Trip Home

The trip home begins at a reasonable time as we travel British Airways from Lyon to London to San Francisco. We take several taxis, buses, trains and planes and of course we leave from a boat. Our flight from London to San Francisco was on an A380 which holds 33% more passengers than a 747 but given its 2 levels we didn’t experience the hugeness of it. We get home in time to go to bed at a reasonable time given the time change of 9 hours.

The long trip gave us time to reflect on our travels and what a good trip we had.  We realized that we didn’t write enough about the winemakers on our cruise. David Mounts from Mounts family winery was responsible for getting together 5 families that have been in the farming and wine making for many years and they have known each other and worked together since the 1970s. Many of the dry creek farms go back three or four generations.

This resulted in much story telling about themselves and how the dry creek valley has changed over the years. They talk about when there were 14 wineries and today there are 167. It is a premium wine growing region in northern Sonoma County that produce wines of excellence from a wide variety of grapes, including the world-class zinfandel for which we are best known. This diversity is due to the unique characteristics which comprises many different soil types, elevations and exposures to sun, wind and water, all within a narrow 16-by-2-mile valley. It’s our favorite area.

It was a wonderful trip up the Rhone. The 144 people on the boat drank 1,104 bottles of wine from 5 Dry Creek Valley wineries (plus 600 bottles of local wine from Ama Waterways), explored 8 towns and cities while sailing through gorgeous French wine regions on the infamous Rhone river, heard from 5 wineries over winemaker dinners.

The Wine Makers

The Wineries

Lyon to Collonges

Wednesday November 14 in Lyon and Collanges. We wake in Lyon and have a leisurely morning on the boat before we sail to Collonges on the Saone River. In the afternoon we travel by bus to the Beaujolais, a historical province and a wine-producing region. It is located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north Rhône-Alpes and parts of the south Burgundy. The region is known internationally for its long tradition of winemaking, and more recently for the enormously popular Beaujolais nouveau. This wine is fermented for just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November.

Oingt

As we travel to the winery we stop in Oingt a small town in the Beaujolais that is postcard perfect. It is a classified and restored medieval village overlooking the valley of the Azergues river and belongs to the Golden stone country, known for its use of local limestone containing iron oxide which gives it a distinctive golden color. It is listed as one of the most beautiful villages of France.

We visit the small family winery of Domaine du Bois Pothier that has been in the same family for more than 6 generations. We meet the family and go into the tasting room for some Beaujolais wines which are quite good. Someone asks about the Beaujolais nouveau which will go on sale after midnight of the day we are at the winery. They explain that they can not sell it to us, but we can taste it. They open a bottle and we all taste the fruity wine. A fun experience to actual be in France when the popular wine around the world is released.

Beaujolais nouveau 

We travel back to the boat for our last wine paired dinner hosted by the Nalle family. It turns out to be one of our best. It's much fun because it is the end of the trip. Tomorrow we leave to travel home. 

Nalle winery main course. Beef Tenderloin with hollandaise sauce.

Vienne to Lyon

Tuesday November 13 Vienne and Lyon. Vienne is situated at the confluence of the Rhone and Gere rivers. Before the arrival of the Roman armies, Vienne was the capital city of the Allobroges, a Gallic people and became a Roman colony in 47 BCE under Julius Caesar, Vienne became a major urban center, ideally located along the Rhône, then a major axis of communication.

Vienne

In the morning we tour the city which has a 1st century roman temple of Augustus and Livia and the ruins of a roman theater. We also visit the medieval churches of St. Andre-Le-Bas and abbey St Pierre.  It's a pleasant walk and the streets are fun to look at. We take a mini train that travels on the streets to the top of Vienne. Tourism is a major part of the town's economy and important historical monuments draw the crowds, but the annual Jazz à Vienne festival in July is very popular. It was mentioned multiple times in the book The Day of the Jackal.

Mini Train

We board the boat for lunch and a sail to Lyon which is 22 miles upriver. In the afternoon we travel to Les Halles Paul Bocuse a covered food market that concentrates some of Lyon’s best known local delicacies. Over 50 of Lyon’s finest butchers, charcutiers, fromagers, pastry chefs, and wine specialists have set up shop inside this recently renovated building, thus making it a veritable foodie amusement park. Les Halles are named after Paul Bocuse, one of Lyon’s most revered and well-known chefs. His 3 Michelin star-restaurant is the temple of our gastronomy. We sample cheese, chocolate and charcutiers from different vendor each of which is accompanied by wine. A real treat after which we go back to the boat to prepare for a wonderful dinner of foods paired with wines from the Rued family winery.

Les Halles Paul Bocuse

Pate

Back on board we have a delicious dinner paired with wine for the Rued Family.

Oxtail cake

Tournon

Monday November 12 in Tournon which is situated at the foot of impressive granite hills planted in grapes of the Rhone Valley or Cotes-du-Rhone. We are in the northern Rhone valley which is primarily syrah grapes. Nice scenic views from the ship.

View from ship

In the afternoon after the boat docks we take a antique steam train along the gorges du Doux a tributary of the right bank of the Rhône. The line opened in 1891 and has magnificent views and fine man-made structures that line the route. We travel in carriages pulled by locomotives which are listed historical monuments.The train provided service for passengers, mail and goods mainly wood from the Haut-Vivarais and the Velay plateaux.  It's an interesting ride and a change in pace from what we have been going.

Steam train

View from train

We return to the boat and we are treated to a special dinner. Our boat and all AmaWaterways boats are members of Chaine des Rotisseurs, an international gastronomic society founded in Paris in 1950 to honor the 13 century traditions and practices of the royal guild of goose roasters later including poultry, meat and game. Tonight we have a special dinner menu based on these traditions.

French Paella

Viviers

Sunday 11-11 in Viviers on Veteran’s Day the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I.  It  has the oldest cathedral in France still in use. In medieval times, Viviers had a population of 30,000 but now there are fewer than 4,000. The narrow street with trees on both sides from the boat to town was built in 1840, when the river had to be redirected. We see a Marianne statue wearing a wreath of wheat to show greater wisdom.  We see the boundaries existed in the 5th century when the first bishop came to Viviers. The high town where for centuries the clergy lived in homes luxurious by the standards of that time. In the lower town lived the less important people: tradesmen, shopkeepers and artisans.

Street in Viviers

Viviers

The Saint-Vincent Cathedral was completed in the 12th century but has been refurbished over the years. There are still signs of its Roman origins with 8 surrounding chapels. The vaulted ceiling is 18th century. The tapestries are Gobelins with their own history: they were stolen in the past but all were recovered except one. Today they are holding a special Armistice Day Mass. We take a slow walk back down from the Cathedral admiring the narrow streets,

St. Vincent Catherine

In the afternoon we stop off at the small town of Grignan which has a magnificent 15th century renaissance castle and is mentioned in the letters that Madame de Sévigné wrote to her daughter, Madame de Grignan. She was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing celebrated for their wit and vividness and is one of the great icons of French 17th century literature.

Castle

Grignan

A short ride and we arrive at the truffle farm. We are treated to an animated discussion of truffle farming and the importance of the truffle dogs which are trained to locate the truffle, but not eat them. We get to go onto the farm and watch Emmie the truffle dog find truffles in exchange for treats. After the demonstration we are treated to some wine and snacks of various spreads over bread.  Emmie circles among us for entertainment.

Emmie working

We head back to the boat for some down time and again thinking about our busy day.  It is just amazing the sense of history and how comparatively new things are in our part of the world.  We have an outstanding dinner paired with the wines from Amphora winery. The main course tonight was “Canard á l’Orange”. 

Avignon

"On the bridge of Avignon.They are dancing, they are dancing. On the bridge of Avignon.

They are dancing all around." -  Sur le Pont d'Avignon is a French children's song.

The Pont Saint-Bénézet Bridge

Saturday 11-10 in Avignon we wake to see the renowned bridge made famous by the children’s song Sur le pont d’Avignon.  After a very nice breakfast we head out on a tour of the city. It has 90,000 inhabitants of the city, about 12,000 live in the ancient town center enclosed by its medieval ramparts. Between 1309 and 1377, during the Avignon Papacy, seven successive popes resided in Avignon until 1791 when, during the French Revolution, it became part of France. The town is one of the few French cities to have preserved its ramparts. The historic center, which includes the Palais des Papes, the cathedral, and the Pont d'Avignon, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

Avignon

In the morning we take a food tour of The Halles and Markets of Avignon which is the covered market. It is composed of about 40 stall holders, true ambassadors of local produce: fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices, olive oil and other cookery specialties, indeed a typical atmosphere of authentic Provence. We tasted cheese and wine at the covered market. We then walked to a chocolate shop and lastly we had lavender infused spreads and tasted olive oil.

Cheese in The Halles and Markets of Avignon

Wine Tasting 

Chocolate Olives

Lavender Salt

Lunch on the ship and rest, we then travel by bus to Chateauneuf-du-Pape for a visit to a local winery. The village lies about 2 mi to the east of the Rhône and 7.5 mi north of the town of Avignon has a population of 2,179.

Local Wines

A 14th century ruined medieval castle sits above the village and dominates the landscape. It was built by the second of the Avignon pope. After the popes left the castle passed to the archbishop of Avignon, but it was too large and too expensive to maintain eventually used as a source of stone for building work in the village. Almost all the cultivable land is planted with grapevines. It’s famous for the production of red wine classified as Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation d'origine contrôlée which is produced from grapes grown in the surrounding towns. We visit Domaine Le Pointu a family run winery and learn all about the family and the wines. 

Medievil Castle

We travel back to the boat as the sun is setting a good chance to catch our breath.  We change for dinner and have a second wonderful paired dinner with the wines from Peterson winery.  We have had lunch at Fred’s home a few years ago and he is truly an interesting person.

Arles

Friday 11-9 we are in Arles on the Rhône River in the Provence region of southern France. It's famed for inspiring the paintings of Van Gogh. Once a provincial capital of ancient Rome, Arles is also known for many remains from that era, including Arles Amphitheatre now hosting plays, concerts and bullfights. 

Les Baux-de-Provence 

Les Baux-de-Provence 

In the afternoon we do a walking tour of Arles where we see the Roman amphitheater and other ruins. It’s amazing to think how these ruins have survived and the city has built up around them. We have a variety of weather conditions and one can see with the changing light made it an attractive destination for van Gogh. He was fascinated by the Provençal landscapes, producing over 300 paintings and drawings during his short time in Arles. Many of his most famous paintings were completed there, including The Night Cafe, the Yellow Room, Starry Night Over the Rhone, and L'Arlésienne. Van Gogh's mental health deteriorated in 1888 and he became alarmingly eccentric, culminating in the well-known ear-severing incident with Paul Gauguin which resulted in two stays in the Old Hospital of Arles.

 Roman amphitheater in the city center

View of Arle from amphitheater 

Old Hospital of Arle

Back on the boat a little overdosed with what we saw and learned during the day we unwind. Our dinner was paired with the Mounts Family wines one of our favorite dry creek wineries. The main course was Beef Sirloin Steak with Sauce Béarnaisera.

Florence to Arles

Thursday 11-8. Today we leave Florence to meet our river cruise in Arles France. It was the day that didn’t go well with airline connections and getting to our boat. Air France was delayed out of Florence which resulted in our missing our connecting flight which meant we got to Marseille after our bus to the boat left. We had to take a taxi, which couldn’t find the boat.  A rescue by Amawaterways and we were on the boat for dinner. Some days traveling is just hard.

Siena and San Gimignano

Wednesday, November 7, 2018 we booked a small tour of 11 people to visit the towns of Siena and San Gimignano. We travel through the Tuscan countryside with a variety of weather and light conditions ranging from sunny to showers in a comfortable small bus. Our first stop is the town of Siena with a historic centre that is UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It was first settled in the time of the Etruscans c. 900–400 BC. It is one of Italy's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international tourists especially during the Palio, a horse race held twice a year which packs the town as the horses race in the town center.

Siena

Next we travel to San Gimignano a small walled medieval hill town known for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant' Agostino contain frescos dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The town also is known for saffron, the Golden Ham, and its white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape which is grown on the sandstone hillsides of the area. 

San Gimignano

San Gimignano

Lastly we visit La Marronaia winery and estate.  In 2000, the owner falls in love with an old building in ruins with adjoining land planted with olive trees and vines and Luigi, Silvia and young Corrado and Pietro change the farming to organic and renovated the property to the current winery. This involved all family members, including Dino, a beautiful Bergamasco Sheepdog, who supervised the work. We have a lovely Tuscan lunch with wines from the estate in a wonderful space.  

La Marronaia winery 

"Dino"

After we return to our apartment in Florence we lament that the next day we leave Florence, but it’s off to another adventure.  We have a casual dinner of pizza and wine at a small restaurant near our apartment, a perfect end to a great day.

Wine Tasting in Tuscany

Tuesday, November 6 today is our tour to Tuscan wineries with Grape Tours a husband and wife team of people that understand the area and are also winemakers. To get to our meeting point we cross Florence's Ponte Vecchio one of the world's most famous bridges. Rebuilt after a flood in 1345, it was the only bridge across the Arno that the escaped German destruction in World War II.

Ponte Vecchio Bridge

The Tuscan countryside is very similar to our area in Northern California. The major grape is Sangiovese with other varietals for blending. We learn about the designation system for their wines as well as the super Tuscans blended for international palates. 

Tuscan countryside

Our first winery is the vineyards of the Fattoria Corzano e Paterno lie on the steep and stony slopes about 15 km from Florence. In 1969 the property changed hands for the first time in seven hundred years and today the seventeen hectares of vineyard produce more than 80.000 bottles. Century-old olive trees mixed with newly planted olive groves flank the vineyards and produce the highest quality of olive oil. The cheese has been produced by hand with traditional methods since 1992 using exclusively the milk from the farm’s Sardinian sheep. We try it all, incredible.

Super Tuscan

Sardinian sheep cheese

No visit to the Chianti region in Tuscany would be complete without a visit to one of the most famous butcher shops in the world, Dario Cecchini, butcher of the Antica Macelleria Cecchini who rose to fame during the mad cow disease crisis when eating a ‘bistecca fiorentina’ or t-bone steak was prohibited. We had a 6 course lunch with beef from many parts of the cow. 

Butcher Shop

Bistecca alla Fiorentina

About the steak. Traditionally, the meat for Bistecca alla Fiorentina comes from an ancient breed of Tuscan cattle, called the Chianina. This breed of cattle is known for their incredibly flavorful meat. The perfect cut is not less than 2/2.5 inches up to 4 inches. This is a huge cut of meat. We shared it with 6 people. We both thought it was just a little over the top. Hopefully the leftovers can be put to use.

Wine cellar

Wine tasting

Lastly we visited Renzo Marinai in the Chianti Classico region. It’s a small winery with about 15 acres of vines and about twice that in olive trees. The majority of the grapes are Sangiovese and we taste 4 wines with paired cheese. The wines were great so we bought some to see if when we got home it was really that good. Stuffed we rolled home. At dinner we were still full from lunch.  What a day.