Marina de Paris offers three cruises each day; a lunch and two dinner cruises, one at 6:45 and the other at 9:15. I chose the 9:15 departure time, as it meant I would see the city at night.
Dinner cruises in Paris are not only a popular tourist attraction, but are a good value as well. The cost of my dinner cruise was €80.00. This included the two hour cruise, a three course dinner, champagne on arrival, a half litre of wine, and dancing. We were all quickly seated and the champagne began to flow. I was lucky to get a window seat near the prow of the boat, which was completely glassed-encased so I could see all the Paris landmarks lit up at night. Each table was given a map of the route with pictures and a little explanation of each monument so we could follow along on the tour.
The first course was a quartet of little amuse bouches. Scallops with smoked tomatoes, a cous-cous with smoked prawn, a choux pastry puff with dill cream cheese and stewed tomato, and duck foie gras with cranberry chutney. Interesting that tomatoes were used twice in the same presentation, but no matter.
For the main course, the choices were braised chicken, cod with pea risotto or "slab of beef with porcini mushroom sauce". Slab of beef didn't sound overly appealing, never mind that mushrooms give me hives. I know I will more than likely get to eat amazing risotto in Italy in a few days time, so that meant...braised chicken for me.
Dessert was another selection of small bites. A layered strawberry-rhubarb with vanilla parfait, a little lemon curd tartlette with meringue, a chocolate mousse with white chocolate flakes and an espresso panna cotta. All were yummy, but I am a sucker for lemon dessert at the end of a meal.
After dinner was cleared, the dancing began. By this time we were passing under the final bridges and nearing the Eiffel Tower. The tower is lit up every night, but the sparkling lights occur each hour at five minutes to the hour. Luckily, the boat arrived just in time for the light display to begin.There is also a smaller version of the Statue of Liberty gifted by France to the United States. Although it is a tourist-y view to see the statue and the tower at the same time, I none-the-less took a couple pictures.
Several people at different tables were celebrating birthdays, so the DJ played the obligatory "Happy Birthday" and The Beatles' "Say It's Your Birhtday" a number of times; and each time a small cake with a huge sparkler was brought out. This kicked off the festivities for much dancing. I must say, it is quite the experience to be cruising down the Seine on a clear night in one of the most beautiful cities while drinking Bordeaux and dancing with a bunch of people you have just met.
The cruise ended at about 11:30 pm and I did a little more walking around Paris before catching one of the last metro trains home.
I would definitely recommend Marina de Paris for a dinner cruise along the Seine. I liked that there wasn't an announcer on a loud speaker for each landmark; you were left to more-or-less discover the beauty of the city at night on your own; and it was interesting to see the landmarks lit up at night for a different perspective.
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