Day 11 - Wednesday, June 27 - Lyon to home

We had to be up fairly early for our trip back, getting a taxi at 6:30 to the Lyon train station and then the RhoneExpress train directly to the airport.

This is the unpleasant part of travel. From the train station to the terminal was about a 20 minute walk. British Airlines sent me an e-mail saying we should get to the airport early. When we got there at 7:45, no agents were at the gate and a long line was forming. The agents didn't show up until 8am and it was almost an hour after we got there that we finally finished checking in. Then security at the Lyon airport where I had to be patted down because the security machine thought there was something on my leg. Then more passport checks.

Then the 1 1/2 hour British Airlines flight to Heathrow. The only thing complementary on the flight was a glass of water that wasn't available until the "for purchase" cart finished serving everyone.

At Heathrow, we had to go through security again, another pat down, more detailed this time and then in another line to have our passports checked again. Fortunately, we are able to use the American Airlines lounge which is very comfortable and where we could get a meal and drinks - but no more wine for me! Wine flowed continuously during lunch and dinner on our cruise.

We got to JFK at 5pm, half an hour early. Using the "Mobile Passport" app, we got through immigration in less than 2 minutes while hundreds of people were waiting in a herd to get through. I absolutely recommend this app if you are traveling internationally. You just need to take a photo of your passport, a "selfie" of your face, and answer some questions. The customs process seems to have changed as there was no additional check after getting our luggage. Maybe this is part of the immigration process now.

We were in our car at the off-airport valet parking by an hour after arriving at JFK. The traffic getting out was very heavy as it was rush hour but it wasn't as terrible as it can be. Fortunately, the rain didn't start until we were on I684 by Armonk. It rained off and on fairly hard most of the way home. We got home at 9pm, so just 3 hours. We usually try to avoid JFK but sometimes it can't be helped.

Overall, our trip was wonderful. We didn't have any rain the entire time and the only weather problem was the wind which for a couple days was 40-60mph. We were able to enjoy visiting quite a few historic and interesting sites along the river. For the most part, the tour guides were exceptional, very well versed on what they were showing. It was fun to swim in the river under the Roman Pont du Gard aqueduct.

The service and food on the Viking Heimdal was excellent. After the first few days, a camaraderie develops with the staff we got to know. Most of the staff is from Eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria), speaking excellent English and are very friendly. We also met several couples that were enjoyable to share meals with regularly. Most of our companions were professionals (teachers, lawyers, businessmen) who were retired or close to retirement and had traveled fairly extensively. Half of the people on the cruise had been on previous Viking cruises.

Day 10 - Tuesday, June 26 - Beaujolais region

In the morning we left for a bus tour through the Beaujolais region, passing through many picturesque small towns with very narrow streets. The flat lowlands are largely agricultural, growing corn, soybeans, wheat and oats. The hillsides are covered with grape vineyards. Our tour guide explained in great detail the various "cru", specially designated smaller areas where wine can be designated as coming from those vineyards - and very expensive wine! We are truly impressed with how the bus manages to navigate the narrow roads, especially when there is oncoming traffic. He often gets rounds of applause for amazing feats of navigation!

We stopped at a historic castle where we had a wine tasting of white and red wines from the region. The wine was very good. The wine tasting was in the cellar below the dungeon which still had the iron bars. The castle was nearly in ruins when it was purchased about 30 years ago and has been heavily restored to its early grandeur. A chapel on the site dates back to the 10th century.

Castle Chateau de Perriclos

Wine tasting in the wine cellar

From there we went to the truffle farm. At the truffle farm we had truffle butter on toast which was very good. We had a full lunch made by the truffle farmer (Olivier) with gazpacho soup, beef stew, chocolate mousse and a saffron custard for dessert. All made in his tiny kitchen. His dog, Chinook, kept on peeking up at me between my legs as we were sitting at the dining table. This is the same truffle farm Amy and I went to 2 years ago.

Olivier has a Phd related to fungus and a post-doc from UC Davis on soil agriculture. His wife works as a research scientist in Paris and commutes there every day. Olivier inherited the farm from his grandmother but since it was farmed by someone else for some time, he has to wait under French law until he can get back all the property for his use.

After lunch, he took us to his truffle plantation where Chinook found truffles for us. This time of year the truffles are close to the ground and not very good for eating. The truffle season is usually September - December when they are 6-9" below the surface. Chinook is 14 years old and a new dog is being trained. Without the dog there is no truffle harvest! He is also a believer in diversification so he also grow fruit trees, saffron crocuses and has beef cattle. As the last time I visited, the tour guide had a difficult time stopping - he is so passionate that he could go on talking indefinitely.

Olivier and Chinook finding truffles

We then went to the goat cheese factory (doesn't seem like the right term), where the owner of the goat farm took us in to see the young goats - so cute - and then into the small facility where he makes the cheese. They only have 130 goats and all the cheese is made on the premises, so the quantity was limited. We were able to try cheeses that were aged for different time periods, from one day to 3 months. And yet more wine, the third time for the day.

No caption needed

Cheese-man with differently aged cheeses.

We went back to the ship where Carmen and I had the bottle of rose wine and some cheese that we had purchased at the beginning of our trip in Avignon but hadn't had a chance to enjoy previously. A fine end to our cruise.

Day 9 - Monday, June 25 - Lyon

The ship left Vienne at 5am and cruised up the Rhone, arriving at Lyon at 8:30am.

The morning started with a tour of Lyon, going up to the Basilica Notre Dame de Fourviere on a mountain top overlooking the river and the city below. Although the site has been used for religious purposes for 2,000 years, the basilica was constructed in the mid-1800s. The style is quite unique with a mix of roman, gothic, medieval and renaissance architecture. From there we went to Vieux Lyon and saw the houses dating back to the 16th and 17th century when silk was the major industry of Lyon. These houses have been developed as apartments but it can't be very convenient living on the 6th floor with only a spiral staircase for access - the building codes don't allow any external modification.

We walked back across the Saone River, the Lyon peninsula, the Rhone River and along the promenade back to the ship. There are many swans on the river - when we got back to the ship, there was a swan pecking at its reflection in the low window of the ship. It was also accompanied by its gray gosling, very cute.

Notre Dame de Fourviere (on top)

Lyon from above

Sweet shop in Vieux Lyon

In the afternoon, we visited the Cluny Abbey which at one time was the center of Christian monastic life in Europe. It was founded in 910AD and during the 11th and 12th centuries, there was a huge church and 900 monks. Unfortunately, during the religious wars of the late 1500s in which the Huguenots damaged much of the abbey. It was rebuilt but then largely destroyed after the French revolution, with much of the church being dismantled to use the stones for construction.

Remaining tower of Cluny Abbey

David and Carmen in Cluny Abbey garden

Day 8 - Sunday, June 24 - Tournon and Vienne

In the morning we had a short walking tour of Tournon-sur-Rhone, a small historic (aren't they all) town on the shore of the Rhone River. The first suspension bridge was invented by Marc Seguin and crosses the river here. This region is famous for the white wine produced from grapes that grow on the hillsides on both sides of the river.

Suspension bridge over the Rhone; vineyards on the hillside

From there we took a coal-burning steam train up the Ardeche valley. We were warned not to wear anything light colored as a lot of soot is produced by the train - very true! This region is also famous for lavender which is coming into bloom now and will be harvested in July.

Lavender at train station

Steam train through Ardeche

Aqueduct (1915) over Ardeche valley

From the train we went to Vienne, a major city in Roman times, with an intact Roman temple that was constructed in 20BC. One can see parts of an ancient Roman road which show grooves in the rock from the wagon wheels. There is also a large amphitheater that could hold 13,000 people.  At one time there was a Roman bridge across the Rhone River that connected to part of the city on the other side that included Roman baths and houses - the bridge was destroyed by floods in the 1500s and never rebuilt.

Roman Temple

View of Lyon and the Rhone River

Late in the evening we heard constant car honking and engines roaring - when we looked out, people were hanging out of car windows and waving Turkish flags to celebrate Erdogon winning the election.

Day 7 - Saturday, June 23 - Viviers

Yet another beautiful sunny morning. Our tour guide yesterday said that we fortunate to have good weather as it had been very unusually rainy for the previous two months and had just stopped raining.

Our ship, the Viking Heimdal.

In the morning we had a tour of Viviers which has had a bishopric on the top of the mountain overlooking the Rhone River since 445AD and a cathedral that dates back to the 12th century. The town has many narrow roads and passageways with houses dating back to the same time period. Sadly, quite a few of the buildings including the old town hall are in a terrible state of disrepair as it is exceptionally expensive to maintain them without changing any historic aspects.

View of Viviers from the cathedral

Typical alleyway

Soon after returning, this ship departed upstream for Tournon.

This afternoon there was a fascinating talk by the 2nd captain about the ship. The propulsion is hybrid - there are 4 generators that produce 3MW of electricity that are used to drive electric motors for propulsion. The propellers can be turned 360 degrees to move the ship in any direction. The electric engines explain why this ship is so much quieter than the one we were in on the Danube last year. The ships are designed to fit the locks - there is only 9" of space between the side of the ship and the side of the lock - it is quite a feat to steer this long ship in and it is done manually by one of the captains!

Afterwards we were invited up the the wheelhouse and the captain spent 45 minutes explaining the operation of the ship. The ship is controlled like a video game with small handles to control the direction and speed of the propellers. Because some of the bridges are so low, the entire wheelhouse can be retracted down into the ship - the captain brought it down while we were inside. There is a little trap door in the ceiling that can be opened and there is just enough space for the captain to stick his head up to peer over the top. The captain said that yesterday the wind was up to 65mph; while we were up there, the wind was up to 40mph.

In the wheelhouse with the captain

Entering the lock, seen from the wheelhouse

2nd captain steering the ship into the lock using side controls

Day 6 - Friday, June 22 - Arles

During the night, the "Mistral" wind from the north came up. These are very strong winds that come down from the mountains. While we were walking along the levee in Arles, at times we couldn't walk and almost weren't able to stand due to the wind. We later learned that there had been gusts over 50mph - fortunately there was no rain, just clear blue skies.

Our first stop was the Roman coliseum which dates back to the first century AD. At the time, it held 20,000 people. Originally, fights were held between captured soldiers who fought to the death. Later, a school was founded to train fighters who only had to fight until one was injured and couldn't continue - they did't want to lose the investment in training or run out of fighters! Today the coliseum is used for concerts and for bull fighting.

Arles Coliseum

Arles is one of the oldest Christian cities in France, with the city's bishopric beginning with Saint Trophimus in 225AD. The Romanesque Saint Trophimus church and  cloister dates back to the 12th century.

St. Trophimus church and cloister

Arles is probably most famous for Van Gough. Our last stop was the hospital where he stayed after his mental breakdown in 1888 and the garden that he painted while in the hospital.

Garden painted by Van Gough during hospital stay

On the way back from Arles, we passed large fields of sunflowers, like the ones painted by Van Gough. Unfortunately, we couldn't stop so the photos were a bit blurry. It was certainly impressive to see!

During dinner, the ship headed north, going through two locks before docking in Viviers.

Day 5 - Thursday, June 21 - Avignon

Another beautiful morning on the Rhone River.

This morning we had a tour of the Pope's Palace, the largest Gothic building in Europe. There were 7 popes in Avignon from 1309 to 1377. There were two more popes in Avignon after that but they were concurrent with 4 popes in Rome which led to considerable confusion. The Catholic church does not recognize the last 2 Avignon popes. The popes were exceptionally wealthy due to large land holdings and support from wealthy nobles. Successive popes built larger and larger adjoining palaces, resulting in the huge complex that exists today. A number of the rooms have beautiful frescoes (no photos) and there were beautiful colored tile floors. After the popes, the palace was used by bishops and for official church functions. After the French revolution, the palace was used as a military barracks and considerable damage was done to statues and frescoes.

Front of Pope's Palace

We also visited the indoor city market which has every imaginable produce from salt and spices to fresh vegetables, fruit, meat, seafood and wine. We bought a bottle of rose wine which is a specialty of this region.

Avignon Market

After lunch we took a half hour bus ride to Pont du Gard, a 2000 year old Roman aqueduct that traveled 31 miles to the capitol city of Nimes. It was in use for 700 years and the original bridge over the Gard River is still intact. The gradient of the aqueduct is only 2.5 feet per mile, quite an engineering feat. There is a great museum at the entrance that explains how the aqueduct was constructed and the importance of water to Roman life.

Swimming under the Pont du Gard

Standing on the Pond du Gard

David hugging 1100 year old olive tree

While eating dinner, the ship headed down river to Tarascon where we docked for the tour of Arles. Tarascon is about half an hour drive from Arles which doesn't have docks large enough to handle the Viking ships. Just before docking at Tarascon, we went through a lock. The ship fits in the lock with only one foot on each side between the ship and the lock - quite amazing. I find locks in general amazing, that huge ships can be raised (45' for this lock) with only the power to open and close the gates and to open and close huge valves to let water in or out.

Day 4 - Wednesday, June 20 - Marseille to Avignon

We had time before we had to catch the train to Avignon so we went across the street to the harbor where fisherman had their live (and not so live) catches for sale. We then visited the oldest part of the city with narrow streets and churches and buildings that date back to the 1500s.

Bougainvillea (and Carmen) in the old city

The trip to the train station didn't quite go as planned on our dry run the day before. One of the incredibly long "up" escalators was out of order and we couldn't imagine dragging our surprisingly heavy suitcases up in the throng of people rushing to get into the train station. We had plenty of time so we found an "up" escalator that took us out another exit and we could roll the suitcases up the sidewalk to the train station.

Our train was only a few minutes late in departing and we had a pleasant hour and 10 minute trip through the countryside. The only complication was when we arrived in Avignon and needed to get a taxi. There were no taxis waiting and one needs to call for a taxi - our phones are not working France. Fortunately, a French woman came out who needed a taxi and called one for us - very nice of her! The trip to the dock was only a mile or so around the 15th century city wall.

After a light lunch, there was an introductory tour of Avignon which we left near the end to explore on our own. The highest point of Avignon has a park which overlooks the Rhone River below and ancient ruins across the river. At the time of the popes in Avignon, the pope and cardinals built houses on the other side of the river because Avignon "stank". We walked down to the famous Pont d'Avignon bridge and bought tickets to walk on the bridge with an English-language audio guide. The myth is that a shepherd heard God tell him to build a bridge across the river and when he went to Avignon, the bishop thinking he was crazy, told him that if he could perform a miracle, the bridge could be built. The shepherd picked up a huge stone that couldn't be moved and threw it into the river as the start of the bridge. He became Saint Benezet. (The bridge was actually started in the 12th century by a businessman).

Pont d'Avignon from the riverside

Pont d'Avignon from the hilltop

Pope's Palace from Pont d'Avignon

One of the more exciting parts of the trip back was crossing at a crosswalk where one has to stop 4 lanes of traffic speeding along. The cars DO stop if you raise your hand and start walking across but it takes some faith!

Back at the ship we had a safety drill where everyone had to put on a life jacket and meet on the top deck. Later when the ship manager was talking about safety, he said that the ship sank the year before and since the river is not so deep, the top deck was still above water so they just opened the bar. (Just kidding!)

Day 3 - Tuesday, June 19 - In Marseille

We woke to the sound of seagulls outside our window. (And cars, trucks, emergency vehicles)

The 10-day forecast is for sun with temperatures in the 80s every day.😊

Marseille is the 2nd largest city in France and its history goes back over 2500 years to its settlement/conquest by the Greeks. This was followed by the Romans, Saracens and numerous other groups. It was severely damaged by the Germans in 1943 and liberated by the French army in 1944. Many of the buildings were rebuilt after WWII although they were designed to look like the buildings from the late 1800s.

After coffee and breakfast in the hotel, the first order of business was to visit the tourist office to find out about transit passes and get city maps. There is a 24-hour pass that is good on the metro, trams and buses. It is always interesting to navigate transit systems in new cities, especially foreign ones. The city buses are all electric!

We took the bus to the top of the mountain to the Notre Dame de la Garde. It was busy with tourists when we arrived but a madhouse by the time we left with many tour buses from the huge cruise ships in the new harbor. Although there has been a religious presence on the mountain since the 13th century, the current cathedral dates to the late 19th century, the earlier ones being demolished to make room for the later ones. The architecture is intended to reflect the architecture of the Byzantine era and is very elaborate. The photo below is from inside.

From outside the cathedral there is quite an expansive view of the Mediterranean, Marseille and the surrounding countryside. We took the bus back down the mountain to visit the St. Victor Abbey which is much less popular and more sedate. It is darker inside with few windows in the church that dates back to the 16th century. On one side of the church there was a reliquary with a large leg bone from St. Victor and bones from several other saints - a bit strange from my way of thinking.

We walked to the Pharo Palace which Napoleon III had built for his wife in 1858.  We didn't go in the palace but did enjoy the large lawns surrounding the palace. Today must have been a special day for school trips as we saw hundreds of elementary-age students in different places From one end there is a great view of the Fort St. Jean on the other side of the harbor and the Marseille cathedral behind it, seen below.

We took another bus back to our hotel and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Marseille certainly doesn't lack for places to eat! We both had salads for lunch. I had a strange "ruby" beer which I probably won't have again - it seemed to be sweetened with some kind of fruit syrup. The wait staff are helpful but many of them don't speak a lot of English, although better than my French so I can't complain.

We took a siesta in our room for the afternoon before taking the metro to the main train station to buy tickets for our trip to Avignon tomorrow morning. Two of the ticket machines did not cooperate - we could select the start and end train stations but then nothing happened. We were able to find a different type of ticket machine which did eventually produce the tickets we needed. We wanted to try out the Metro so we wouldn't have any complications in the morning.

After we got back, we went to a nearby pizzeria to get individual pizzas (and wine, always wine!)

Day 2 - Monday, June 18 - London to Marseille

I never thought I would say this, but I had a good, although short, night's sleep on the flight over. We had sleeper seats that lie down flat and were very comfortable. We could get used to this but the regular cost for a business class ticket is about the same as our week-long cruise.

We have 4 hours between flights but again are able to use the comfortable BA lounge which has lots of snacks and drinks. While waiting to board our flight, we met a man who was on the crew for the English Formula 1 racing team going to this weekend's race in Marseille. His specialty is jacking up the front of the car when it makes a pit stop to change tires.

The flight to Marseille is only two hours. When we arrived, the pilot apologized for being 5 minutes late.!

At airport we found the bus to the main St. Charles train station and from there took a taxi to the Newhotel Vieux Port, a small, pleasant, 3-star hotel. Our hotel is very convenient, only one block from the harbor, one block from the metro and one block from the tourist center. Our window looks out at the church flying buttresses, stained glass windows and bell tower just across a very narrow alley. Our hotel is the building just to the right of the church.

We were thirsty after arriving and stopped at a cafe on the promenade for a beer and glass of white wine, The harbor is packed with yachts and sailboats. The docks extend almost half-way across the harbor on both sides with just enough clear space in the middle for boats to get in and out. The basilica Notre Dame de la Gardes is on a hilltop on the other side of the harbor.

After walking down the promenade to the Fort St. Jean at the entrance to the harbor, we came back looking for a seafood restaurant. There must be dozens of restaurants, pizzerias, ice cream shops and more along the promenade. I had a huge bowl of mussels with herbed fries and Carmen had a plate of giant prawns, squid, octopus and fish, washed down with a carafe of white wine. Everything was delicious.

On the way back we stopped for a dish of nougat and pistachio ice cream before returning to our hotel. Although it was only 4pm in NY, we were ready to fall into bed at 10pm here.

Day 1 - Sunday June 17 - Woodstock to JFK / London

It  was a beautiful morning with blue skies and cool temperatures.We were busy doing laundry, packing, mowing the lawn and watering the garden.

It is hard to just how much time to allow to get to JFK from Woodstock. In the morning, Google Maps said 2hr 15 minutes. After lunch it said 2hr 45 minutes. Traveling down I87, I84 and I684 to the Hutchinson River parkway was pretty fast. As we got close to the Whitestone bride, google said it would take 55 minutes to go 17 miles - very slow. We got to the off-site parking lot at 6pm, after 3 1/2 hours.

It is a relief to finally be checked in and bags delivered at the airport. We used most of our American Airlines frequent flyer miles collected over 10 years to fly business class over and back. The trip over is on British Airways to London Heathrow. Fortunately, British Airways has a nice comfortable lounge for business class passengers. Lots of snacks and beverages. It certainly beats sitting with the masses waiting at the gate. The flight leaves at 9:05pm and arrives in London at 9:10am tomorrow morning.

Day 0 - Getting ready

Two years ago, our friends Betty and David Noone invited us to travel with them on a Viking Rhone River cruise but due to Carmen's mother's poor health and impending passing, Carmen was not able to go. Carmen suggested that I take our daughters instead. Our daughter Anna wasn't able to go but Amy was available and excited about the prospect so off we went and had a wonderful time. Sadly, Carmen's mom passed away while we were traveling. I blogged about this at: http://dwa201606.blogspot.com/

In order to make this up to Carmen, we are going on the exact same cruise, the same dates and even the same ship. We are leaving a few days early, travelling to Marseille and spending two nights there before taking the train to the ship which will be docked in Avignon.

We depart from JFK on Sunday, June 17.