Le Boat

The Perils and Pleasures of Navigating a French Canal

Published January 24, 2024 | By Clark Norton

By Robert Waite

Homes, France – Nothing better illustrates the personality gulf that separated Benjamin Franklin from Thomas Jefferson than how they spent their time in France representing a fledging United States.

Franklin expended much effort navigating the city’s drawing rooms, entertaining comely women of status with his banter and wit.

Jefferson, on the other hand, ventured far afield. Unlike Franklin, his primary focus was not the fairer sex (or at least not the Parisian fairer sex – perhaps because he was accompanied to France by Sally Hemings), but rather civil engineering.

And the French engineering feat he most admired was the Canal of Languedoc, today better known as the Canal Midi.

Constructed in the 17th Century, the canal transverses France north of the Pyrenees and unites the Mediterranean with the Atlantic.

So transfixed was Jefferson by this marvel that in May of 1787 he spent
nine days on horseback… Continue reading →

Posted in Baby boomer travel, Boat travel, Cruises, cultural travel, European travel, river cruises, transportation, Uncategorized | Tagged baby boomer travel, boat travel, Canal Midi, canal travel, France travel, Le Boat | 2 Comments

Tidbits from the NY Times Travel Show

Published January 27, 2015 | By Clark Norton

The Aranui 3 sails the remote Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. Photo courtesy of Aranui 3.

Some of the most interesting things you pick up at a huge travel-trade gathering like this past weekend’s New York Times Travel Show are what I would call tidbits — not big enough for an entire blog post, but nonetheless fun stuff.

Here are a few of my favorites from the show:

* You have to love a company — in this case Lion World Travel — whose eastern USA director of sales’ business card is, quote, “made by hand using the sanitized fibre from the dung of elephants, rhino and other wild herbivores of Africa.”

I didn’t get to meet the director of sales — Kathi Scott of Toronto — but her “100 % natural, 100% African, 110% recycled” paper business card intrigued me enough that I googled Lion World Travel and… Continue reading →

Posted in Adventure travel, Baby boomer travel, Boat travel, Cruises, Marketing, Technology | Tagged Aranui, Le Boat, Lion World Travel; ItsEasy Passport & Visa, Marquesas, New York Times Travel Show, Tahiti | 4 Comments

According to government and private surveys:

Leading-edge baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1955) and seniors account for four out of every five dollars spent on luxury travel today.
Roughly half the consumer spending money in the U.S.--more than $2 trillion--is in the hands of leading-edge baby boomers and seniors.
Baby boomers (born 1946-1964) travel more than any other age group.
When asked what they would most like to spend their money on, baby boomers answered “travel” more than any other category, including improving their health or finances.