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RORY MACRAE
R
ory was born (1965) in Carlisle, England, and lived there until he
was 20 years old. He met, then married, Caroline in 1989. The
couple’s river-canal adventures began when they responded to an ad
from a company called Charter Barge, run by Gerard Morgan Granville
and his wife.
Rory started out as a steward; Caroline was a chef. The boat was
the same size as Aprés Tout but had an upper deck and was docked,
coincidentally, in St. Jean-de-Losne. “It was one of the first hotel boats
to cruise the River Rhone,” Rory notes.
The company was purchased by Afloat In France, and later by
Orient Express, and Rory became general manager of Orient Express’s
river cruises in France. Caroline was his operations manager until they
resigned from the company and purchased, renovated, and launched
the boat that is now Aprés Tout.
CAROLINE MACRAE
C
aroline and Rory celebrated 25 years of marriage on May
25, 2014. “I don’t really know where I’m from,” Caroline
says – her dad was in the Royal Air Force – “but I was born in
Buckinghamshire.” Caroline attended the Cordon Bleu cooking
school in London but did not attend university. “I’m not an academic
person,” she says, adding, “But I’ve always loved food, always loved
cooking.” She met Rory when she was 18 – he was 21 – through
mutual friends.
After attending Cordon Bleu, she worked for what she calls “a very
upmarket outside caterer” in the Lake District for four years. “We did
huge society weddings in castles; we did High-Sheriff teas; we did all the
catering for all those sort of events,” she recounts. During her stint as a
caterer, Rory would come and help, and after four years, they bought a
little cottage in England that they still own and that they rent out.
“As a chef,” Caroline concludes, “the idea of having a private dinner
party every night is my favorite thing about working on the boat. I love
the idea of feeding the guests, getting the feedback, the whole thing of
making someone’s trip special.”
NICK BORLAND
N
icholas was born in Weston Super Mare, England, in the west
country, close to Bristol, overlooking South Wales. He and Rory
met over twenty years ago and have been best friends since. They were
both working on a barge, cruising eastern France near Besançon at the
time but never had the opportunity to work together again until the
Aprés Tout project came along.
Nick says he’d always had a passion for literature and history. In
Paris, he studied French literature and history at the Sorbonne “to wile
away the evenings.” His passion for wine is something he’s developed
since moving to France.
“Working on Aprés Tout is not a job,” Nick says, “it’s a way of life. It’s
not a nine-to-five; it is seasonal and we have seven quite intense months.
It’s being able to share a little bit of my love for France, my passion for
history and wine, and French culture in general. It’s of a whole.”
HANNAH SHERIDAN
H
annah was born in Cambridge, England, completed her
A-Levels and attended university to study fine art. Hoping to
find work abroad, she discovered an online site called “Work Anyplace
Anywhere,” and spotted a job offer from Rory and Caroline, who were
looking for help on their boat, a new enterprise at the time.
Rather than respond via the Work Anyplace Anywhere website, she
went online and sent what she describes as “a passionate email” to Rory
and Caroline directly. She impressed Rory enough that he suggested
she come to France and try out the position for a month.
She came for a month and stayed. Hannah is a delightful presence
and is the one who draws the menus every day. “I’ve always loved art.
I’ve always wanted to be an illustrator,” she admits.
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