Hiring a private boat for a ride down the Seine in Paris

A private boat cruising the Seine in Paris

In Paris not too long ago, living a never-ending Travelife, we booked a private boat to take us cruising around the Seine River in Paris.

Everyone’s familiar with the bateau mouche, which is a boat ride down the Seine.

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This is a must-do for any first-time visitor to Paris, and especially highly recommended for a summer evening.

It’s very nice, but it’s a big public boat with a lot of people.

A private boat cruising the Seine in Paris

We wanted a more private Seine river experience this time, so we booked a boat with a skipper for three hours with a company called Paris Private Cruise.

I was so glad we did this private cruise for so many reasons.

First, it’s great going down the Seine on a boat with no one else on board except your party. You can really relax and enjoy the sights.

A private boat cruising the Seine in Paris

Second, you can go as fast or as slow as you want.

So you can sail right near the Alexander Bridge in Paris, for instance, which happens to be my favorite bridge, and ask the skipper to go really slowly so you can see every detail from down under.

Then, when you’re passing something not too interesting, you can tell the skipper to speed up.

A private boat cruising the Seine in Paris

Third, you can tailormake the cruise experience to your liking.

Melanie Zontone, who runs Paris Private Cruise, can arrange everything from breakfasts and lunches to cocktails, dinner and even midnight snacks.

In fact, a few days after our charter, she was taking a German family on a breakfast cruise along the Seine.

They wanted to see Paris in the morning from a boat.

A private boat cruising the Seine in Paris

We’d just had a big lunch at the Plaza Athenee on that day, and then we had a big dinner ahead at Le Bristol, so we didn’t order any food for our charter, which began at 3 PM and ended at 6 PM.

But we did ask for champagne.

Then Melanie also prepared some nibbles like olives and cheese. It was perfect for an afternoon sail.

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Champagne is good for any reason and season, of course.

But I must say, it’s very nice for sailing down the Seine on a beautiful summer afternoon, on your own charter boat.

Interestingly, we were the only private boat on the river, so with our champagne and all, we certainly attracted a lot of attention.

I asked Melanie: “What are the most unusual charters you’ve ever done?”

She smiled and replied: “We’ve done a couple of marriage proposals on board. One guy asked me to prepare champagne and dinner, and he proposed right in front of the Eiffel Tower.“

Isn’t that romantic? 

Of course, according to Melanie, the lady said yes.

However, the Paris private boat cruise is also great for just any reason — like if you’re one family, or a group of friends, who just want to sail up and down the Seine in style, living a never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife.