‘We wanted to do something different, and saw an ad on the TV’ – Irish holidaymakers explain why river cruises are on a roll

From the sights of Paris and Auvers-sur-Oise to dancing, dining and craic on board, a river cruise is entirely different to its ocean counterparts

MS Jane Austen

Tom Sweeney

In a dimly lit corner of bar-restaurant Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise, 30km north-west of Paris, a young woman dressed in black sits alone at a small, darkwood table and takes a sip from a glass of Grande Absente 69.

From her brief conversation with the dicky-bowed barman, I know she’s from Amsterdam and has just come from saying a prayer at the grave of her hero in Auvers’s hilltop cemetery.