole was 'stretched' in a Paris shipyard, when the barge was sliced in two and a new 17 ft section manoeuvred and welded into the bow, providing greater comfort throughout. Updating and improving the interior is an annual focus.

Each season we endeavour to retain the spirit of the early days. We salute and thank our old friend Richard Parsons, the pioneer of hotel barging, who began cruising all those decades ago…

For more details on the Luciole Barge, click here or contact us at 1300 302 623 or email us at sales@franceatleisure.com

A bientôt

Christian Blondeau 
Founding Director of France at Leisure 

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