Vienne & Lyon (Day 1)

Finally, I'm getting back to writing about the rest of our trip!  That's because we've already booked our next one and I'm determined to finish writing about this one first!

After breakfast, we had a morning trip into Vienne.  This is a city that used to be under Roman rule, with Roman monuments that  are still intact today.  It was also a home to several archbishops with many churches and convents. We started our walk with a visit to the Gothic former cathedral of St. Maurice, that was built between 1052 and 1533. The inside of the church had wooden chairs instead of pews, with hard wooden kneelers in front of them. It had beautiful tapestries, hanging on the sides of the church. Then we walked to the Cybele Gardens where the Roman remains of a forum with two magnificent archways remain in the center of the city.
The Roman Temple of Emperor Augustus and Liva was awesome.  It has survived because it was transformed into a church and a library and was recently uncovered and is being renovated.  We weren't able to go in, but it was impressive.

The town was completely empty, since it was still a holiday weekend (Armistice day).  I did finally spot a fabric store, where they had their fabrics on the street for sale.  We had a break for lunch so we window shopped and had coffee outdoors at a real French cafe. The tram, which was several cars long, picked us up and sped up small winding streets.  It took us to the highest point in the town, Mt. Pipet, considered a sacred area because it was on top of the mountain.

 We drove within inches from the curbs and the walls of the houses.  We passed this beautiful cemetery adorned with mums.  The guide told us that in France they are the symbol of death, sort of like lilys are in the U.S.  The Pipet Fortress was built here, where today stands a chapel and a statue dedicated to Notre-Dame de-la-Salette.

Unfortunately it was pretty foggy, or the view would've been even better.  We could see the ancient ruins of a theater still used today.
After going back to the ship, we had lunch and cruised up the river to Lyon.  We were able to disembark and explore on our own.  Mark and I decided to visit the Textile Museum (I'm sure that was a highlight of his trip!). The textile museum was really cool.  Of course Mark and I were sort of at a disadvantage without Chrissie to speak French.  All of the labels on the displays were in French and all of the attendants only spoke French.  There were carpets, tapestries, wedding dresses, and gowns for women and long silk coats worn by men.  In one room there was a special display that had these beautiful dresses decorated with ribbons and heavy beading.  It turns out it was a Fashion Show of dresses inspired from the time of Marie Antoinette created by current designers.

I bought things like bookmarks, cards and small pieces of fabric, that I just realized recently were beautiful glass cleaner cloths. On our way back to the ship, we saw a store that had MoMo's name on it.  It just seemed fitting.  Happy Mother's Day, Mom.


Next: Lyon Day 2

Tournon & Tain L'Hermitage

So much has happened in the last few months. We've had a new addition to our family and he's forever changed who we are. I'll write more about him in another post so I can devote myself properly to the subject.
It seems like eons ago that we went to France. I want to finish writing about our trip (mostly so I'll remember it), so I'll pick it up at Tournon sur Rhone and Tain L'Hermitage.

We finally had a morning of sailing. It was a beautiful day and we had a chance to meet some of our fellow Viking travelers above deck.


We were able to experience going through a lock firsthand. It was actually the 8th one we've been through and we still have 7 more on the trip up the Rhone and down the Saone. It's really impressive how they work. My sister Patty attended a Captain's tour of the Wheelhouse, where you could meet Captain Dario Weber from Belgium. As soon as we saw him, we decided he looked like Moondoggie, and if you don't understand that reference, you're just too young! Sigh!

Our views were of vineyards and funny shaped trees and clear blue water and blue blue skies and of course castles. When we docked it was next to another ship, with about 6 inches of space between them.

Mark and Patty and I went for a walk in the town of Tournon. Chrissie stayed behind, feeling a little under the weather. The shops were closed for lunch, and stayed closed from about 11:00am till almost 2:00pm. There was a statue of Marc Seguin, who invented a Steam Engine and designed a European suspension bridge across the Rhone. We walked toward a huge castle built right into the hillside, where the museum had closed for the season the week before. The castle was built between the 14th and 16th centuries. There were loads of cute shops and eateries (all closed) and we saw our first sportsbar in this little town.

After a lunch break on the boat, Chrissie rejoined us and we went on the guided tour in the afternoon, and walked across the Marc Seguin pedestrian footbridge to Tain l'Hermitage on the opposite side of the Rhone river. Here we stopped at a small museum, Musee Palue, whose owner sells paintings of her father's, who was an artist. She spoke to us in French and the guide interpreted for her. Our tour guide wore a leopard coat with black boots and sunglasses and the whole experience was so... French. We met the bus, who then took us to the top of the hill beyond the sloped vineyards to a local winery in Tain L'Hermitage for our wine tasting. They showed us their wine cellars and explained how the wine was made, then we tasted 3 different kinds.

After wine, of course, what tastes better than chocolate? We stopped at the Chocolaterie Valrhona, a company that sells chocolate and also has a school for professional chefs focusing on chocolate dishes and pastries. There were free samples as well as a large selection of delicious chocolate. This one was tough, I had to find something for the boys, small enough to carry home. I settled on circular discs, but I should have bought the flat boxes they had instead. It didn't really matter, it was all great. (By the way, you can buy this chocolate on Amazon - it tasted better than any chocolate I've ever had, and can you believe this, I've had a lot?)

Back to the boat, where again, we eat a sumptuous dinner and get ready for the next day's adventure.

Next: Vienne and Lyon