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”.