La Musette can be hired in full for a team evening, a client reception or a private party of up to 70 guests, by day or by evening, from March 15 to October 15. Groups of 6 to 35 can also book a set formula without taking the whole boat. La Musette is a floating bar on a restored 1903 barge moored at 3 Quai Saint-Cast, in the center of Rennes.
Seminars and company events
The barge is not a meeting room. It suits the social part of a company program: drinks at the end of a seminar held elsewhere in Rennes, a team celebration, a client evening or an informal announcement. The owners list professional meetings among the reasons to privatize the boat, and they publish a separate brochure for company bookings. Full hire is quoted on request.
Teams that do not need the whole boat can use the group formulas. Groups of 6 to 17 book the inside hold and either order from the menu or take a set formula. Groups of 18 to 35 are placed on deck, where a formula combining drinks and food on platters is compulsory to reserve the space. The rest of the time the bar is open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday.
Weddings and receptions
The site names birthdays and the day-after party of a wedding among the occasions for a full hire. It does not sell the barge as a wedding ceremony venue, and a capacity of 70 fits a small reception or a gathering of close friends rather than a full wedding. The team can recommend entertainers and performers it has already worked with.
Rooms and capacities
The boat has three areas. The inside hold contains the bar and the counter where tapas are assembled; portholes put guests at water level. The covered terrace, under a canvas awning with string lights, climbing ivy and a sound system, is where drinks and dancing happen. The upper terrace gives a 360-degree view over the river, the lower Lices district, the Rance lock and the towers of the Horizons building.
A full hire includes all three areas, for up to 70 guests. For group bookings, the hold takes 6 to 17 and the deck takes 18 to 35.
Catering
There is no kitchen on board. Food is served as tapas, prepared with Ana Ana, a restaurant in Plouasne that acts as the caterer for the boat. Drinks lean toward Breton craft beers, natural wines and cocktails. For a full hire, food and drinks are set out in the quote.
History and setting
The boat is a chaland nantais, a Breton cargo barge built in 1903 and weighing 80 tonnes, made to the largest gauge able to pass the locks of the canal between Nantes and Brest. The owners found it on the Blavet at Hennebont in 2019 and brought it to Rennes by river. After four years of restoration, La Musette opened in May 2023. The setting is relaxed and festive, and the owners say plainly that it is not a place for a formal dinner.
Getting there
The barge lies on the Vilaine at 3 Quai Saint-Cast, near the Pont de Bretagne and Place de Bretagne. The nearest metro station is République, a short walk away. Drivers can use the Vilaine and Chézy-Dinan car parks. Rennes train station is a few metro stops from République, which makes the boat easy to reach for teams arriving from Paris by high-speed train.
