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


Hello !

To our regular readers, Welcome back..!, and I am delighted to welcome new readers to the third edition of the lock-keeper, our GoBarging newsletter.

Last month we followed up our very successful first edition luxury cruise competition with a fromages.com Provencal cheeseboard competition.

We had another tremendous response, so thanks again to everyone. I hope it was a lot of fun, and we'll announce the winner below.

This month we have an exciting offer for our lock-keeper readers - for selected cruises in September and October 2003, we are offering a free second week cruise on another barge, giving you the opportunity to sample two different regions. Places are limited, so if you are thinking of a late break, now is the time to book. Please see the details below.

There are some exciting new additions to our website, including Radio interviews with Terry Spence of the C-FAX 1070 Travel Show from British Columbia, Canada, on Provence cruising aboard L'Impressionniste, and cruising the river Thames in England, aboard Magna Carta or Actief.

We have a new Magna Carta Golf charter itinerary and our 2004 Golf charter rates are now available. Our Golf charters are very popular, and there are many exciting famous championship courses to play.

We also have some great feedback from many of our visitors this year. It is great to know that people really enjoy their GoBarging experience, and that they feel moved to write to us - Thanks folks..! see some of your comments below, and visit the website for more customer referrals.

We hope you enjoy this third edition of the lock-keeper, and we look forward to hearing from you, and seeing you at www.gobarging.com, where you will 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


We have some great new Radio interviews on the Gobarging website.

Derek teamed up with Terry Spence of Canadian Radio station C-FAX 1070 to talk about the wonders of Provence which you can experience when cruising aboard L'Impressionniste on its new 2004 Provence Itinerary, and on another occasion to discuss the delights of a Thames cruise on Magna Carta or Actief.

Follow this link to listen to these Radio interviews and get a feel for life aboard,
Gobarging Radio Interviews
, and visit C-FAX 1070 at www.cfax1070.com

Our new Magna Carta Golf charter itinerary has just been launched.

As with all our Golf itineraries, there are some famous championship courses to tackle. We visit Walton Heath Golf Club, famous for staging the Ryder Cup and European Open Championships.

We play at Richmond Golf Club - a beautiful and historic wood parkland course on the edge of Richmond Park. The 4th hole is often described as the best short hole in the South of England, where cunningly sighted trees call for great accuracy.

We have an optional round at prestigious Wentworth and we take you to Sunningdale, established in 1901 and ranked as one of the top 20 courses in the world.

Find full details of all our Golf charters here, and details of our Golf charter rates for 2004 here. Prices include a week-long cruise, golf fees, excursions. All meals, drinks and transfers to and from clubs.

www.fromages.com Win a luxury Provençal cheeseboard from fromages.com. Our latest fun competition offered you the chance to win this fabulous cheeseboard.

All you had to do was find the cheese, hidden somewhere on L'Impressionniste, then answer three simple questions about fromages.com - answers all found on their great cheese website, enter your details and that's it, you were in the competition.

Provençal cheeseboard from fromages.com

We asked you to tell a friend, and if they entered too and you won, your friend would also receive a luxury Provençal cheeseboard, sent direct to their home address.

Well, we had many entries, and many people did refer friends who entered too. We received entries from USA, Canada, UK, South Africa,Ireland, Germany, Ukraine and Pakistan, so we have a world-wide club..!!

There has to be a winner however, and so we chose one at random from our pot of correct answers.

Congratulations and a luxury Provençal cheeseboard goes to Kim Mitchell of Glasgow, Scotland and we will also be shipping one to her friend Jayne Gorman in the Bahamas..!. Thanks to everyone who entered and commiserations if you did not win this time. We will be running more competitions in following months, and if you were holding out for that cheeseboard, then please contact our friends at www.fromages.com, I am sure they will be delighted to help you



We have had so many letters and emails from people who have enjoyed their luxury cruise with GoBarging, so we thought it would be nice to share some of these with everyone. Here's what some of our customers tell us about their vacations;
Feedback from clients on L'Impressionniste 10th August 2003

"We had a memorable experience aboard L'Impressionniste!

Our barge trip was delightful, and an oasis of cool relaxation in the midst of the heat wave! I cannot say enough in praise of the crew and staff. They were so personable, friendly and helpful....every day in every way. The chef was fantastic and each meal a culinary delight; especially so, as he explained everything we were about to enjoy, including the wonderful wines.

All in all, it was a fine trip with extremely interesting passengers, beautiful scenery, and a smooth journey in cool comfort.

Once again....my sincere thanks for an outstanding trip!

Cordially, Ruth Godley"

Mr Fidelman, Charter of 8, L'Art de Vivre, 27th July 2003

"This has been a fabulous experience, for all senses. The crew were outstanding, the facilities and planning practically perfection.

Thanks so much. Au revoir, j'espere."

Ms Carney, her friend and Ms Carney's brother cruised. on 29th June 2003 on
Scottish Highlander and wrote the following

"I arrived home last Sunday, but it took a few days for me to get settled back in after my wonderful week on SCOTTISH HIGHLANDER. Duncan and crew were marvellous and we had amazing weather. We returned to the States with Scottish suntans!

The food preparation and presentation were truly outstanding. You are extremely lucky to have a chef of Tracy's calibre. One of the other passengers tried to hire her away!! Naveen did her job with incredible cheerfulness and even entertained us , along with Duncan, on the guitar one night.

The cabins were very comfortable and I was duly impressed with the showers. I was also impressed with the insulation as I never heard other passengers in their cabins.

Kind regards, Sandy"
We have added a new customer feedback section to our website, so please visit if you want to read about more customer experiences.


We have a very special offer for our lock-keeper readers;

FALL 2003 SPECIAL OFFER


Book a Cruise in Burgundy, and cruise the following week in the South of France
FREE OF CHARGE

There are two options available

1. Book a cruise on L'Art de Vivre in Burgundy departing 28th September 2003 and get a weeks cruise on board Anjodi in the South of France departing 5th October FREE.

2. Book a cruise on L'Art de Vivre in Burgundy departing 5th October 2003 and get a weeks cruise on board Anjodi in the South of France departing 12th October FREE.

If you are interested, contact us at sales@GoBarging.com

Terms and conditions

1. This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer.
2. This offer is available for cabin bookings only. Charter bookings are not available on these dates.
3. This offer can be applied to clients with single occupancy or two people sharing a twin or double stateroom.
4. Clients are responsible for their Saturday overnight stay and the TGV Fast Train Link between vessels.
5. This offer is non-transferable between clients. The same clients must cruise both weeks.

In addition, we are offering a $200 discount for all other 2004 bookings deposited before the end of November 2003

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...

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 we are building a great Barging community..!

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

Please visit www.gobarging.com and have a look around, or follow the individual links above.

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




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