Prospérité Barge[edit]

Prospérité Barge is a riveted, Freycinet barge. She was originally built as a cargo barge to carry various goods throughout France. Converted in 2001 and 2002 in Dordrecht and Teneuzen, Holland, she is now one of a fleet of hotel barges that operate by Elegant Waterways, on the French canals for international tourists, and is currently on the Burgundy Canal in central France.

History

Prospérité Barge was originally built in 1957 in Belgium, for use in the French canal system. Originally named Scorpio she was used to transport freight items such as grain, gravel as well as other goods. In 2001, an American hotelier and developer Earl Robertson and his wife Candy founding partners in the highly successful Seattle boutique hotel The Inn at the Market^[1], along with their lifelong friends Dave and Val Waggott of York, England, purchased the barge and embarked on a 18 month process of converting Scorpio into a luxury hotel barge and renamed her Prospérité.

Prospérité is 128 feet long by 16 feet wide which is the largest size barge that is able to cruise through the French canal system.

Hotel Barge

Today Prospérité Barge is an ultra deluxe hotel barge that hosts up to 8 passengers in its 4 staterooms along with 5 English speaking crew members on weekly charter cruises down the Canal de Bourgogne between Vandenesse-en-Auxois and Dijon.^[2] She currently runs from April through October each year. She is one of the fleet of hotel barges that are owned, maintained, renovated, crewed, marketed and operated by Elegant Waterways.

Current Accommodations

A Prospérité cruise offers some of the largest rooms and highest level of amenities that you will find on any of the canal boats in France^[3]. Each of the four luxurious staterooms provide 270 square-feet of space, a stereo system, individually controlled central heating and air-conditioning, two oversized twins or one king bed, a private bath with tub, separate shower and heated towel racks.^[4]

Prospérité’s salon combines Italian leather couches with French accent pieces and other beautiful touches. The salon is bright and spacious with panoramic windows to provide an expansive view of the outside countryside while cruising.

The separate dining room seats eight and is decorated in an elegant and contemporary style. It is the perfect place to enjoy the gourmet dinners prepared by the private chef onboard chef. The dining room also boasts a fully equipped demonstration kitchen, where the chef gives both planned and impromptu demonstrations in French and Continental cuisine during the cruise.

On deck there is a spacious sun deck with hot tub for experiencing the passing scenery on the beautiful Burgundy waterways. There is an outdoor dining space with a sun canopy for shade.

Prospérité's main salon
Prospérité's dining room
Prospérité's demonstration kitchen
One of the four private staterooms aboard the French Hotel Barge Prospérité run by Elegant Waterways.
Another of the four private staterooms
One of Prospérité's private stateroom baths
Prospérité's on deck dining
Prospérité French hotel barge run by Elegant Waterways.
Prospérité French hotel barge in the fall on the Burgundy Canal.