Maria enjoys all that the sparkling Champagne region has to offer aboard luxury Hotel Barge Panache, UNESCO world heritage sites, beautiful sunsets across the vineyards and a fair helping of the bubbly stuff!

I was recently invited by European Waterways to join them on a barge cruise in the Champagne region in France, and it was my favorite cruise experience so far. We were only seven passengers on board of the Panache, a remodeled freight barge that offered all the amenities of a 5-star hotel.