Paris, Paris

Paris, big, bustling, busy and, oh, so cold when we were there. Arrived into Paris mid afternoon and were bused from the train station into the center of the city to our hotel which was situated across the street from the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera House. The Intercontinental Le Grand Hotel is quite a grand old hotel. Opened in 1862 and with bragging rights of having held government heads of state, royalty and many of the rich and famous over the years, the rack rates certainly try and impress as such. The staff and the great huge lobby and concierge area was really impressive, while the room while nice was a little outdated and with a rate of some $900 euros per night could have been a lot cleaner. (Avalon River Cruises books around 150 guests or more here every week so the rate for us was done in the 100 euros per night range.) Loreen, ever diligent, upon inspection, requested that the dust bunnies accumulated under the bed spread and window drapes be rectified. This resulted in a thorough cleaning the next day as well as a bottle of Champagne, a box of artisan cookies and a dozen macaroons being sent to the room. Oh how I love that girl!!

Our first adventure was a walking tour that took us through some of the old city and ended up at Notre Dame Cathedral. Having been in a basilica or cathedral almost every day for the past three weeks I was prepared to kind of wonder off on my own for awhile, but I was more than pleasantly surprised by this Cathedral. The Cathedral is a very large and imposing structure,

Side of Notre Dame

Front Entrance

The inside is beautiful as Cathedrals can be with all the stained glass and ceiling painting.

The only Church type building I have been in where security officers hold back the crowd while the clergy is leaving, I think they performed three separate services while we were wandering around.

During the Service

As the walking tour was mostly going to retrace the same route back to the hotel we opted out and jumped on a hop-on, hop-off bus for the afternoon.

On the Hop-on, Hop-off

 We stayed on the bus most of the afternoon and passed some of the highlights of Paris.

Moulin Rouge

Arc de Triomphe

It was a cold blustery day so we did not do much walking around, just rode the bus and listened to the descriptions of the areas we were in and took in the sights.

The next morning we walked back down to the Louvre and decided that it is so big, that we would only do it and ourselves a disservice by spending only a couple of hours there. I think the Louvre would take two or three days  to actually be able to enjoy it properly.

In front of the Louvre

Then we took a hop-on, hop-off boat cruise on the Seine River.  The Seine runs through the center of Paris and gives one a totally different perspective of the city from the water as from the streets, plus it was warm in the boat.

One of about seven or eight bridges we went under.

Eiffel Tower, what a piece of engineering.

Back to the hotel and then off to look at some shopping areas. We went to the department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps where it is made up of three blocks of stores around the Opera House. All are six or seven floors and the amount of product is unbelievable. One total floor was for handbags and the Gucci handbag area was a closed section with security guards letting clients in. The line up was probably fifteen deep and they were letting no more than three customers at a time inside.

We were able to find some French chocolate and French olive oil in the basement area of the last one we went to. This floor had a medium sized grocery/liquor store plus a lot of eating establishments and then a huge French wine store with the 30 year old wines and 100 euro prices. We looked a lot and then went for our last meal in Paris. French Onion Soup and Croque Madame's, (fried ham and cheese sandwich with a nice fried egg on top).

French Onion Soup Paris Style!!

Lyon, Beaujolais and Burgandy

Lyon is a big modern city located on the confluence of the Rhône, which goes from Switzerland to the Mediterranean, and the Saône, goes from Lyon towards Paris. They have taken the old port and cranes etc, out and replaced the area with some very modern buildings and malls. However it still has the narrow medieval type alley ways,

Lyon Alley

And of course the required Cathedral, in this case a Basilica erected in the 1870’s by a very rich individual for pilgrims. Now taken over by the church and city it is still a place for pilgrims as well as a big tourist draw.

Interior of the Basilica

Lyon is located at the southern bottom of the Beaujolais wine region, part of Burgundy, and this area is limited to two grape varieties, Gamay for reds and Chardonnay for whites. Although less prestigious than its northern Burgundy cousins it is still a large wine area. They produce around 100 million bottles a year of mostly red Beaujolais, but one area has been allowed to produce a white Beaujolais from the Chardonnay grape. The countryside is stunning with vast slopes of grapes, that are strictly controlled by the government and wine society. For instance you can have different varieties, but then you are not allowed to market as a Beaujolais wine. 

Wine Country

In some areas, you are not allowed to buy a vineyard unless you are a local, the price per hectare is controlled and the maximum size per vine yard is limited to around 15 hectares or 40 acres, so all the wineries here are family businesses. 

We tasted at a nice winery, on 10 hectares,  that has been in the family for 16 generations ran by a father and son. The father was very knowledgeable and informative and the wines were good. The road intersection we stopped at had three separate family owned wineries beside each other.

Tasting Room 

Then we went to the village of Oingt, pronounced One, which has not changed since it was established as a medieval village. It's quaint, cute and very old. Mostly populated now by weekend folks. 

On the streets of Oingt

Another tour out into the countryside, this time into the white Beaujolais area. Again a very limited area that is allowed to grow and market with Beaujolais. Although the wine may be marketed as only the wine makers name, when it has the Beaujolais name on the label you know what the variety is for both the reds and whites. 

More wine country

Again we had stunning vistas and acres and acres of farmland. In this area they are not allowed to irrigate, so the quantity of production is dependant on the amount of rainfall, dry summer less volume. This can also affect the taste of the wine as when limited to one variety and small acreage there is no opportunity to blend for consistency. The tasting room we went to is located in a medieval castle and has numerous rooms that portray the medieval living conditions, it also works as a B and B with five rooms for rent. Not being a big Chardonnay fan, I was more than impressed with the wines, although aged in oak barrels there was very little oak on the palate. 

On the drive back to meet the ship, which had relocated, we drove through a farm valley adjacent to the Saône river. Loreen and I were excited to see fields of cereal crops, cattle farms and equestrian centres. The people sitting around us must have wondered where we came from, when amongst 100s of acres of vineyards we were exclaiming to each other as we pointed Charolais and Limousine cattle and debated about the breeds we didn't recognise.

Charolais Cattle

On the way to Dijon to catch the train to Paris, we stopped in Beaune and visited a wine cellar, Caves Patriarche, situated in a large old building that used to a cloister or convent for nuns. It has around five miles of tunnels that wander around underground where they store thousands of bottles of wine. Beaune is in the center of the Burgundy wine region, and here they only do Chardonnay’s and Pinot Noirs. The cellar does not grow any grapes but buys from producers and bottles and markets. Burgundy Pinots, according to our sommelier, are supposedly the best in the world and the prices at this cellar varied from $25cdn to well over $100cdn. We tasted three Pinots and like the wines in Châteauneuf de Pape, I did not find any to my taste.

Tunnel of Aging Barrels

Maybe walked through an 1/8 of a mile of tunnels filled with unlabeled bottles

The bottles are filled and racked with a large index card on each rack that identifies the vintage and other pertinent information needed. When the wine is deemed to be ready to sold then the bottles are labeled.   

Tomorrow Paris. 

The Upper Rhone

We had a good day in Viviers, it is an ancient medieval town where most of the population has moved away. It has been declared a UNESCO site because it has never been destroyed or rebuilt.  It is old with narrow streets, if there are two cars, one of them must back out of the street to allow the other to pass.

Like most of the places we visit there is either a cathedral or a castle, in Viviers there is a Cathedral with a 200 year old pipe organ where we went for a seven song, classical recital (Loreen had time for a nice snooze)

The Cathedral is on the highest piece of land in the town, so after a long hike we got to the top and had some stunning views.

Have I mentioned the mistral yet? No, well here is the deal. The Mistral is a cold north or northwest wind that starts in Switzerland and speeds up as it passes through the Rhone Valley on its way to the Mediterranean. Although quite cold the winds usually bring clear weather which helps in the wine production as wet weather means poorer quality wine. The winds can reach 50 to 60 miles per hour and while not steady every day, can blow for as many as 100 days per year. We must have been in a bad period cause I think they blew for about three days straight. 

When we returned to the ship, we had a food tasting of the foods from Viviers. Meats, cheeses, breads and pastries. They were all  produced by a couple of village shops.

We have had lovely wines with all the meals on the boat, and I am learning a good amount about French wines mostly from a wine connoisseur from North Carolina. This has been a positive on our two river boat cruises, we always manage to meet some like minded people that we can visit with. On this particular cruise, a couple from Toronto, a gentleman from Pittsburgh, a couple from North Carolina and a couple from Chicago. It is a good feeling to be able to visit, laugh with and just enjoy the company of people that were total strangers a couple of days ago.

As we continue up the Rhône we continue to pass through different wine regions.  We stopped in the town of Tournon, which is in the Ardeche region and across the river from the town and hill of Tain Hermitage which is famous for its wines. 

Tournon is a cute little place with winding streets and as most of the small towns or villages in France, it has a lot of history dating back to either the medieval or Roman eras. The highlight, was the farmers market in one of the many squares.

Produce

And protein

We did find a lot of shops and were able to purchase some French chocolate, the Valrhona chocolate factory is across the river,  and a nice bottle of Hermitage wine. I did know enough to understand that the Tain l’Hermitage wines are renowned, I did not know enough to understand that only those producers that have vineyards on the small hill at the back of Tain, are allowed to use that designation. So we entered a wine shop where the lady was tasting Ardèche wines, the wine region on the Tournon side of the river. But no, I was buying a Hermitage, which can only use the Shiraz variety of grape, therefore any Hermitage wine is a Shiraz. So the lady helps me pick out a 2012 Hermitage, untasted, that was in my price range, oh I was so pleased, until I figured out I had purchased a Crozes-Hermitage, what the heck is this. So after some research, I find that there is a much larger region, where only the Shiraz grape can be used known as Crozes-Hermitage, so a very similar wine, just not as renowned as Tain l’Hermitage, so all is well. 

Then back on the ship for lunch, I chose the frog legs!

Then up the river to stop for a quick walk through Vienne, once a major trade location between the north and the south. It has since lost out in significance to Lyon. One of the main features, besides being a charming little village, is the best preserved Roman building in France. A temple dedicated to the Roman’s Augustus and Livia. Since Roman times it has been used as a garrison, a bakery, a bookshop and various other shops. It is now a heritage site in the process of being restored and preserved.

Vienne is the place where the Knights Templar were put on trial at the request of the King of France. At that point in history the French Kingdom ended at the Rhône River, and Vienne was under the control of the Pope Clement and the protection of Rome. The Knights Templar had returned from the Crusades and established rest houses for poor people on pilgrimages. They were paid back in various ways and became wealthy. The King decided they were not paying their taxes to the Church nor to the kingdom of France and wanted them tried and their wealth seized. The Pope would not allow the trial to take place in France, but held the trial in the Cathedral in Vienne. 

Inside the Cathedral where the trial was held.

The vistas from the ship continue to impress as we move further north up the Rhône River. Soon we will be in Lyon and take a trip through the Beaujolais region.

Avignon and Chateauneuf-du-Pape

"Sur le pont d'Avignon, 
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tous un rond"

"On the bridge of Avignon
We're all dancing, we're all dancing
On the bridge of Avignon
We're all dancing round and round"

Loreen started signing this song the night before we got to Avignon and was really disappointed that the bridge of Avignon is mostly destroyed. Originally constructed between 1177-1185, the bridge was essential to the pilgrimage route from Spain to Italy. It was made up of 21 piers and 22 arches and by the late 1600s most of the bridge had collapsed. Now a world UNESCO Heritage site, the remaining four sections give a picture of how imposing and magnificent the bridge was in it's heyday.

Avignon Bridge

Today, an exciting moment this morning when we opened the curtains to find we were anchored to another cruise boat and it's bedroom window was right beside ours. Thankfully their curtain was closed so we did not scare anyone!! 

After we took an Avignon city walking tour where the big draw in Avignon is the Palais des Papes, ( Palace of the Popes). This Place was home to the Popes and the head of the Catholic Religion during the 14th century. The Palace is also a UNESCO World heritage site and the place is absolutely huge.  

  

About half of the front of the Palace.

The palace is filled with places to worship, both inside and outside in squares, and numerous rooms and halls that were needed to house the Pope and all the clergy and support staff.

One of the interior Squares

Even though the city itself was surrounded by some three miles of defensive walls, the place itself was also fortified with defensive walls lined with arrow slits that would allow the archers to shoot into the enemy. These arrow slits not only faced outwards but were also faced inwards so that any rebellion by people inside the palace area could be stopped.

Defensive walls facing into the palace square.

Next we visited Chateauneuf-du-Pape wine country. This region grows 6,000 hectares of grapes and there are 322 wineries. It was more beautiful than we could have imagined, with great tracts of vineyards reaching over the hills and into the valleys. 

Chateauneuf-du-Pape landscape

Chateauneuf-du-Pape is one of the most renowned wine regions in France. The land is hilly, rocky and they still bring more rocks up from the rivers to lay in the vineyards. The rocks are essential to the terroir of these wines as they capture the heat during the day and hold the heat into the night helping to speed up the ripening process. As with all French wine areas, the Chateauneuf-du-Pape area is restricted to specific grape varieties in the wine production. Eighteen grape varieties, I only recognised about four of them, are allowed and there are no restrictions on how they are used or blended.  Therefore a red blend could have some white grape variety in it. The main grapes used are Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre. 

After touring the countryside we went to a small village to do some tasting. It being a holiday in France, most shops were closed, but it seemed one out of three shops was a winery or tasting room. The tasting shop we attended was a modern facility, with a large front shop area and two tasting areas in the back where the wines were aging in barrels. 

The Winery

The tasting area

Unfortunately, the wines were not to my palate, and I was happy to learn that some of my new wine friends agreed with me. Not saying they are bad, just not "my cup of wine".

As for the wine and chocolate tasting, it was very well run by the onboard wine master. We tasted three wines, a dry red, a medium dry white and a sweet white. Each wine was sampled with three types of chocolate, a dark, a milk and a white. While it was all very interesting and very informative, the best combo for me was the dry red and dark chocolate, I think I prefer my wine and chocolate separate. Maybe chocolate and cognac would be better!

Meeting the Boat at Arles

The Avalon Poetry is quite a nice ship, three decks, large lounge and dining areas and will hold about one hundred and fifty passengers, with a mostly Eastern European crew. We think there are around one hundred and twenty guests on board, approximately 70 from the US, 30 Canadians and the balance from Europe, Australia and India.

We started out with welcome aboard cocktails, a safety briefing, a nice dinner with bottomless wine. How can you beat that!  This is a specialty theme cruise for wine lovers so we are looking forward to visit some wine areas and listen to the wine master on board the ship.

Arles is located in Provence region of France and is upstream from where the Rhône meets the Mediterranean. This area of France has a bit of Spanish influence as it was once part of Catalonia. Some of this area is known as the Camargue, where they raise the white Camargue horses as well a fighting bulls.

Arles was a Roman metropolis under Constantine and became the most important Roman city in Gaul, as the Romans knew France as. Therefore, the city was important enough to have a lot of Roman amenities, of which some are intact and still used today.

The arena, built in the same style as the coliseum in Rome, is mostly intact and instead of having gladiators for entertainment, now hosts bullfights and bull games. Traditional bullfights are held twice a year, and bull games are held a minimum of once monthly. In bull games the bull is the hero and if good is held in high esteem. This is a game where one fighting bull is brought into the arena and between 15 to 20 young men then risk being run down and/or gored to remove a small bunch of flowers that has been tied between the bulls horns.

Most of the bottom of the coliseum is still intact, there have been some minor repairs, and a lot of the top half is still there but not in use for seating as when it was built.

The Coliseum at Arles

The bull ring and seating inside the coliseum

An intriguing place to admire is the Hotel de Ville, or city hall. The interior has a large vaulted ceiling which use numerous arches and wall niches to support it. What amazes me is that it is all held together by key stones placed. There is no mortar or other binding agents used to hold this ceiling together, just key stones.

Some place up there one piece holds the rest together

One of the arches

No wine tours today, instead we toured an olive oil farm, where they grow and produce their own oils. Strictly an organic family farm, Moulin de Calanquet, has been in the family for five generations. They grow a variety of olives and make oils of each variety as well as some blends and tapenades. It was interesting to note that pits and all are used to make olive oil, it is the elements in the pit that keeps the oil from spoiling. 

In the olive grove

Olives on the tree

Crushing Equipment

Les Baux-de-Provence is a small village set on top of a rocky outcrop in the Alpilles Mountains. Portions of the old medieval castle remain, but now the village is a commune, about 500 people live here, and tourist attraction. The village consists of very narrow streets, (very windy when we were there), lined with cute little shops, bakeries and cafes. The place is quite charming. 

Walking the streets.

Very Unique Garage

 Access to the village is through a valley, sometimes called the Devils Valley, of limestone rock formations that have been eroded by the weather into weird shapes.

The valley below the village

One of many rock formations along the road

The wine master just came on late this afternoon so we haven’t spent time with her yet. We have our first seminar with her tomorrow morning - chocolate and wine tasting at 10:30 in the morning!!! Yahoo!!!