The Lock-keeper, GoBarging Newsletter, 12th Edition

Anjodi, cruising along the Canal du Midi, painting by Stanley

Rose

Hello ,

welcome to the June edition of the lock-keeper.

This is edition 12 of the lock-keeper, a milestone for us, almost a whole year since we started out..!

We are pleased with our progress over the year and hope that the lock-keeper continues to deliver interesting news and information on GoBarging.

If you have any thoughts or ideas on how we could improve, or on anything you would like to see added, then please let us know. We would also like to encourage everyone to send us articles related to your barge vacation - past, present or future..tell us what it was like, or tell us what you hope to do....and let us share the experience with all our readers.

In this month's lock-keeper, we have an exciting new development to share with you. The Gobarging website now has the latest 360 degree virtual tours, showing you around one of our barges in England and some river Thames locations cruised by both Actief and Magna Carta. We think this is a great way to see our cruises, so read-on and take the tour.

We announce the winners of our May French Wine competition and we have a new competition for June. Enter our Scottish Malt whisky competition, learn about the different brands and win a Classic malt.

We hear from our April Anjodi cruise winner and have a complimentary review from Steven Stern, author of "Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation" and "Stern's Guide to the Greatest Resorts of the World", and a recent traveller on La Belle Epoque.

I look forward to hearing from you, and seeing you at our website, where you can find out all about GoBarging and keep up to date with the latest news as it breaks....

please read on and welcome aboard,

best regards,

Derek Banks, Chairman

Derek Banks - Chairman

in this issue:

360 Virtual Tours

Anjodi winner

Classic Malts

Steven Stern

May competition results

back issues:

july 03

august 03

september 03

october 03

november 03

december 03

january 04

february 04

march 04

april 04

may 04

(please note that past competitions are now closed)

visit our website

www.gobarging.com

360 virtual tours

We have a new exciting development at www.gobarging.com, 360 virtual tours of our barges and locations in England.

We take you around the barge and show you the lounge and the cabins from different views - all luxuriously appointed to the highest standards.

click here to visit our 360 virtual tour of Magna Carta

We think this is a great way to experience just what it would be like to take a cruise on one of our luxury barges, so click on this photograph of the Henry VIII cabin to enter the tour..

Our new 360 Virtual tours also show you some of the wonderful locations you will encounter on your cruise along the beautiful Upper Thames. You can stand on Windsor bridge, with Windsor castle on one side and Eton on the other.

Look around picturesque Boveney Lock and imagine yourself there, waiting for the barge to rise or descend to the next level as the river Thames winds its way through some of England's finest scenery.

Hopefully you'll find these virtual tours interesting, and we hope to do more 360 virtual tours later.

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Anjodi winner's surprise

Steve and Sandy Brown of Boulder,

Colorado

We caught up with Steve Brown our Anjodi cruise winner to see how he felt about winning this great cruise prize.

Steve and Sandy Brown reside in Boulder, Colorado, a small, vibrant city set in the foothills of the Great Rocky Mountains.

Steve told us,

"Boulder is renowned for it's natural beauty and active lifestyle, and we take advantage of those opportunities, along with our sons Sam, 11 and Jay, 10 years old.

We ski and snowboard regularly every winter, and support each other during other seasonal sporting events such as football and baseball."

Steve is active in rugby, runs, rides his mountain bike, and coaches his kid's champion baseball team. Sandy is an avid skier, tennis player and full-time chauffeur for her family. They both enjoy cooking, gardening, and sampling Boulder's great restaurants as hobbies.

The Browns have a romantic connection to France. In 1989, Sandy studied at L'Universite de Nice and shortly afterwards Steve 'tracked her down' and proposed marriage in the town of Digne-le-Bain, in Provence.

According to Steve, "though we have returned to France several times for business and pleasure, we've often wished to revisit from the leisurely and culinary perspective of a barge. Many of our friends have done this and to have won such a trip is unimaginable!"

Professionally, Steve is an engineering manager for a high tech company and Sandy operates a landscape architectural practice from a studio at home. Both are looking forward to the Anjodi experience with the greatest anticipation and have promised to report back later in the year.

Anjodi feedback

Here's some feedback we recently received from Jan Ware who cruised on 23rd May..
'We just returned from a cruise on the Anjodi and I had to let you know what a marvellous trip it was. We have chartered boats from Tahiti to Turkey and it was absolutely the most comfortable boat I've ever been on,and incredible food.

We were 4 couples who often travel together and we all agreed it was our best trip.

Your company has to be first class to have such perfect organization. The crew was outstanding - very professional and couldn't do enough for us. Rupert is a gem - very laid back but completely in charge. Michelle's food was to die for. I'd do this every year if we could.'

Sincerely, Jan Ware

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June competition - win a Classic Malt

For our June competition, we have another great prize for you to win.

Enter our June competition and win a bottle of Classic Malt whisky.

Read all about Scottish Malt whiskies on our website and we will then ask you to answer some simple questions about Scottish Highlander and Malt whisky of course...

We have three bottles to give a way, so find out about Scottish Malt whisky and win some to try for yourself..

Steven Stern
on La Belle Epoque

La Belle Epoque, luxury barge cruise in

Burgundy

Praise for La Belle Epoque, from Steven B. Stern, luxury travel expert..

"We found the crew and dining experience on La Belle Epoque exceptional. Multi-talented Captain Nick not only operated the technical areas of the barge, but also proved to be an extremely knowledgeable and informative tour guide during our shore excursions. Talented chef, Philippe prepared delightful, gourmet meals with ingredients and recipes indigenous to the region. Expensive French wines, cheeses and breads were to die for. The entire crew was helpful and friendly creating the impression that all of us were on our own, fully-staffed private river yacht." - Steven B. Stern, author of "Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation" and "Stern's Guide to the Greatest Resorts of the World."

High Praise indeed from one of the World's foremost Cruise experts..

About Stern's Guide to the Cruise Vacation:

Whether sailing the Caribbean or the Mediterranean, exploring the glaciers of Alaska or the fjords of northern Europe, readers can rely on this, the most detailed and user-friendly guide to cruise holidays. Veteran seafarer and luxury-travel expert Steven B Stern personally inspects more than 280 ships every year and rates them in all categories, including: vital statistics: the layout, physical details, and history of each vessel; on-board attractions: restaurants, shopping, and recreation; travel necessities: concierges, technology, and medical facilities; ports of call: including how to make the most of an eight-hour visit. The Star Awards help readers to evaluate quality and value as they plan their cruise vacations. The numerous photographs, actual shipboard menus, and daily activity programs combine with the annually updated text to make this the most comprehensive cruising guide available

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May competition winners
Visit L'Impressionniste in Provence and win some fabulous French wine

L'Impressionniste at

Bouzigues, South of France

We had another great competition to enter in May.

Last month we featured L'Impressionniste cruising in Provence in the South of France and offered the chance to win some french wine from the region.

Please visit our french wine competition winners page to find out who has won the May Rhône wine competition.

Travel News

We have a new Toll free number for Canadian clients, call us on 1 888 342 1917 for any enquiries about GoBarging.

If you have any suggestions, feedback or barging stories to tell us, then please e-mail us. We'll be glad to hear from you and share your inputs in the lock-keeper. There will also be some spot prizes for good submissions...What would you like to read about next month..??

Why not email this edition on to a friend, and let them share the fun. New subscribers can sign-up here, and are very welcome. More people are joining every day, so let's keep building a great Barging community..!

That's about it for this tenth edition, and hopefully the above articles have whet your appetite for that well-earned luxury cruise..!

Please visit barge cruises and have a look around, or follow the individual links above.

The next edition of the lock-keeper will be out in July, 2004, so we'll see you then.

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