Voguéo - the new waterbus on la Seine

[GitteK]

How about trying the new Voguéo waterbus, running between Gare d’Austerlitz and Maisons-Alfort.

(so where is that supposed to be, huh ? Upstreams heading towards la Marne ! )



It goes past Bibliothèque François Mitterand and Parc de Bercy and ends up at the Veterinarian School on the south side of Bois de Vincennes. Now how many of you have been sailing upstreams on la Seine to see that, peut-être ? ;D

From the end stop you can take the metro back to Bastille/République. Perhaps one could also take a bus from there to go and visit les guinguettes (old dancing restaurants by the river) further out along la Marne - or you could catch a Vélib and bicycle back through Bois de Vincennes !

This site is only in French, but it shows a map of the route: VOGUÉO
This is the official website: www.vogueo.fr/vogueo/index.jsp

You can use your Passe Navigo for all stops, except the last one which is in zone 3. So for the full ride you'd have to buy a ticket.

This is Maisons-Alfort (the end stop village) listed as a 4-star on the French "Villes et Villages Fleuris" list.



www.surma-route.net/2maisonsalfort_villeneuvestgeorges/1etape_deux.html
www.maisons-alfort.fr/Website/site/rubriques_decouvrir_accueil.htm

It never ceases to amaze me how much fun one can have in Paris, without ever having to go to les Champs Elysées !

[annettecinca]

Hey Gitte, this is something new for our lists! Sounds like a fun little trip. The website you provided a link to is pretty cool for those of us learning French--it's not translated into English, but you can click the little blue speaker icon to hear the page read in French. Great practice!

[GitteK]

And now that we have started this riparian line of discourse, here is some interesting info about les guinguettes ,
the open-air dance cafés, along the river Marne, south-east of Paris, located outside the Paris toll walls in the 19th century.
Outside the toll walls (Mur des Fermiers Généraux) were also the dancing-dining-and-drinking establishments down in the 13th and 14th arr. and out in Belleville. They were highly popular, as the wine was cheap !

Les guinguettes by the Marne were also made famous by Renoir in his painting from 1881 "Le Déjeuner des Canotiers", which you probably know:



No further away than they can be reached by metro or RER. You can also take a river cruise to the land of les guinguettes with Canauxrama, if you prefer the laid-back convenience style !

www.linternaute.com/paris/magazine/dossier/07/idees-sorties-rer/6.shtml
www.guinguette-auvergnate.fr/
www.camrecon.demon.co.uk/holidaysinfrance/paris.htm
www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/france/article735076.ece
(the latter is a very lovely report from "a corner of Paradise", written by Annabel Simms in The Telegraph)

[MaisonMetz]

Gitte -

Super! The Voguéo looks like a great addition to water excursions from Paris. Just printed a copy of the route from its website to add to my file for our October trip.

I salute your use of the word riparian. It's not a part of most people's everyday English vocabulary, and it's most certainly appropriate for this thread.

You touched a chord with me for several reasons when you transitioned to the subject of guinguettes. We just returned from a trip to visit friends and family in the Washington, D.C. area and went to the Phillips Collection while there. Just as we arrived a docent was about to start her discourse on "Le Déjeuner des Canotiers," and we were fortunate to catch it all while we examined the painting. It was a bit of a trip down memory lane, because we had lunched on the balcony of Maison Fournaise on the island of Chatou several years ago.

I too enjoyed Annabel Simms' article in The Telegraph. Another I bookmarked was Anthony Peregrine's "Welcome to the river dance" from 2003 in the Times Online: www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/article1163766.ece We still want to try a Sunday afternoon in guinguette country. Maybe this year...

Jo

[geordy]

I know the word "riparian" from dear old Hyacinth on Keeping Up Appearances!

[GitteK]

geordy, I was waiting for someone to spot where I had it from ! ;D An exalt goes your way......

"Light refreshments and riparian entertainments - hurry up, Richard !"

I will never forget her in that maritime outfit, coquettishly sporting a rather conspicuous seamans beret ! She is such a treasure and you can in fact pick up some of the Queens finest English by watching her shows !

AHOY THERE ! ;D



Maisonmetz, thank you so much for the link to the heartwarming and delightful article: "Welcome to the River Dance". It so beams joy of life in its purest form, doesn't it ?

[denise]

:)I'm amazed you get keeping up appearances in the US!!!!!

[Darcy]

Gitte, thanks for this information.

Denise, I've been watching Keeping Up Apperances for years, love it!!

[geordy]

We get alot of the BBC stuff on our Public Broadcasting System stations. No commercials(sort of these days) originally started as "educational TV" they have a lot o award winning children's programming(sesame street and such)in the day time..also some learning English and such.

In addition to Keeping up Appearances we get As Time Goes By (love it), Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served, etc., as for the sit coms.

The folks with cable and dishes...they get alot more on BBC America or something like that!