Paris – Montargis, MS Fleur

Embarkation and check-in at 1 p.m. at the mooring in the center of Paris. After a welcome by thecaptain, crew and tour leader the ship will leave the harbor in Paris and sail along the river Seineto Evry, where you will spend the night.
We advise you to come to Paris one or more days earlier, so that you will have plenty of time todiscover the city.

After breakfast, the bicycle tour starts from the lock of Evry. You will stay along the banks of the Seine river for a while. The first stop is the typical French market of Corbeil-Essonnes. Destinationof your first bicycle tour is Melun, a town which is known as “le domaine des reines blanches”,because in former years it used to be the domain of the widows of the French kings.

Today you will cycle through the wonderful forests of Fontainebleau. First destination is theartistic village of Barbizon, where since the first half of the 19th century many painters havefound inspiration. At the time, a group of landscape painters formed the “Barbizon School”. Youcan visit the local museum. After this, you continue your tour to the palace of Fontainebleau,much in favor among the French kings, because of the extensive possibilities to hunt in thesurrounding forests. The castle itself houses a museum of Napoleon, among other things.Fontainebleau is also a pleasant town to walk around or to shop. You will find the Fleur again inMoret-sur-Loing, a charming medieval fortified town, strategically situated on the banks of theLoing river, where painter Sisley found inspiration for his beautiful impressionist paintings.

You will stay in the valley of the Loing and visit Grez-sur-Loing, where many artist used to live inthe early years of the 20th century. In the charming town hall of Bourron-Marlotte you can admirea few magnificent impressionist paintings. You will meet the Fleur again in Nemours. Nemours issupposed to derive its name from the woods (nemora) in the midst of which it formerly stood andrelicts of Gallo-Roman remains indicate its early origin. The castle, erected around 1120, now is aprehistoric museum of the Ile-de-France region.

Breakfast during sailing. Today you will cycle through a wooded area with rugged rocks. Beforelunch you will visit the sculpture garden “Jardin Bourdelle”. In this garden you can admire some 57 bronze monumental sculptures by the artist Antoine Bourdelle. Around lunchtime you willreach Egréville. This village has been an important commercial crossroads for hundreds of years.Its markets and fairs enjoyed great renown. Final destination of today is rural Néronville.

Today you will first cycle to Chateau-Landon, a beautifully situated town, with the Abbey of St.Séverin from the 13th century. Your bicycle tour goes to the medieval town of Ferrières with itsold town center, which has been preserved beautifully. And in the middle of the narrow streets youfind a splendid monastery. Today’s destination is Montargis, even with 15000 inhabitants thebiggest town of the Loiret, after Orléans. Unfortunately this former royal residence was destroyedby a fire in the 16th century. But the canals are still there. They are decorated with many flowers and give the town a lot of charm. Today there is no dinner on board. You can select one of the local restaurants of Montargis. 

From Montargis you will cycle to Château-Renard, where you can visit the ruins of a castle fromthe 10th century. You will also visit an Apiculture’s Living Museum. There you can see beekeepersand their bees at work, and you’ll be able to sample their delicious honey. Along the river Ouanneyou will return to Montargis.

End of your tour: Disembarkation after breakfast until 9.30 a.m.