Welcome to the Après Tout

Rory and Caroline Macrae have worked in the luxury Hotel barge cruise industry in France for over 30 years. They bought the ‘Après Tout’ a 38 meter, six passenger French canal/river barge in 2011 and are proud to be running their own business after all these years – hence the name ‘Après Tout’ which means in French – after all!

Rory and Caroline Macrae

The owners Rory and Caroline Macrae have been in the luxury hotel barging industry for over 30 years. They first came to France in the early 90’s to work on board a brand new river cruiser cruising in Provence – Rory was a steward in those days and Caroline was the Corden Bleu chef. They both fell in love with France and her waterways, and that got them started in their careers with barging. Rory worked his way up from steward in Provence to Captain, and then onto Technical Manager and eventually to General Manager of the 5 boats operated by Afloat in France. Caroline was in charge of the Operations for all 5 boats and they worked together as a team for 10 years running that company.

“We offer a personalised exclusive service and each barge cruise is customised exactly to fit our guest’s needs”

Rory is a highly experienced Captain and has navigated on many waterways throughout Europe and in many types of vessels! One voyage found him in Amsterdam with a friend who had just bought an old rusty crane boat, their mission to get the barge down to Champagne in France as quickly as possible! Very different days to now, when he is all about the luxury market, although he still loves the rustic side of boating too!

By chance the Apres Tout came onto the market for sale and after much thought, they made an offer to buy this boat in 2011 which was accepted. Rory and Caroline then resigned from their positions to run their very own hotel barge.

The first season working on board the Après Tout in 2012 was a huge success, with so many wonderful passengers, great compliments for the boat, itinerary, food and wine and of course the cruising – their decision to leave the ‘office life’ behind and be out and about in the delightful French countryside, cruising every day was indeed the right one!

The boat

The Après Tout is a converted cargo boat originally built in 1950 and then transformed into a luxury hotel barge in 2004. She is 127 foot long (38.7 metres) by 16.5 foot wide (5.05 metre) and is truly sumptuous.

There are 3 very spacious cabins with Emperor size beds that can divide into twins, each cabin has an extremely efficient air conditioning unit or a separate heating system for cooler months. All cabins have large walk in showers and heated towel rails and are fully stocked with Nuxe products.

The salon and dining area are very light and airy with huge picture windows, there is a Satellite television, a Bose DVD player and CD player and ipod docking station. Also there are two wifi systems throughout the boat, so coverage even in the Valley D’ouche is pretty good! There is also for passenger’s use a Mac desk top computer and printer in our bureau.

The deck is probably the best used area – a wonderful outside space with 360° views. There is a bubbling hot tub that can easily take 6 people, 6 deck chairs for sun seekers and a large canopied shaded area for dining – where all meals are served weather permitting.

For those wanting to exercise – there are 6 bicycles that are ideal for tow path riding or exploring further afield.

Find out more about our cruises along the waterways of France

View our cruises

Activities in the local area

Abbay de la bussiere

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Air adventures

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Domaine Drouhin-Laroze

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Jadot

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