Important--Your Capitaine Requests

A bunch of odds and ends for you this evening and this one will run on a bit, but it includes one important action item for everyone towards the top, so please read at least the bit about the booking form and I beg your indulgence for the long windedness.

First of all, I've heard back and the smoking policy on the Marjorie 2 is that smoking is off limits anywhere below decks (cabins and common areas) but is fine in designated areas topside. Steve, you know you can buy Cuban cigars legally in France, don't you? And Colleen, you'll be free to fire up those Gauloises as you enjoy your pre and post dinner toddies. Glad that's settled.

This next bit is just for CFB. I just reconfirmed that this is a charter for 11. Is that still correct? If not, call me ASAP as this is kind of last call to add a 12th apostle to our troupe.

Here's the bit for everybody to act upon. I've heard from Sally Dillon at Special Places Travel today and she needs each family to fill out their booking form, sign the "we won't sue you if we drown" disclaimer and return it to them. Click on the link here for the booking form every family unit needs to fill this out, sign it and fax it back to Sally at 1-240-465-3066.

For the top part of the form, the barge is the Marjorie 2, the cruise starts June 14 and ends June 20, 2009, there are 11 passengers in six cabins and it's a charter.

You can leave blanks in the bits about payment, the questions about where you'll be staying the night before and at the end of the cruise and the bit about travel insurance. Sally already has that information. But be sure to include any special needs, wants or dietary requests in the form (only green M&Ms? only diagonally cut cucumber sandwiches?--I'll bet Steve and Cathleen are the only ones who get that one).

I'll give you a couple of weeks to get this done and then I'll start nagging, so please take care of this sooner rather than later. Let me know when you've sent your fax so I can know who to pester.

By the way, if you ever have any questions for Don or Sally Dillon at Special Places Travel. Trust me, they are both wonderful to work with and very patient with my constant barrage of strange questions, multiple schedule/hotel changes and weird requests (they're already all over our boules tournament). Anyway, here's their contact information:

Phone (toll-free): 1-877-64-BARGE.

Fax: 1-240-465-3066·

E-mail: info@specialplacestravel.com

WEB: http://www.bargesinfrance.com/ and http://www.specialplacestravel.com/

Next, Sally has a really, really good five page pdf suitable for printing that has all kinds of great practical information on this trip and covers a lot of ground and FAQs in a clear and concise format. Here's the link.

Here's a link with technical and other details on the Marjorie 2. The first one that jumps out at me is that it's the same age as Teri and me, so Marjorie will be turning 50 on this trip as well! How cool is that?!

And the beat goes on: Sally weighed in on the whole dress code issue. Here's what she had to say:

"Clothing: Informal and casual clothing is the norm on board. A raincoat or light jacket and sweater are recommended. Warmer clothing is often needed in early spring and late fall. Dress in layers because weather can be extremely variable in all seasons. Soft-soled shoes are essential, for the decks, cycling, and walking (and rain). A coat and tie is not necessary, although some men do wear a jacket for the Captain's Dinner. Women may want to dress up a bit that night, as well. Throughout the week, for men, a shirt and slacks are fine for dinner, while shorts are fine during the day. For women, slacks and a nice top are fine for dinner. But if you want to dress up by all means go ahead - it's your cruise! Don't forget to bring a bathing suit if your barge has a hot tub.

Most passengers do change for dinner. We usually suggest wearing the same kind of thing you would wear to a local restaurant. A jacket is usually appropriate for men for the captain's dinner the last night. But as you said, it's your cruise so you can wear whatever you want!"

And finally . . . I recently downloaded several pdf brochures from the French government tourism website. One is a general brochure on Burgundy, one is on biking in Burgundy, one is boating in Burgundy and the last is on the Burgundy wine road. I'm not sure how useful they are for trip planning purposes, but they've got lots of pretty color pictures in them and are very useful for daydreaming. If you want any or all of these brochures, just let me know and I'll forward them to you via e-mail.

I've actually ordered hard copies of several of these and expect to have them in the next few days.

If you've made it this far, thank you for your patience.

Le Capitaine