CANAL DU NIVERNAIS, BURGUNDY, FRANCE - I recently had the pleasure of spending a week on the Art de Vivre, a floating hotel barge cruising Burgundy's Canal du Nivernais.

A luxury trip - only eight passengers and four crew members -- the crew was outstanding, almost genie like, in their attempts to please. Guests on the barge merely had to mention they might like something - a specific cheese from the region, perhaps a favorite wine or brand of spirits, paté de foi gras or escargot. Whatever it was, the crew went out of their way to get it, and almost always succeeded (not a small feat considering we were cruising rural Burgundy).

Sheepish Admissions

Once the week long cruise was well under way and we'd become comfortable with one another, my fellow travel mates and I reluctantly confessed to each other our initial disappointment upon learning that the Art de Vivre was staffed by a young Australian chef. We shared this information somewhat sheepishly, in hushed tones, over dinner one evening, taking care not to be overheard by crew members -- although by end of the cruise we had all become such good friends, we shared this story with them as well. Everyone had a good laugh.

The reason for our reluctance is that we all relearned the fundamental childhood lesson not to judge a book by its cover. We all just assumed we would have a French chef while traveling through Burgundy. But Australian Wayne Martin had won us over completely, and we wouldn't have traded him for all the native chefs in France.

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams

Upon boarding the barge the night before beginning our descent down the Canal du Nivernais, Wayne greeted his guests for the week with flutes of perfectly chilled champagne and tiny toasts, artfully prepared and covered with generous blankets of caviar or smoked salmon.

Hey! This was good!

Nonetheless, most of us still retained some skepticism. After all, the guy couldn't have been more 24, maybe 25 tops. And he hailed from a beach resort on Australia's gold coast. He looked more like a surfer than chef. OK, he had a charming "shy little boy" personality and a ready smile. But could he really cook?

Our skepticism was blown away at the first dinner, just an hour or so after our welcoming cocktail party. The salad was simple but elegant, perfectly dressed in a flavorful vinaigrette. The entrée, again elegant simplicity - filet de bouef in a red wine reduction sauce. The vibrant orange baby carrots - cooked tender yet crisp -- that accompanied the meal surely had to have been contently resting in the Burgundian soil of a nearby farmer's field mere hours before. The meat was fork tender and perfectly done to everyone's liking. We learned the beef came from Charolais cattle, just like the white cows that we would regularly see grazing along the canal's grass lined banks.

The first night's dinner set the pattern for all the lunches and dinners to come. The meals would begin with a beautifully set table enticingly filled with plates, LOTS of wine glasses, a basket of good French breads, fresh flowers and a new creatively folded napkin design every day. The artistic touches came from the the Art de Vivre's hostess, Laura Windsor.

In addition to napkin origami, Laura specializes in creating butter sculptures - a beautiful butter rose accompanied each dinner. It almost made it difficult to eat the butter - who wants to destroy such a thing of beauty…..I said almost. In fact the sweet butter was the perfect spread for the variety of crusty, chewy, freshly baked and utterly perfect breads that were always available at every meal.

Laura officially began the lunch or dinner festivities by introducing her guests to two new wines -- one white, one red, along with mineral water served in the typical French fashion - one pitcher of still water, one "with gas," which typically means San Pelegrino, Perrier or some other brand of sparkling mineral water. After a soup or salad course, there would always be a fabulous entrée, followed by a cheese course - two cheeses hand selected by Laura and Wayne. I'm talking the kind of cheeses I'd have to save up to buy (in any kind of quantity say over a few ounces) at my favorite Silver Lake or Beverly Hills cheese shops.

The dinner cheese course would no sooner be cleared away when Laura would appear with desserts and coffees. Chocolate Mousses one night, Chocolate Soufflés another, wine poached pears the next. This was the life!

Wayne spent some time with his passengers the first night, to get a feel for everyone's likes and dislikes. This is France - a land of culinary adventures. Luckily everyone in our group was up for anything, but Wayne is happy to prepare menus to accommodate each passenger's tastes. As we all agreed to let the chef do what he does best and prepare the menus according to the ingredients that were best at the markets each day, we were treated to an eclectic array of some of the finest dishes any of us had ever had. In fact everyone amazedly admitted that Wayne's Onion Soup was the best any of us had ever tasted (yes, I got the recipe, see below).

One of this young chef's greatest talents is his ability to season subtlety yet effectively; creating a mélange of flavors that lingers and entices much like the finish of a fine wine. He even grows his own herbs on the barge's back deck.

Throughout the week we dined on such dishes as Duck Mousse Foi Gras in Strawberry Sauce, Quails in Fig and Sherry Sauce, Olive and Anchovy Tart on a Smoked Duck Salad, Goat Cheese Soufflés, Escargots in Garlic Butter, Roast Lamb with Rosemary and Thyme Sauce and more. With each meal Wayne would manage to top his previous achievement.

One evening, at the passengers request to dine with the crew, Wayne prepared what he called a "barbecue." It bore no resemblance whatsoever to an American barbecue. Instead of ribs and burgers, we feasted on Duck, Perch and Salmon Skewers, a Ham and Orange Salad and Sun Dried Tomato and Beet Root Salad. We sipped on a delightful Rose Marsannay (French roses make perfect light summer wines), a very nice Pinto Noir, and some celebratory champagne.

The entire evening was perfect -- good wine, good food and good company. The setting made things even more magical - picnic tables arranged under age old shade trees, the canal and our floating home for the week resting in the background.

As the sun set, Captain Julian illuminated the darkness by lighting the tiki torches, giving the entire scene the feeling of a celebration at a gypsy camp.

Throughout the cruise the quality of the cuisine, the wines, the cheese and other amenities were outstanding. Passengers are treated as though they honored guests in the crew's home. Nothing is skimped on. Kudos to European Waterways for far exceeding expectations.

Wines of Burgundy

Wine aficionados will find a lot to keep them happy on this trip.

One side trip took us to Les Caves Tannaysiennes in the small town of Tannay. Here you will find some unique wines you'll never see in the states. The caves are a wine co-operative of many of the area's small vineyard owners, and are open for tours and tastings. Instead of selling their grapes to corporate producers, the vineyard owners have come together to make some wonderful wines. White varieties include Chardonnay and a grape I'd previous never heard of called Melon. It proved a delightful alternative to the Chardonnays that are so prevalent here (not they those weren't fabulous as well). At about 6 Euros a bottle, Melon is a great bargain too.

Reds included a Gamay - a perfect light red picnic wine, and a Pinot Noir.

The co-op also produces a grappa like spirit (made in both a neutral and a sweet version) called Rattafia. If you like grappa, chances are you'll enjoy Rattafia. While this particular producer does not export to the US, others do, so check with your wines and spirits shop.

Our favorite off the barge excursion gave us the opportunity to meet the fascinating Jean Frambourt at his wine bar in Dornecy. If you didn't know any better, it would be easy to pass this humble little shop by - you'd never realize it housed a priceless collection of wine overseen by one of Europe's top sommeliers.

The regulars at the bar resemble a French equivalent of Cliff and Norm, but get Jean talking and you'll soon realize you've stumbled onto a treasure. His knowledge of wine seems as endless of the varieties he stocks. We sampled some mighty fine wines here including 1969 Pean Vouvray, along with a 1998 Premier Cru Vosne Romanée.

Throughout the tasting Jean shared his thoughts on wine, taught his guests the proper way to savor these treasures, and explained what made the wines he chose so special. All this in French, being ably translated by our Captain, Julian Allsop. Jean is so passionate and animated about his subject, he almost didn't need a translator - you could just about catch his enthusiasm and appreciation for the wines by osmosis.

While Jean held court, his wife Elizabeth tended shop and prepared fare for hungry customers, and his cute little dog Petrus kept everyone entertained with his playful antics. Some some of us were going into dog withdrawl (our canine friends being left at home), so Petrus was a delightful addition to an already outstanding day.

All too soon our time in Burgundy was over. Despite the fact that the barge moves at a snail's pace (we only covered about 40 or 50 miles in a week), the time seemed to fly by.

At the captain's dinner on our final night aboard there were a lot of addresses being exchanged, a lot photos being taken, and a lot of promises to keep in touch being made.

The following morning, after feasting on another wonderful continental breakfast of croissants, pastries and French breads, cereals, yogurts and fruit, we were on our way back to Paris.

When our bus arrived in the city it was lunchtime. Still reluctant to leave our new found friends from the cruise, we all went out to a local brasserie. The food was very good. But not as good as the traditional French fare prepared by our young Australian chef, Wayne Martin.

Contemporary French recipes from Chef Wayne Martin

• French Onion Soup
• Chicken Filets with Orange and Sage
• Ouefs En Meurette -- Poached Eggs in Red Wine Salad with Bacon

More About Cruising on the Art de Vivre

Click here to learn about the entire week long trip aboard the Art de Vivre.

Getting There

European Waterways - For more information or to make reservations for this, or any of the barge cruises offered by European Waterways (they offer lots of options all over Europe), visit www.GoBarging.com; email sales@gobarging.com; or call toll free from the United States 800-394-8630; toll free from Canada 888-342-1917; from the mainlain UK 00 0871-330-8117; or internationally 44 (0) 1784-482439.

Burgundy -- For more information about traveling in Burgundy in general, visit www.burgundy-tourism.com.

Find Jean Frambourt's Wine Bar and Restaurant in the tiny town of Dorceny. For information, when in France, call 03-86-24-25-03.