We returned to the ship at about 1:15 pm from the first excursion today, went immediately into the dining room and after 35 minutes we were alerted that they were ready to board the busses for the second tour. Kim and I had signed up to visit the Cluny Monastery. The photos (and later the video when it's published) hardly do this justice. The size of the monastery was just unbelievably big. Gigantic! Before we got there we stopped at a "home" that is owned by an 87 year old woman who lives there along - see it in the background behind Kim and I in the first photo! The two models pictured below....the first one is a recent one, and if you look closely you can see that the tower on this side of the photo and backwards to the left of the photo along the near bottom of the model is a darker almost orange-ish shade - this represents what is standing today. The other model was made by a shoemaker who was alive when the monastery was torn down during the French Revolution. It is hand-stitched and completely made of leather! What a historical find that was!
Today we leave the Viking Longship Buri as our cruise comes to it's conclusion. We fly out early Easter Sunday morning and will arrive back in South Florida ate Sunday night. I am very hopeful to post all the videos and a comprehensive highlight video of the entire trip by the end of the day Monday!
This morning we went on a wine tour of the Beaujolais region. After about a thirty minute bus ride we arrived at the winery where we were introduced to the vineyards and the initial process was explained. We went into the fermenting area to see the vats, then down into the cellar - through a long tunnel - and arrived in the wine cellar with the gigantic casks. Here we sample two types of red wine and one of white. We also stopped at the lone windmill remaining in the area which is on the label of the most expensive and "best" wine of the area.
Randy and Karrie didn't do the optional tour as Karrie didn't feel well this afternoon. We walked out to our bus and OH NO.......can you guess? YES, our guide for this afternoon was THE SAME LADY! I told Kim that perhaps she'd have more to say this afternoon. One should always stay positive my mother taught me. The best thing I can tell you about the afternoon's excursion was that we saw what we'd wanted to see, and they were truly amazing. But I can tell you very little about them because we again got next to no narration. At one point we walked a good five blocks through a city square and "Josie" paused (didn't stop mind you) and pointed to the right and said, "these buildings were built in the fourteenth century, notice the difference with these on the other side which were built in the fifteenth century." Now you had to hope you DID SEE the difference because she did not point them out. About fifteen minutes into our "city tour" of Vienne we stopped at these remarkable Roman ruins.
I can only tell you this is the Roman Forum because one of the gentlemen on the tour said, "these are the Roman Baths?" and Josie's reply was "No this is the forum, there (with a generic wave of her sign) is the baths." I was glad he asked because I had snapped several photos of what I THOUGHT were the baths, but I am pretty sure I was wrong.
I took this close-up of the arch not only because of the detail, but as Kim and I discussed, how remarkable it was that as we passed through this arch and looked up we were seeing the same thing that many Romans had looked at centuries ago!
We left the ruins and walked through a side street and then the temple came into view. We walked a good block and a half while in "the cone of silence" and then Josie stopped and pointed to the temple and said, "Here is an ancient Roman temple. We will stop here for 15 minutes and then take the mini-train to the top of the hill. You can get something to drink or take photos." I can only tell you the name of this ruin was the Temple of Augustus and Livia because I'd done research previously! No background, I have no idea what the temple was used for as we weren't told, or how it got it's name nor if this was the original name or not. We took a selfie with the timer on my camera/phone from a bit of a distance to get a wider shot of the temple behind us and then Kim and I asked one of the gentlemen along to take the second photo of us (see at the bottom of the photo).
The two main highlights I had been looking forward to for this optional tour was (a) the temple and then (b) the Roman theatre which is still in use today, seating over 15,000 spectators. I had read that while looking at the theatre you had a great view of the city below. So after about five minutes in the square Josie came over the speaker and said the train would be here in five minutes. Wait a minute, you said fifteen minutes. Two other couples had just taken her advice and ordered drinks at a café that overlooks the temple. In less than five additional minutes she announced "the train is here, my group should now come with me to board the train!" This just wasn't right for the people who had just been served. We waited for them a few minutes and then the train departed through the streets of old Vienne. Not sure what we saw as Josie was talking to the driver in the front cabin. We got to the top and saw the cathedral and could see that there was a great panoramic view of the city from up here. Then it was pointed out to us that if we looked over the two railings - and that was ALL THERE WAS BETWEEN US AND SHEER DROP - there was the Roman theatre!
Kim at the overlook
Mark on the overlook - cathedral on the hill over the shoulder
The view of the Roman theatre - STRAIGHT DOWN from the overlook!
I had told Kim I was hoping for a photo of us in front of the temple and with the theatre in the background, but (a) I was only brave enough to go right up to the railing twice, for VERY short periods of time to take a couple of photos and a video, and (b) there wasn't any way we'd have the theatre as a background for the photo with the straight drop down :) We board the train for the silent ride back down the hill. We stopped at a cathedral that we were led around in and there were just a couple of items pointed out, but no history. One couple I'm sure was so fed up they simply left and headed back to the ship early. We stuck it out. Later when I add photos you'll have to revisit this page to see this - very interesting that the French government spent money - not sure, but however much they spent was too much in my opinion - to buy some pink paint. This is then painted in droplets all around the city and on steps, etc. ..... as a reminder NOT to drop gum onto the ground :)
I must note as I begin the journal description of our morning in Tournon, France that the guide we had today was probably the "weakest" guide I've ever had on ANY tour. She had a very good personality and was always happy, but as we walked around the small town of Tournon there was mostly nothing but silence (or the sound of her breathing). NO background stories, and when she did stop to point something out it was very brief, such as...."...the house on the left was built in the 16th century....." then she'd turn and continue on the walk!
Tournon Castle dominates the riverfront of this small village, though I can tell you very little about it. The same goes for the vast majority of the town, which is why I did not post any photos. The streets are very typically European - narrow, cobblestone covered, with a variety of very old houses. I can only wonder if there were any hidden gems here.
The walking tour only took 45 minutes, and to be fair it was the same length for all the other groups. We then boarded the motor coaches to be taken to the train station where we boarded for a trip through the famed la Ardeche valley. As we boarded the train I was curious if (a) it was round trip so it didn't matter which side you sat on, or (b) if one side was better than the other. One of our passengers was marking our coach so I couldn't ask her, but this lady nicely did and she told me privately that we would switch sides on the way back down the mountain. Through the first five minutes I thought we had the best side as I snapped these photos (above and below)
But of the approximately 40 minute trip up, only the first five to seven minutes did we have "the view." The rest of the way we were a foot or two from the side of the cliff. But no matter as I knew we'd switch. But our guide never mentioned this. Somehow word spread through the coach, and/or our fellow guests were courteous enough to move to the other side so we could see the views. At the top they manually turned the engine around and connected to what had been the back of the train for the trip down so we had a short break. Kim and I wandered around and I got this beautiful photo - the scenery is nice as well.
On the way back to the station the views were obviously better, and it was gorgeous. But to be honest, if you looked through my nearly two dozen photos they are all nearly identical....rapids on the river, beautiful rock-covered hillsides, and a bridge (or not). Don't get me wrong, we thoroughly enjoyed the scenic views but the narrator from the train was speaking in nothing but French (except when we were leaving then they did a courtesy English reminder). Our guide who had her microphone on either gave us a very brief comment to summarize the narration or let it go completely.
We got an excellent photo of the four of us, thanks to the Viking concierge who was along for the trip. Once we got back to the station we boarded the busses and headed to meet the ship, which had moved forward upstream. So we saw many villages, vineyards, and even some ruins of a castle. But the microphone was silent nearly the entire trip. A scenic morning, but unlike every other Viking excursion I've had, we learned little if anything.
Back to the ship and here's our view during lunch!
Last night during our meeting to preview today's stop and activities our program director remarked that this was her favorite town, not because of the spectacular sites, but because it was so medieval in that it was very small (only 3,000 residents - and she remarked you rarely see them) and it appears nearly exactly as it did back in the Middle Ages. And, after having toured Viviers I'd agree with that assessment - in fact all four of us remarked that the total experience was pretty cool, but you couldn't point to any ONE thing that was exceptional. We started the day by walking through a "tunnel" of what we've seen everywhere, the "plane trees" - they are similar to sycamore trees. In the summer they are in full bloom and provided a lot of much needed shade.
As we began to enter the town square our guide, Elsa (and yes, she immediately recognized with a big smile that her name "was just like the film and song, Let It Go!") pointed out a huge rock on the horizon. She told us that was WHERE WE WERE WALKING TODAY! Oh my. But she promised that as we walked through the streets of Viviers we would hardly notice the incline - again, this isn't their first rodeo and she was right on the money.
One of the things I enjoyed most about Elsa's tour was that as we wandered through the typically narrow European streets which featured many of the original buildings was that she'd point out several very small details that in and of themselves would not make for a significant site, but as part of the overall character of the town they were quite interesting.
One perfect example came as we passed underneath an arch - which were frequent in the streets - and she first pointed out the arch itself is utilized to help support the buildings by balancing the pressure of one building against the other. But in this specific case she pointed to the upper left corner to the statute (I've enlarged it and placed the blow-up in the upper right corner) - she noted this and said reminded us that she'd told us the outer walls of the city were no longer around because people had used those stones to build houses. Well, this was an example of a builder had taken parts of a torn down statute and incorporated it into the wall of the home!
It didn't take more than half an hour to forty-five minutes of winding through the narrow streets to reach the Cathedral of St. Stephens. I didn't know - perhaps you did - that the only way a church can be a cathedral is if there is a sitting bishop there....which there is at St. Stephens. The first of the two photos from the cathedral shows the alter. And unlike any we saw last summer on our "Grand European" cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam across Europe what you see on the walls are NOT paintings, but are tapestries! At least I don't remember anything like this from last summer. What you wouldn't consider at first glance is that the entire "rug" is hand-woven WITH THE IMAGE WITHIN the tapestry. So, it's not like they weave a carpet and paint the scene....no, no...they have to know exactly where to put the colored threads as they weave and then hope that it turns out as a masterpiece as these do! To add to the interesting story here, Elsa explained that a weaver working ALL DAY would be able to produce a portion of tapestry about the size of the palm of your hand - that's it in an entire day! Imagine how long these took! The second photo shows the "bishop's throne" from the side of the alter.
As we exited the cathedral we headed for the lookout. Two things of interest which the photos just don't capture with real justice. First, as we began this morning the famous Mistral wind was again in full force. It was blowing everyone and everything everywhere while lowering the temperature considerably. The difference when the wind would stop was remarkable. Well, as you can imagine as we came out on the lookout, the wind was now terrific. So much so that many people would not go near the edge of the barrier wall for fear of being blown over. And I must admit that standing upright and still was not something you could do without considerable effort. The second thing that you must realize to appreciate these photos is that these pictures that follow were taken on top of "the rock" that you saw in the photo at the beginning of this journal. Yes, they did, it's true! As Elsa said, "I would not lie to you!" :) The first photo below shows a panoramic photo of the Rhone River we are sailing up as we head northward into the wine country. The second photo is on the other side of the lookout which looks over the town of Viviers. You see the ruins of the watch tower in this one.
We asked one of our fellow travelers to take our obligatory "photo of the day" as we stood against the lookout wall. It is a "unique" photo because over Randy's right shoulder you can see our ship, the Buri, docked on the Rhone!
As we came down off "the Rock" Elsa noted on her watch that if anyone wanted to make the cooking demonstration they should walk directly to the ship, so Kim, Karrie and Randy left me to finish the tour with Elsa and a few other guests. We saw one more house which had a story from the medieval times and then walked back to the ship. The remainder of the day we spent sailing and then will have our cocktail hour - where I'll have my usual, a frozen mudslide (see photo below from earlier on the cruise).
We arrived back in Avignon last evening around 10 pm and we were up and on the shoreline of the Rhone River at 9 am to begin our walking tour. But the famous "Mistral" - the northern wind which can be very strong and cold - was out in full force today as while the temperature may have registered near 50 degrees, the very brisk wind made it feel more like the low 30s. We walked along the shore as we were informed about the basic history of Avignon and how they are one of the few ancient towns to still have their medieval wall intact all the way around the city! Then we reached the famous Pont de Avignon. At one time this bridge reached all the way across the Rhone with twenty arches but after it was destroyed by floods for the third time in the middle ages it has remained in its current state of only four arches. It is the subject of a VERY popular children's song which we have heard many, MANY times since arriving. Kim and I posed for a photo op before we crossed the road and entered the city through medieval gates still intact.
Our excellent guide, Alexa showed us into the city square and pointed out the Avignon clock tower, pictured below.......
The city retains it's medieval flavor and it's typical European flavor. This balcony caught my eye as just a good photo - it's my journal, so I wanted to post it :)
We then came to the highlight of the day - the papal palace. In the 1300s there was such turmoil in Rome that the Popes moved their headquarters from the Vatican to Avignon. The second pope to sit here decided to build the "old palace" and soon after the next pope added the "new palace" to the structure. The photos do not do it justice - it is massive. When the video is posted you get some idea when we are in the courtyard and look up at the window where the people received their blessings. I thought it was cool that we got to walk through a great deal of the palace. Alexa told us that most cathedrals took 50-60 years to build and this was the size of several cathedrals.....but it was completed in seventeen years - a testament to the power and money of the popes and the Catholic Church at the time.
The tour took us through many rooms including the dining hall. The photo on the left shows what it looks like today - and you'll note that the walls are bare. A fire destroyed all the frescos painted on the wall. But the reproduction on the right shows what the room would have looked like when it was set up for a feast.
For me the highlight of the interior was seeing the pope's bedroom and office which still had the ORIGINAL frescos on the wall and in the office even the ceiling was the original paint/artwork......from the 1300s! Just thinking that what I was looking at today was what one of the popes of the Catholic Church looked at in the 1300s was just mind-boggling! As we exited the palace we asked one of our group to take our photo with the wall in the background.
Original frescos still on the wall
Original frescos on the ceiling in Pope's study
Next stop on the walking tour was the market. The most unique thing about the Avignon market was the live wall on the outside - they were in fact trimming the growing plants as we walked in. Randy & Karrie posed afterwards. The photo that follows shows just a couple of the amazing displays of fresh food.
Like yesterday, this was a full day. We got back to the ship a little after noon. Had lunch, had a short break and were back off the boat. Now we were on a bus headed to a winery where we were instructed about the making of wine and how to taste and sample wine. Pretty interesting. Of the three wines we tasted I preferred the white.
After the winery we headed to the summer palace of the pope, Chateauneuf de pape. There are only ruins as the castle was used by the Germans during WW II to store weapons and when the Allies bombed it the entire place blew apart. Some of the best wine in the world - they say - is grown in this region. The vineyards were started by the pope and the Church as a means to make money. What was most amazing and interesting was that the soil is covered with huge "pebbles" they call them from the Rhone River. These keep the soil underneath moist and cool during the day and hold in the heat of the sun overnight - all good for the growth of the grapes.
