Mon Tour de France des Escales : From Cadillac to Pauillac

First stage of the Tour de France of River Stops – between the Garonne and the estuary. 🌊

Miles travelled, conversations shared, coffees on the docks… and one clear conviction: river cruising moves forward when we talk face to face.

🧭 A First Stage on the Garonne

It’s a simple truth: river cruising is built on the ground.

In August 2025, I launched my Tour de France of River Stops — an itinerant initiative designed to meet ports and river destinations first-hand.

The first stage took place along the Garonne–Dordogne axis: Cadillac, Bordeaux, Libourne, Bourg-sur-Gironde, Blaye, Fort Médoc, and Pauillac.

At each stop, the same dynamic unfolded: open discussions, shared observations, and — most importantly — concrete action plans to improve the visitor experience.
Some towns lack resources, others tools, but one thing remains constant everywhere: the will to move forward.

💙 Encounters. Connections. Real river life

There were also those special moments -meeting again with captains I once crossed paths with on the Seine, or sharing time with passionate local representatives.

These moments are a reminder that river cruising, above all, is a living community.

Pure joy. Real river life.

🏅 A First Diagnosis – and What Comes Next

Cadillac was selected for the 360° Escale Diagnostic — a full, in-depth mission that I’m eager to launch.

But at AF Fluvial Conseil, there are no losers:
every destination visited received a special follow-up offer, to keep the momentum going and strengthen its river strategy.

And the next chapter is already taking shape.
By the end of 2025, the Tour de France of River Stops will set course for the Loire – a new river basin, new energy, and the same ambition:
to make the river a real driver of local development.