 A member of the governing council of the Yacht Club de France, Menier studied naval architecture and yacht design.He owned several large sailing and steam powered yachts and journeyed to numerous European ports and with his a group of friends including René Waldeck-Rousseau, sailed north to Iceland and Norway.Menier undertook a three-year-long voyage through the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.