I knew we were going to dine well when I saw the provisions being put aboard. Forty-eight cases of wine (and 20 tons of water). Dark red slabs of Charolais beef and baskets of ivory new potatoes, pungent wild mushrooms, and pink and white radishes, their leaves still moist with dew. There were whole Brie cheeses that glowed like full moons and golden disks of Epoisses cheese that reeked like dirty gym clothes. You might think that all we did was eat. It certainly felt that way sometimes, but there were plenty of other activities. In the mornings, we could walk or bike alongside the barge on the towpath, or chat with the éclusiers (lockkeepers). In the afternoons, the crew took the passengers on field trips - to visit a winemaker, for example, or a Renaissance château, or a 13th-century monastery  .........