L'Art de Vivre
Encyclopedia
The L'Art de Vivre (The Art of Living) was built in 1917 in Deptford
Deptford
Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...
, England as a cargo barge. She presently serves as a luxury hotel barge
Hotel barge
The Hotel Barge came into being following the decline in commercial and freight carriage on the canals of Europe. Many working barges have been converted into floating hotels of varying degrees of luxury...
, owned and operated by European Waterways
European Waterways
European Waterways is an international company based in Berkshire, England that operates a fleet of 21 river cruising vessels along the rivers and canals of Europe.-Company history:...
.
History
Originally christened as Marie Brizzard, her original purpose was to ferry ammunition to the beaches of Normandy to help the Allies fighting in the Somme. She was built particularly strong to resist the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
's harsh weather conditions and groundings on a Normandy beach. After the end of the first world war, she was delivered along the north and west coasts of France and taken to Rochefort
Rochefort, Savoie
Rochefort is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France....
in the River Charente estuary. Here, she delivered barrels of Cognac
Cognac (drink)
Cognac , named after the town of Cognac in France, is a variety of brandy. It is produced in the wine-growing region surrounding the town from which it takes its name, in the French Departements of Charente and Charente-Maritime....
from Angoulême
Angoulême
-Main sights:In place of its ancient fortifications, Angoulême is encircled by boulevards above the old city walls, known as the Remparts, from which fine views may be obtained in all directions. Within the town the streets are often narrow. Apart from the cathedral and the hôtel de ville, the...
to Rochefort
Rochefort, Savoie
Rochefort is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France....
. She has had many names during her life, including, Marie Brizzard, Cognac, Royal Cognac, Napoleon, Mark Twain, Magellan and Kir Royal.
In 1975 she was converted into a hotel barge
Hotel barge
The Hotel Barge came into being following the decline in commercial and freight carriage on the canals of Europe. Many working barges have been converted into floating hotels of varying degrees of luxury...
by Florian Waleski. Florian operated the hotel barge
Hotel barge
The Hotel Barge came into being following the decline in commercial and freight carriage on the canals of Europe. Many working barges have been converted into floating hotels of varying degrees of luxury...
until 1997 when she was purchased by European Waterways
European Waterways
European Waterways is an international company based in Berkshire, England that operates a fleet of 21 river cruising vessels along the rivers and canals of Europe.-Company history:...
, and she had an interior refit of the cabins and galley. For the next 10 years L'Art de Vivre was the only hotel barge to navigate the shallow reaches of the upper Nivernais Canal in Burgundy. In 2008 she underwent a third refit and over $200,000 was invested in 4 new cabins.