We leave today for a river cruise with Viking down the Rhone River in southern France.

The Rhone is about 505 miles long and is the only major European river that flows directly into the Mediterranean Sea. It flows from Switzerland into France and the first half of the river is not considered navigable by commercial vessels. The cities along the navigable river include Lyon, Vienne, Tournon, Viviers, Avignon and Arles and we will be visiting all of them along the way.

There is always the chance that the river can flood (especially with the melting snow from the Alps in the spring) and then we would have to be taken by bus to the various towns. We are hoping that we will be lucky and will be able to spend our time cruising on the Viking Heimdal and enjoying the beautiful sites along the way. We will see where Vincent Van Gogh painted his renown works of art in Arles, savor the cuisine and wines in Provence, the heart of French wine country, and see ruins and castles..some dating as far back as 2000 years ago in Avignon.

Hope you can come along for the ride and read about our adventures. See you in Avignon!

29 Mar 2017

Avignon

We had great flights from Newark to Paris and then on to Marseilles. We boarded our ship The Heimdal and our room was all ready and a late lunch was served which was delicious.

We’ve already met some nice folks and we are off to a great start. The weather is gorgeous. Sunny and in the 70’s. The flowers are blooming and the trees are beginning to blossom. The lavender hasn’t bloomed yet but you can purchase soaps and lavender sachets all over.

We took a walk around and our first stop was the Avignon broken bridge as it is called. This bridge spanned the Rhône and was built between 1177 and 1185. The bridge at one time had 22 stone arches but most of them collapsed since the Rhone floods quite often. Since it was costly to constantly repair, it was abandoned in the17th century. The four surviving arches on the bank of the Rhône all that is left.

We then strolled over to the centre of Avignon which is entirely enclosed by 4.3 kilometers of walls. High atop is the Golden Virgin statue which is near the palace of the popes in Avignon.

We went back to the ship to get ready for the evening briefing and dinner and happily found a wine and cheese tasting going on. So of course we had to sample some. It’s been a busy day and I’m sure we will sleep well tonight.

30 Mar 2017

Arles

What a fabulous day we had today. We took a bus tour into Arles and spent the day with Vincent van Gogh! We toured all the places where he painted his masterpieces…many sites of which are still standing. There are copies of his paintings in front of the actual places he put on canvas and it was so interesting to see.

 we went to an art class at la Couverture Verte – Arles’s Siqueiros fine arts school and attempted to duplicate scenes from his famous paintings. It was so much fun and the two hour class flew by. I have included in the pics van Gogh’s original ( second pic) and my feeble attempt at duplication (last pic). I didn’t have time to complete my painting as we had to leave. Allan was a trooper and also did a painting even though this was not his idea of how to spend two hours.

Afterwards we had lunch in a lovely restaurant and then went on to see Place du Forum where Van Gogh painted many of his beautiful landscapes. We went on to see the mental institution where he spent some time when he had his mental break down and where he also painted his famous irises.

We continued on to St. Remy and visited St.Paul de Mausole monastery one of the most beautiful in Provence. At the adjoining mental institution we saw a replica of the room where van Gogh stayed and created 150 paintings when he was once again institutionalized.

Van Gogh originally came to Paris from the Netherlands and then moved to Arles and stayed in what is known as the Yellow House with artist Gauguin, who at the time was selling his paintings at a greater rate than van Gogh This caused them to have a falling out. It is speculated that after their falling out, Van Gogh cut off his ear and subsequently wound up in another mental institution. We walked the gardens of this place… Which is still in existence…and could understand how the beautiful surroundings contributed to the creation of his masterpieces.

We were able to visit the Fondation Vincent van Gogh Arles where eight of his original paintings were on display. There works of Alice Neel’ were also exhibited as well.

We came back on the ship and had a delicious dinner of Chateaubriand steak and crepes for dessert. Now listening to music with a Drambuie and looking forward tomorrow’s tour… The flavors of Provence.  

                       Vincent’s painting and then my painting                                

31 Mar 2017

FABULOUS!!!!!! That’s the only word to describe our tour today. We signed up for the Flavors of Provence – an all day tasting tour – and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Our tour guide Philip was interesting, informative and absolutely adorable. He spoke perfect English and when asked how he knew the language so well he told us that he had lived in Kansas for a year and taught French at a university.

We started our morning with Philip, strolling the quaint and narrow streets of Avignon with its churches and medieval buildings. Avignon is known as the city of Pope’s with the papal seat being here for 70 years in the 14th century.

We followed our guide to the Passage de l’Oratoire and on to Rue Saint-Agricol and Rue Joseph Vernet, two streets filled with up-scale shops and gourmet treats. The dresses in the windows of the shops were gorgeous – very haute-couture and each new one was more beautiful than the last.

We passed by some Gothic churches on our way to our first tasting stop…A huge market filled with the aromas of herbs, fresh bread, and display cases of every kind of cheese you could imagine, as well as bins of vegetables and cases of iced fish. It was a gourmets paradise. We sampled delicious cheeses – made from both sheep and goat’s milk. Some were creamy and plentiful olive trees that grow in the region. Some olives were flavored with fennel… Others with garlic and onions. And of course there were the delicious black olives as well. Along with the olives we sampled garlic cloves that were brined in white vinegar giving them a slightly sweet taste. Magnifique!! Then we perused the spice aisle sampling many different kinds of flavored salts… Including a lavender one.

La Cure Gourmande specialized in olive oils and that was our next stop. We tasted the purest of the pure virgin olive oils that were so light and delicate in flavor that our taste buds couldn’t believe their luck! We savored olive oils that were flavored with ginger, lemon, lavender… To mention a few. We also sampled the Provencal dish tapenade, along with pesto, sun dried tomato paste and anchovy paste…All on baquettes you and all made with the olive oils. Amazing!!

Across the street was Les Delices du Luberon, the chocolate shoppe, where we sampled delicious cookies and chocolates. At the end of our tasting, the proprietress gave each of us a beautiful French cookie tin which of course we had to fill with some chocolates to take home with us.

We then walked over to the magnificent home where our cooking class was going to take place. It was a three story building in the middle of Avignon – 13,000 square feet…owned by a lovely lady who said the home was just too big for her so she began serving lunch and dinners in its quaint rooms and also began renting out apartments. Additionally she hired someone to give cooking lessons on occasion… and so began the creation of La Maison de Fogasses culinary school.

We toured her home and then settled in the backyard for our first glass (of many) of rose wine made by a local vintner that we meet at the restaurant who was a good friend of the owner of the home.

After enjoying the wine and the sunshine, we brought our wine glasses with us and made our way to the kitchen of the culinary school to don aprons and to begin making the local specialty fougasse, an olive bread. It was a lot of fun to work the dough and form the unusual shapes of this local delight. Then we piped out little eclairs that we would be enjoying for dessert.

While we were waiting for our lunch to be made, we went back outside to play Pétanque, a form of bocce ball, where the goal is to toss or roll hollow steel balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a jack. The current form of the game originated in 1907, in, of course, Provence, France. As we played, we drank more wine and nibbled on the fougasse that we had just baked. I was winning the game at the end… Having my ball closest to the jack… But the last toss by another player edged me out by a fraction of an inch. It was a lot of fun and we all had some good laughs.

We went up once again to the culinary school to feast on a beef  stew, made by our chef teacher. This creation was made with mushrooms, carrots, herbes de Provence along with tender beef and wine. It was fantastic over noodles. After lunch we enjoyed some custard and French toast as well as our delicious eclairs. We also sampled some fabulous red wine that the vintner had made and we bought two bottles to take back with us to enjoy on the boat.

It was a truly fantastic tour and we enjoyed every morsel that we tasted. We certainly experienced the many flavors of Provence and thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful town of Avignon, rich in history and culinary delights.

01 Apr 2017 

Today we visited the sleepy town of Viviers. Today was our first day of rain so we had to try to walk between the raindrops and move along with our local guide.

Viviers is an old medieval town and one of the best preserved in southern France. We visited St Vincent cathedral and walked through steep cobblestone lanes, flanked on either side by apartments of the locals. There weren’t many shops or restaurants, but rather just lush foliage and beautiful architecture dating back through the centuries.

We had quite a climb to the top of an overlook… Through the cobblestones that were rather slippery and uneven. At one point many people fell behind the guide and the guide, quite oblivious, kept plodding up up up to the top. One lady ran ahead and asked for someone to stop the guide so the people in the back could catch up. It seemed like no one could get her attention so I did my two fingered whistle…A whistle I’ve perfected over the years to get the attention of my boys. That did the trick. The guide stopped and looked back to see where the whistle came from and I was able to put my hand up and say “please stop”!!!
Too funny!!!

It was a quiet day.

02 Apr 2017

Another rainy morning but that didn’t stop us from taking a morning walk and boarding the steam engine train for a beautiful ride through the Doux Valley. This region is unaccessible by road making it a beautiful and untouched wilderness to tour.

After our train ride we enjoyed a walking tour through Viviers, which was rather sleepy since it was Sunday. While there, we visited the smallest cathedral in France, the 11th century St Vincent Cathedral.

All of the shops were closed today and our guide said that the streets were empty as the French like to sleep in on Sundays. Sounds like a plan to me!

We went back to the ship for a delicious lunch and cruised to Vienne. The Rhone is beautiful this time of year and we enjoyed dining on the top deck and watching the French countryside go by. After lunch, replete with a few glasses of wine, we went back out to tour Vienne. We hopped on a trolley and went to Mont Pipet to view France’s best preserved Roman amphitheaters. It was amazing to see in the middle of the town. It held 13,000 spectators in its day and is only slightly smaller than Rome’s theater of Marcellus.

We went on a walking tour after our trolley ride and viewed the temple of Augustus and Livia from the 1st century.

But the highlight of the day was visiting the beautiful Gothic cathedral of St Maurice with itsceiling that seemed to soar up to the heavens and was absolutely breathtaking.

We finished the tour with a walk around the Garden of Cybele that also has many Roman remains.

Our guide told us that the French are rather lazy and they get a lot of time off from work. They have a high tax rate and rationalize their socialized medicine, education and government services because of this high tax rate. She admitted however that there is cheating and this tax rate is not the one that is necessarily paid.

We enjoyed our visit to these beautiful towns immensely. Spring is quite evident all over southern France and the shades of green that are in the foliage and the beautiful blossoms made for a wonderful day. The towns are so quaint and you just want to buy some cheese, a baguette and a bottle of wine and sit in the square and watch the people walk by.

We had dinner on the ship. (By the way, I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but every day at lunch and dinner, unlimited glasses of wine are offered! We have been imbibing each day and the wines offered are stellar)!! Once again, Allan and I procured a table for ten so that our new friends can dine with us and as usual, a good time was had by all as we shared our stories.

After dinner, we met up with another new friend Patty, a fellow nurse, and Allan, Patty and I had fun with Robert…A 91 year old Scotsman who still loves to dance and drink his wine. He is a hoot… Sharp as a tack and with a great sense of humor. He was a chemist and was married for 54 years to the love of his life who sadly died 7 years ago. Now he travels the world and enjoys meeting new people. He wears knickers!!! He and I had a few dances and he sang opera to me in his beautiful tenor voice.

03 Apr 2017

Lyon

Lyon is known for its gastronomical delights, it’s culture, and it’s beautiful silk. From the moment you step off the ship, you know you are in a beautiful and quaint town replete with cobblestones and amazing architecture. Cultural life is present in the myriad museums that grace the streets, the opera house with its dark black roof and the amazing trompe-l’oeil that grace many buildings. Interpole has been headquartered in Lyon since 1989 so we really have to behave ourselves while here in Lyon!

Our first stop was the Basilica of Notre Dame at the top of Fourviere Hill. The Basilica is magnificent with murals in mosaic tiles and ceilings that went ever upward. The stain glass windows had gorgeous color that was shown off as the sun burst through. We learned that the Basilica had made arrangements with the local telephone company and for a fee, have allowed the phone company to put antennas on top of the church. It’s funny to see the statue of St Mary with a thin bit of wire protruding from her head. But it pays the bills and because of the arrangement, the Basilica has had the monies to do major renovation work

When you walk out of the Basilica, you see the Metallic tower of Fourviere, a landmark of Lyon. It is a steel framework tower which bears a striking resemblance to the Eiffel Tower, which predates it by three years. During the Exposition of 1914 in Lyon, it had a restaurant and an elevator capable of taking 22 people up to the summit. Although used as an observation tower until 1953, nowadays it serves as a television tower and is not accessible to the public. It is the highest point in Lyon and towers over the Basilica.

Right behind the Basilica, we were awed by the panoramic view of old Lyon from the hilltop vantage point and we were able to see for miles since it was such a beautiful day.

During WW II, thousands of Lyon’s citizens were tortured and killed and many more thousands were sent to Nazi concentration camps under the barbaric gestapo chief Klaus Barbie, the butcher of Lyon. Nazi rule ended in 1944 but not before the retreating Germans blew up all but two of Lyon’s 28 bridges. A Lyon court sentenced Barbie to death in absentia but it wasn’t until 1987 that he was extradited from Bolivia and sentenced to life imprisonment. He ultimately died of cancer.

We boarded our bus for the next stop… La Fresque Des Lyonnais, a mural on an apartment building of about 30 of Lyons famous figures, both past and present, done in the trompe l’oeil style. The famous chef

Paul Bocuse stands in the front of one of his famous restaurants. The Roman emperor Claudius who was born in Lyon had a place on the mural as does the author of The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint- Exupery. Interestingly, Verrazano, of the NYC bridge fame, is also depicted.

We then went on a walking tour along the cobblestones and visited one of the city’s famous traboules, unique hidden passageways made for busy merchants in medieval days.

We returned to our ship for a French cuisine luncheon… With duck, lamb, pates, cheeses, amazing desserts and of course… Wine.  

Tonight we will have a delicious dinner of fillet mignon and lobster and then we dance the night away with friends.

04 Apr 2017

Lyon

Today dawned sunny and warm as we made our way by bus into the historical Provence of Beaujolais. It is located north of Lyon and covers parts of the north of the Rhône-Alps region.

The French countryside is beautiful this time of year and we passed acre after acre of vineyards. The vines are pruned in early March and we noticed they were just starting to sprout the blossoms that will ultimately yield the grapes. Depending on the weather, the grapes are harvested in late August into September and folks come from all around to partake in the harvest. College students come as well to make some money and meet new friends.

The winter pruning of the vines is very important and they are usually printed very low to the ground. A vine that is 45 years old is considered an old vine and when a new vines are planted, it takes there years before the grapes can be harvested for wine. Interestingly, one vine produces approximately one bottle of wine.

Beaujolais wine tends to be a very light-bodied red wine, with relatively high amounts of acidity. In some vintages, the Beaujolais area produces more wine than the Burgundy wine regions of Chablis, Côte d’Or, Côte Chalonnaise and Mâconnais put together. But Beaujolais isn’t just red wines. About 15% of the yield is made into white wines.

We visited a winery and had a tasting of some wonderful Beaujolais wines, both white and red. The winery was in a castle called Chateau de Varennes. The first stone of the castle was placed in the middle of the 11th century and the heart of the castle was almost entirely refurbished in the 16th century.

The service quarters were built in the early 16th century. This is where the winegrowers lived. The cellars were enlarged in the 19th century and the wine is still produced there today.

After our tasting we drove into the town of Beaujeu and walked the very narrow streets and found a pastry shop where we enjoyed a huge butter cookie. Yum!

We returned to the ship for lunch and then walked into Lyon to do some shopping and to enjoy the sunshine and the French way of life.

We have packed our bags and are all set to leave tomorrow morning. Tonight is our farewell dinner and time to say au revoir to all our new acquaintances and to thank the crew who took such good care of us.

Spring is an amazing time to visit the south of France. The fruit trees are blossoming all over and the Rhone River was picturesque to sail along for the week. We loved seeing the homes tucked into the French hillside with their tile roofs and the grape vines that stretched as far as the eye could see. It all made for a bucolic journey that we won’t soon forget.

05 Apr 2017

Lyon

Aéroport Lyon-Saint Exupéry (LYS) (Aéroport de Lyon Saint-Exupéry)

We’re at the airport and waiting to take off for Paris and then on to Newark. Tonight we are meeting our friends for a wine tasting dinner at a local restaurant. Hope they don’t serve soup as I might fall asleep in it and drown.

Had a fun evening last night with our table crew. We all promised to keep in touch and perhaps someday even travel again together.

One of the guys at our table asked me if I could teach him how to do the two fingered whistle that I used on one of the tours to get the guide’s attention. He said he’d been trying to learn it ever since he was a kid but to no avail. I tried to show him and then someone else said “let me hear you whistle”. I said we’re in the restaurant… But undaunted I did it! Lol!

Good news and bad news. The bad news is… Everyone stopped talking and looked around for where the whistle came from. The good news is…I looked around as well for the culprit and no one was the wiser.

Next whistle performance… Bethlehem, PA. I’ll be there all week folks! Haha!!!

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