Did you know that Languedoc is Where “Bubbly” Began?

It is well recorded that sparkling wines were being made in Limoux (20km east of Carcassonne) a good 300 years before Dom Perignon famously put his name on what is now called Champagne.

While tasting and collecting our seasonal stock from the Domaine d’Antech in Limoux this spring, we made a very pleasant discovery in the form of a pink bottle. The lovely Cuvée “Emotion” is made of 68% Chardonnay, 20% Chenin Blanc, 10% Mauzac and 2% Pinot Noir.

It’s dry, refreshing and lightly fruity–a perfect fizz for Athos crew to uncork in honour of the many anniversaries, birthdays and family get-togethers hosted on board each season. That, and we think it is as easy on the eye as it is on the palate!

Rose Champagne — Enjoy this lovely pink fizz at Athos parties!

Meet the Athos Dream Team

We’re delighted to introduce you to this season’s Athos dream team!

Zsuzsa (Suzanne to those of you who’ve already met her) is from Hungary. She’s a keen photographer, an enthusiastic horse-woman and a stickler for detail (hooray!) Her quick wit, easy smile and keen photographer’s instinct for capturing the beauty of the Canal du Midi is most welcome. Watch out for Zsuzsa’s photo credits on our website and blog.

Kristyna is from the Czech Republic but has lived in the UK and France for several years. She’s a sports enthusiast, a massage-therapist by training, and her energy and bubbly character make her a delightful addition to Athos cruising.

Andrew comes to Athos via the acclaimed Leith’s Chefs in London. He’s worked at a number of London’s top restaurants including one of Gordon Ramsey’s, as well as at Moro. His cookery style plays with Mediterranean flavours and Lebanese influences. He favours the region’s plentiful seafood and fresh herbs. In addition to keeping Athos’ passengers’ appetites satisfied, he’s a disciplined jogger. For those who plan to run Athos meals off while you’re with us, Andrew can offer advice on the best sections of Canal towpath!

We’re very pleased to welcome back tour guide, Matthieu. As a professional guide, Matt will ensure that Athos passengers get a opportunity to enjoy the very best of the Languedoc.

Caramelised Onion and Pumpkin Tarte

…This recipe is a good one for using up the very last of the winter pumpkins! The result is a fancy-looking, soufflé-style quiche. Athos had a fantastic source of pumpkins from the Argeliers pick-your-own, “Top Fruits” this year.

600g of pumpkin or squash.

1 large onion

250 mL sour cream or light sour cream

2 eggs

2-3 rashers of bacon

1 Shortcrust pastry, either pre-prepared or homemade.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Roll out the pastry and place into tart mould. Peel, cook and puree the pumpkin. Chop onions and place in a fry pan with bacon bits. Cook at high heat until onions are completely soft, transparent and beginning to brown. Once cool, scatter on the pastry crust. In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sour cream, blending in the pumpkin puree. Beat the egg whites until it forms stiff peaks, then gently add this to the yolk/puree mixture. Pour over pastry crust/onions, bake for 35 minutes. Enjoy with a green salad and crusty bread!

Athos’ Recommended Top 3 Languedoc Reds for Christmas

All 3 wines listed below are stocked by Athos, and are sold internationally and may be available through your local Wine Merchant:

Chateau La Voulte Gasparet, AOC Corbieres
Chateau Ollieux Romanisse, AOC Corbieres
Borie du Maurel, AOC Minervois (Belle de Nuit or Cuvee Syllah)

Athos’ Top3 all contain blends of 4 typical Languedoc grape varieties:

Grenache (versatile with chocolate & pepper notes)
Syrah: weighty & fruity
Mourvedre: used in smaller doses than Grenache/Syrah for dark colour & leathery notes
Carignan: (sometimes the Make or Break grape (!). Vinified well, it adds depth and silky tannins.

Suitable food combinations: Corbieres & Minervois reds will blend deliciously with winter menus items like: turkey, duck, beef potato/garlic dishes, winter vegetables like red cabbage. Cheese!

Recommended Languedoc Reds for Christmas

A Traditional Languedoc Christmas

An excuse to celebrate is never far from the French mind and culture. Christmas sees spectacular Buches de Noels (Yule Logs) displayed in the local bakery. The Christmas lights and signs have gone up in the village 10 days ago, much to the delight of small children waiting for Pere Noel’s arrival.

A traditional Languedoc Christmas celebration begins with the selection of children’s rides and games at one of the local Marches de Noel on Christmas Eve. Our annual favourite is in Narbonne. Surrounded by mulled wine, snow-sprayed pine trees and Christmas market-stalls, children wait with anticipation to watch the Christmas parade which features the arrival of Pere Noel. The rest of Christmas Eve follows with a traditional midnight Mass, and a very late night of opening gifts, eating, drinking and being merry. Joyeux Noel!

Toulouse_Christmas_market_DSC02662 — A Languedoc Christmas market, borrowed from D. Monniaux’s Wikipedia excerpt

France in One Bite

Quintessentially Mediterranean, you’re sure to find the ever-light and always delicious tomato and mozzarella salad in any southern eatery. From the Athos kitchen, here’s chef’s simple, but scrumptious version of the classic salad. Continue reading →

Languedoc Vineyards and Endless Wine Tastings

In addition to a full week’s luxury barge cruise, Athos endeavors to find at least one wine tasting in the Languedoc area each week. As the same tastings are new to passengers each week, we often do the same wineries. Having said that, over the years we’ve found wine tastings and visits so varied, interesting and educational that it’s well worth breaking an easy routine in favour of going somewhere new.

Some of the Athos’ recommended Languedoc wine visits:

Domaine de Guery – friends of the family, a charming visit of an 18thC winery and traditional equipment still in use
Domaine Pain de Sucre – new to Athos, thorough and a very pleasant setting
Mas Daumas Gassac – a bit of a drive from the Canal du Midi area, but well-acclaimed internationally and worth the extra time spent on the road
Borie du Maurel – a stunning corner of the Minervois, and scrummy wines to boot. Glamorous tasting Cave.
Domaine la Colombette – just outside Beziers, dangerously quaffable Sauvignon Blanc
Les Trois Blasons – an upmarket Cave Co-op close to the town of Minerve
Chateau la Vernède – fabulous historical Chateau setting, huge cave & broad selection of wines
Chateau Perdiguier –thorough estate visit and tasting
Chateau Ventenac – Cave co-op directly borders the Canal du Midi
Domaine Saint Brhune – in Athos’ home port of Argeliers, fruity summertime rosé & smooth, rounded reds.
Chateau de Brau – close to Carcassonne, offering some organic wines.

Languedoc Grapes on Languedoc vines — Languedoc Grapes & Vines

Thank you to Athos passengers for the great photos!

The problem with writing a blog for a luxury hotel-barge is that the management side of the business is just about has heavy as the barge. You’ll no doubt have observed that writing has been pretty low on the priority list these past few months. Fortunately, one of our first passengers of this barging season was kind enough to provide some fantastic blog-fodder. Thanks to David Wright who was on Athos’ “shake-down” week for 2011, I don’t need to witter on about how much he enjoyed his week onboard. Great photos – thanks David!

Luxury hotel barge dog — Jilly the luxury hotel barge Athos' onboard doggy

Canal du Midi luxury hotel barge cruising — Tall bridge at Portiragne on the Canal du Midi

Canal du Midi Onshore excursions from hotel barge AThos, Carcassonne

Luxury hotel barge Athos has her own top deck herb garden — Chef cutting fresh herbs from the deck herb-garden

Athos cruises to Marseillan port from the Canal du Midi — Luxury hotel barge Athos in Mediterranean Marseillan Port, Etang de Thau

Canal du Midi 1681, WIFI 2011

hotel barge Athos' salon — Comfortable salon onboard hotel barge AThos

Luxury Hotel Barge Athos offers onboard WIFI

Since the beginning of 2011, Luxury hotel barge Athos has had onboard WIFI. Athos cruise passengers are invited to bring their own IPads and laptops, and easily connect to send email or surf online in the comfort of the Athos salon or the sunshine of the upper deck. It’s a bit of a revelation on the 17thC Canal du Midi, to say the least.

Equally, Athos offers an onboard IPod dock, and welcomes passengers who travel with their own music to plug in and share their tunes. Many any evening has been spent grooving in the Athos salon with passengers favourite and specially-chosen music.

Luxury hotel barge Athos has 24-hour electricity, suitable for running CPAP machines, charging laptops and mobile telephones etc. We even have complimentary adaptors for US-Euro and UK-Euro plugs onboard…but it’s a good idea to pack your own for any nights you might spend in a hotel on your way to or from your cruise onboard Athos.

Endless Vineyards and Wine Tastings

Carcassonne, Chateau de Brau — Chateau de Brau wine tasting

In addition to a luxury barge cruise, the Athos itinerary plans at least one wine-tasting in the Languedoc area during a cruise week. As the same tastings are new to passengers each week, we’ve often done the same wineries week after week. Having said that, over the years we’ve found Languedoc wine tastings and visits so plentiful, varied, and educational that it’s well worth breaking routine and going somewhere new.

Some of the Athos’ recommended Languedoc wine visits:

Domaine de Guery – friends of the family, a charming visit of an 18thC winery and traditional equipment still in use
Domaine Pain de Sucre – new to Athos, thorough and a very pleasant setting
Mas Daumas Gassac – a bit of a drive from the Canal du Midi area, but well-acclaimed internationally and worth the extra time spent on the road
Borie du Maurel – a stunning corner of the Minervois and scrummy wines to boot, glamorous tasting Cave.
Domaine la Colombette – just outside Beziers, dangerously quaffable Sauvignon Blanc
Les Trois Blasons – an upmarket Cave Co-op close to the town of Minerve
Chateau la Vernede – fabulous historical Chateau setting, huge cave & selection of wines
Chateau Perdiguier –thorough estate visit and tasting
Chateau Ventenac – Cave co-op virtually on the Canal du Midi quai
Domaine Saint Brhune – in Athos’ home village of Argeliers, fruity summer-time rose & smooth, rounded reds.
Chateau de Brau – close to Carcassonne, offers a selection of organic wines

Languedoc grapes, in the vineyard — Languedoc Grapes on the Vine

Hotel barge Athos has ensuite bathrooms for each cabin

Luxury en-suite bathrooms get a vote of confidence

Last week’s passengers were guided into their cabins to get settled in before having a toast of the bubbly and a chitchat about the week. Julian was delighted when they reported that they found the Athos’ ensuite bathrooms to be extremely luxurious…much moreso than other boat bathrooms they’d been in, and on a par they felt, with luxury hotel bathrooms. They loved the oiled hardwood floors and cabins, and found the shiny white & royal blue tile work fresh and bright. We aim to please – thanks for the compliment Athos passengers!!

Ensuite bathrooms with hardwood floors and cabinets — Athos ensuite bathrooms have hardwood floors and cabinets

Ensuite bathroom on Athos — Ensuite bathroom onboard barge Athos

Luxury Hotel Barge, Athos and her Top Deck.

Most spacious hotel barge deck on the Canal du Midi

We were flattered when I recently received a phone call from a valued agent based in the US, who called to compliment Athos on her deck furniture. Apparently, passengers who had cruised the canal for a week on another Midi barge had returned home and complained that their hotel barge didn’t have sun loungers like on the Athos!

Athos has the largest deck space on the Canal du Midi, measuring at 13m x 5m. At 10 passengers, Athos has the greatest passenger capacity of the Midi hotel-barges. Equally, she has the deck space to offer hardwood sun loungers that convert into generous outdoor dining chairs for each passenger. Canal du Midi cruise-comfort!