Tournus - Update

Friday we were in Tournus.  Our tour today was to the Cluny Abbey, a visit to a local goat farm with goat cheese tasting, and lunch at a local hotel in Cluny.

This is a typical wine makers house.  The family lived on the main floor and the upper floor was for storage.  The lower floor was for the wine.  Today most houses like this use the upper floor for bedrooms.

Our first stop was at an old Roman church.  The Abbaye de St. Philibert is one of Burgundy's older and greatest Romanesque buildings.  It was founded by a group of monks from Noirmoutier who had been driven from their island by invading Normans in the 9th century.  It was rebuilt in the 10th - 12th centuries.  This has been the best example of the Romanesque building we have ever seen.

The front door of the Church.

Inside the Church.

Next we visited the goat farm.  Lots of goats to be seen.  They are all milked by machine today.  And then we were able to taste two different types of goat cheese.  Would have loved to buy some but you cannot bring it into the states.

The town of Cluny is overshadowed by the ruins of its great abbey.  The Ancienne Abbaye de Cluny was once the most powerful monastic foundation in Europe.  The abbey was founded by William the Pious, Duke of Aquitaine in 910.  Within 200 years, Cluny had become the head of a major reforming order with monasteries all over Europe.  The abbey was closed in 1790 and the church was later dismantled.

The ceiling of the Abbey.

I am not sure the pictures of the Abbey can really tell you how large it was.  I included the people so you can see how much space is above them.

Without the people.

The dorms for the monks now used as dorms for students here to study.

After our tour of the Abbey, Bob and I walked around the village and stopped for a coffee.  Later we were able to speak with Jessie, the cruise director, who arranged for our transportation to Lyon and then a taxi to take us to our hotel.  Vantage had told me that the cruise ended in Lyon and this is not correct. If I knew that we would not be coming back to Lyon, I would have planned to visit Paris instead as now we are going backwards.   Oh well, Vantage does not get high grades from me.

Across from the Abbey are these two buildings.  At one time it was one building but the town wanted better access to the Abbey so they tore down the middle of the building.

And finally, we traveled to a local hotel in Cluny for a lunch of Boeuf Bourguignon.  This is a beef dish that has been cooked in red Burgundy wine for several hours.  One of the best meals we have had so far on this leg of the trip.

We sat and talked with Herman and Sharon after lunch in the hotel courtyard.  Herman was a dairy farmer from Washington state.  He has since sold all his cows but rents the land for them to use.

This is the sculpture in the hotel courtyard.

We returned to the ship where I bet most of the folks took a nap.  Wine was included in the lunch and they just placed the bottles on the table so you could pour as much as you wanted.

They had a cocktail party and the disembarkation talk.  Bob and I were late in attending as we finished watching "The Lucky One".

Dinner was the Captain's Farewell with baked Alaska for dessert.  They still do the parade of the Baked Alaska with the entire crew taking part.  Now on this boat, the entire crew is only 42 persons.  We both had the lobster for dinner which was okay.  At least they did not over cook it.  The head chef is from Poland.  So we have not had any true French dinners.

After dinner I stopped to check when we will leave the boat.  We are on the 8am bus to the airport.  Luggage has to be out of the cabin at 7:15 am.  The others are all on the 7 am bus.

Macon

We left Lyon and sailed up the Saone River.  Macon is an industrial town and wine center on the Saone.   This is a Beaujolais wine region.  Our tour today included a wine tasting - finally.

The bus ride was through the countryside where you can see lots of vines growing.  It is still too early for the grapes to appear on the vines.

The early vines growing in the region. The countryside is beautiful.

Then we continued on the a wine museum.  The museum is built to look like a train station but the actual station is across the street.

An example of the wine barrels.

Some of the old equipment used in the process.

A model of how the wine was transported.

The wine for export to America contains more sulfites than they use in the wine for drinking here in France.   Not as many headaches. Or so they say.

We toured around the museum and at the end, we were able to taste three different wines.

We returned to the ship for lunch, nap and then dressed for dinner.   The internet is terrible on this boat. The worst we have ever experienced.  So I am writing this a few days and tours later and my memory is not so good.

Dinner was good but the food is just okay.  Nothing special.

We opted not to attend the entertainment as it was a solo accordionist.  We had sailed to Tournus in the afternoon.  We did overnight here in Tournus.

Lyon - Day Two

Dinner last night was good.  The ship arranged the reservations and the taxi to take us there.  The ride to the restaurant cost 25 euros and the ride back to the ship cost 20 euros.  The ride over was during rush hour but also, he took us through the city instead of the highway.  Oh well.

I had the sausage first course and then a fish dish.  Bob started with the escargot and then a fish plate.  His was better than mine but mine was okay.

Today, Wednesday, we had a bus tour of the city.  First stop was to the market.  This market is wonderful but expensive.  And more crowded on the weekends than this morning which was good for us.  They sell almost everything you can think of.

They raise a special kind of chicken and you buy it complete.  Head, feet, hair.

Of course, the famous sausage.

And any kind of cheese you can name.

Olives, mushrooms, fishes, they sell it all.

Then we drove to a fresco painted on the side of a building.  It is interesting to see this today.  Seems they allow artists to paint plain walls which tell a story of the history of Lyon.

This is all paint.  Interesting.

Even the famous chef is painted here.

We passed the City Hall which again is named Hotel de Ville.

And a wonderful fountain.

The four horses represent the four rivers of France.

Then to the old city.  Here we walked the cobblestone streets and visited a former house of the very rich.  Today it is a museum.

The tower told everyone how rich you were.  The more levels, the richer the people.

Just a great view of the Basilica up on the hill.  We did not go there but might on our return.

Back to the ship for lunch and now I am at the mall working on the blog.  Internet here is much faster then on the ship and it is free.

We leave here around 6pm and head to our next stop where we finally will taste some wine.

Lyon

This morning (Tuesday) we spend sailing up the Rhone toward Lyon.  Breakfast again with Joanne and Ned.  Judy and Frank joined us.  I decided I was eating too much so this morning only cereal and banana.

Up to the lounge to work on the blog but the internet is too darn slow.  So I just did my cross stitch project and then they had a special drink and sausage that Lyon is famous for.  And a  lecture on the building of the boat and how they transported it to the Rhone river.  The river boats are flat and cannot travel on the open seas.  So they put it in a transport ship and sail it to the river.  Sort of like a floating dry dock.  All very interesting.

Lunch and while we were eating, we arrived at Lyon.  Seems there was another boat docked where we were suppose to be.  So we had to have them leave and then we were able to dock.  But another boat pulled up next to us, so again, our view is of another persons room.

Bob and I decided to walk to the mall which is across the street from the boat.  And they have free WiFi and so I am catching up with the blog.

Tonight the six of us are eating in town.  Judy arranged it with the ship personal.  Hope it is good.  We will take a taxi and eat since the boat is staying here overnight.  Tomorrow is our tour of Lyon.

I will update this and let you all know about our dinner.

Vienne

Monday we sailed all morning.  We needed to make up time so that we were back on schedule.  The upper deck was closed as we had to travel under several low bridges.  And we pass through several locks.  In France, the locks were made to use hydroelectric power.

Lunch here on the boat and then a nap.  When we got up, we arrived here in Vienne.

Vienne is a small city on the Rhone which was started by the Romans.  So our walking tour was the history of the city.

We walked up to the remains of the city wall.  The entire city used to be surrounded by the wall not for protection but for separation.

Our next stop was to the Cathedral of St. Maurice.  The Cathedral is both Romanesque and Gothic.  It took over 500 years to be built so that is the reason for the changes.  During WWII the stained glass windows were destroyed.  They have been replaced with very modern windows.

The outside of the Cathedral.

Another view.

The interior of the Cathedral

And the very modern stained glass windows.

Next we walked to the Temple of Augustus and Livia.

Gretchen, what kind of columns are these?

And then we walked to the Town Hall.  The building says Hotel de Ville but it is not a hotel.

Loved the beautiful sunflowers out front of the Town Hall.

We stopped at the oldest timber house which reminds you of England.

The streets are very narrow, all one way.  And they wait for the walkers.  Nice.

street view

There was also a Roman site with the garden.

The highest point was where the active group went.  We elected to stay fairly level.

There are many bridges connecting the two sides of the river.  Most are very low.  When they were built they did not anticipate the river cruise boats.

We ended walking back to the boat.  Tonight was the Captain's dinner.  Cocktails were on the house or boat.  Then dinner was a dress up affair.  Everyone looked nice.  Dinner was good.  Escargo and a beef dish that was very tender.  Creme bruile for dessert.  All pretty good.

There was a band playing in the lounge but we opted to go back to the cabin and bed.

Leaving Avignon

Saturday night we were told that we would have to stay in Avignon one extra night due to the high winds.  Seems the boat that was tied up to us was not powerful enough to sail with the high winds.  So on Sunday morning a third boat would tie up and pull the second boat away.  So the plan was we would sail at 8:15 am.

At 8am, three buses would come to the dock and transport the passengers to Viviers for the walking tour and organ concert.  The boat would sail up to meet them and pick them up.  That was the original plan but as it turned out not the plan used.  Bob and I had decided not to take the tour but to stay on the boat and watch how they were going to move the second boat.

When the crew from the Princess du Provence tried to untie, the rope got stuck under our boat.  They tugged at it for quite a long time but could not free it.  So we had to stay at the dock.  Our crew had gotten the boat ready to sail and had to redo everything.  At this point, Bob and I decided to walk back into the town and walk around for about one hour as we were not to sail at 1pm.  When we returned to the boat, there was a frogman who had to saw the rope with a hacksaw to free it.  All this was done under the water.  Not sure how he could see as the water was quite dirty.

Bob and I watched "Jersey Boys" on the TV.  Have not finished it yet.  And not really sure I like it.  But I do like the music but the language and the treatment of each other is bothersome.

Lunch on the boat with the gang and when leaving the dining room, we saw the frogman put on his gear again and go back into the river to free what was holding us up.  Some of the passengers thought the rope was around the thrusters.  Now the plan was to leave at 3pm.  In reality, we finally got away from the dock at 4:30 so we are about two hours behind schedule.

They had a cheese and bread time but Bob and I were napping and missed it.

We met Cory and Ann for cocktails.  Frank and Judy are President level and they had a Captain's reception for those folks.  They joined us later and we all headed to the Compass Rose for dinner.  I had a chicken dish which was okay and Bob had a fish dish that he said was good.

After dinner we all headed to the cabins as tonight was movie night.

We will sail all night long and not get to our next port until the afternoon.

Avignon - Day Two - Updated times two.

Last night was Frank and Judy's 50th wedding anniversary.  We met for cocktails in the lounge and had a French lesson.  Just some basic French terms and sayings.  Then we headed to dinner.   Had a round table for 6 in a different section.  I had the tomato tart and Bob had Tilapia.  They then played Love and Marriage and brought out two cakes with sparklers on them.  One was for Frank and Judy.  So we all shared in the cake.

After dinner there was a show by the local Gypsies.  We stopped in to take a look but decided to go to the cabin instead.

This morning we were up and to breakfast where we were joined by Ned and Joanne Rankin.  They are from Oakland, CA.  He is a retired Urologist and she is retired Computer Programmer.  They also do a lot of ocean cruises along with river cruises.  Interesting couple.  Frank and Judy joined us and we had a nice conversation.

Tour today is Secrets of Avignon.  This is just a walking tour of the city of Avignon.  We started by crossing the busy street.  In this part of France, the cars stop for you while you cross the street.  Very nice.  And they seem to avoid beeping their horns.

You enter via the wall.  The entire city is surrounded by the ancient wall.  Today the winds were very brisk.  They can almost blow you over.

We walked down some of the old streets.  Many are still cobblestoned.  Makes walking like having a foot massage.  And the streets are very narrow.  I think they may all be one way.  Some of the area streets are restricted to delivery trucks in the morning.

Lots of outdoor cafes.

And squares.

This tower is the only thing left of a building that was torn down to make the square.

In the olden days, you were taxed on the amount of windows you had.  So people would paint them over.  Today some are still the same way.

The different stores used to have something on the outside of the building to let you know what they were selling.  Today it is not possible to change any part of the buildings.

All sorts of hats for sale.  You don't find this type of store in USA.

This is the front of the old butcher shop.

We walked through the Jewish section and we told of the ordeal they had to survive.  They were limited to where they could live.

This is the entrance to the Jewish section.

The market is open until 1pm.  The market is on the first floor and the upper floors are a car park.  Because the people did not like the look of the car park, they planted a garden in front.  Interesting.

This is the front of the market and car park.

Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables.

And pastries.   They all looked great.

All kinds of cheeses.

And of course, chickens.

We walked by many squares in the city.  Lots of outdoor cafes.  With the wind, I thought the food might blow off the plates.  These are hardy folks.

Then to St. Peter's Church.

And finally to the Pope's Palace.  The pope lived in Avignon since he was a French pope.  We did not go into the Palace on this tour.

This is part of the Pope's Palace.  There is nothing left inside except for the Fresco's on the walls.

The soldier and his lady.  Not sure if they dance on the hour like we saw in Germany.

Back to the boat for lunch with the gang.  Then a nap and Bob went back to the town.  Seems he forgot to replace the chip in his camera.  So he wanted to take some pictures.  The pictures I have been posting are all from my cell phone.  They do a terrific job.

This afternoon they are having a doll making demonstration here on board.  Then martini tasting at 25% off.  So we can drink 4 and pay for 3.  Or so Cory says.

Some of the pictures did not upload so I will update  this at a later date.  Enjoy reading until them.

At the port talk we were informed that we would not be leaving Avignon until the morning.  This time of year they have these high winds called Mistrels.  All the time we were docked here there was another river boat right next to us.  Seems it is an older boat and not as powerful as our boat.  So it cannot fight the winds.  So in the morning they will take most of the passengers by bus to a small village while they get another boat to pull the older boat out so we can then leave the dock.  Bob and I have decided to stay on board and watch the moving of the boats.  Then we will dock in the next port and pick up the others.

Dinner was as usual.  Both Bob and I had the duck which was okay.  No soup or dessert for me.

The winds are so bad that the shade structure on the top of the boat made so much noise all day and night long.  Our cabin is the next level down and very noisy.  But finally someone took them down and now it is very nice in the cabin.  Not sure why it took two days for them to notice the noise.