Saturday, August 1st ~ Tarascon and Arles, France
Intersection in Arles
The ship is docked on the Rhone river in Tarascon, France. Our morning started out with a bus trip to Arles where we filled in a few more details from the life of Vincent van Gogh.
Along the way we passed field after field filled with bright yellow sunflowers. Continue reading
Friday, July 31st ~ Avignon, France
Inside the Popes Palace, Avignon
I have really been enjoying our daily walking tours. Normally they run from 2.5 to 3.5 hours. Uniworld offers several options for their guests at most stops along the way. There is usually a regular walking tour, and then a “gentle” walking tour for those who would rather not walk as far, have mobility challenges, who want to avoid taking stairs or don’t want to walk over steep or rough terrain. Continue reading
Thursday, July 30th ~ Viviers and cruising toward Avignon
Viviers narrow cobblestone streets
The well written Uniworld brochure describes Viviers as:
“an enchanting village where time seems to have stopped centuries ago. Viviers has a long and storied history that goes back more than sixteen hundred years and a splendid architectural heritage to match.”
This was so evident in the stone buildings, narrow cobblestone streets, and medieval houses. Sycamore lined streets, some say planted to give shade to Napoleon’s soldiers, add charm and provide appreciated cover for us today. Continue reading
Wednesday, July 29th ~ Tournon and Tain L’Hermitage
Looking across the Rhone River toward Tournon
Two cities facing each other, claiming opposite sides of the Rhone River. In the heart of the Côtes du Rhône, the twin cities of Tournon and Tain L’Hermitage are an ideal destination for connoisseurs of fine wine.
And that is about it.
Well, that is not completely true. There is also a famous local chocolate that can be purchased at Valrhona Chocolates. Continue reading
Tuesday night July 28th ~ Lyon at night
Leon Cathedral at night
From 9:00 to 10:45 pm, we had an exclusive Uniworld night excursion to revel in the lights of Lyon. With one covered bus and two open air busses, we chose the top deck on one of the open busses along with our new friends Sandy and Steve. Continue reading
Tuesday, July 28th ~ Lyon, France
Lyon, a tale of two cities
Sitting on the confluence of the Rhone and Saone rivers, this is a tale of two contrasting sides of one city.
“Two rivers, one tranquil, one torrential. Two hills, one for labor where the sounds of the silk weaver’s looms used to echo; the other for prayer, crowned by a spectacular basilica.” ~ Uniworld brochure
Monday, July 27th ~ Macon and Beaune, France
Famous tile rooftops of the Hospices de Beaune
We are in the southern most part of Burgundy. Our ship is docked in Macon on the river Saone (rhymes with bone), but our destination is Beaune. To get there we have a wonderful ride through little French villages including Chassagne-Montrachet, Puligny- Montrachet, Meursault, and Volnay. We passed by vineyard after vineyard, along with many fields growing a large variety of grains and vegetables. Continue reading
Sunday, July 26th ~ Transfer from the River Baroness to our new ship, the SS Catherine
Full size glass horse welcomed us on-board the SS Catherine
The Uniworld river cruise we are on is called Grand France. It is in fact TWO cruises that are taken back-to-back with a high-speed train thrown into the middle of the mix to get you from ship #1 to ship #2 or in our case from the River Baroness to the SS Catherine.
We are now at the half way point in our cruise and say goodbye to the River Baroness. I never did give you much information on our 1st ship, but in brief she is lovely, well-appointed, has an outstanding staff, fabulous itinerary and state rooms (at 128 sq ft) that are a little smaller than I would like under ideal circumstances. That said, they were certainly more lavishly accoutered, (haha, being in France I somehow thought that word sounded perfect), than either of the two previous river cruise lines we have sailed on.
Saturday, July 25th ~ Paris
Disneyland Paris
The majority of our travel companions on the Uniworld Cruise were either taking a Paris city tour or the optional (but included) “Do as the locals do” walking tour through Ile de la Cite and the Latin Quarter. The walking tour sounded good to me until Tim mentioned that seeing Disneyland Paris intrigued him.
After a few minutes research, we concluded that it was easily doable. Continue reading
July 24th, Auvers-Sur-Oise, France
The story continues about Vincent Van Gogh
Our ship actually docked in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, which sits at the junction of the Seine and Oise rivers. We are only about 15 miles North West of Paris as the crow flies.
This will be our jump off point to travel the short distance to Auvers-Sur-Oise to continue tracing the history and artwork of Vincent Van Gogh. In fact, the two-hour walking tour we have planned for this morning was titled, “Vincent Van Gogh’s Footsteps”. Continue reading
A Note From Abroad 