The Maxime must be the most elegant and best-kept Dutch barge on the Thames, and to stay on board at her private mooring at Wapping -- on London's front doorstep, with its spectacular view upstream to Tower Bridge -- has been a revelation. Comfortable and chic, the Maxime is perfectly placed for walking into the heart of the city one way and down through Dockland to the Greenwich foot-tunnel the other. It is a far quieter and warmer place to sleep than our own house near the river in a village far upstream, with the added maritime charm of the tide and the occasional wash of a passing craft's wake. Recommended without the slightest qualification.