Daily Journal for Rhone Christmas 2007

                                                                                    Friday, December 21, 2007

            We’re off again for another Christmas trip.  This year it is a riverboat cruise on the Rhone in France.  The trip goes from Lyon to Marseilles.  The big difference this year is that we are traveling with Harry and Kathy whom we met on the trip last year.  We’ve grown very fond of them and know we’re going to have loads of fun with them.

            Had to get up at 1:45 a.m. this morning in order to leave the house at 4 a.m.  Got everything done and said good-bye to the boys.  They knew we were leaving.  They were super affectionate this morning.

            Drove to the car park and was in the Delta check-in by 5:50 a.m.  Read the paper and boarded the plane and took off at 7:40 a.m. – on time!  We lucked out, the sky is clear.  The storm they are predicting seems to be coming in a little late.  Thank goodness, don’t need a repeat of last year.  (Rosemary is staying at the house again, I’m so glad.)  The flight to Atlanta was uneventful.  We were in the very back row of the plane and were able to sleep a little bit.  Arrived in Atlanta at 12:30 p.m., the weather is very cloudy.  Looked around and had a salad for lunch.  My stomach was a little queasy after my huge Christmas lunch with Terry and Tracy at the Chop House yesterday.  Our layover in Atlanta is 5.5 hours but it seems to be going smoothly and quickly.  Saw Dominic (a guy from the trip last year) who is a music teacher.  He’s on the trip with us this year also.  Finally boarded the plane and left about one hour late.  Take-off was smooth.  We were on the two side of the plane, thank goodness.  I had mushroom pasta for dinner and it tasted pretty good.  Lloyd had chicken with chipotle sauce.  We each had some champagne and wine.  I was so tired I slept for quite a long time.  The flight had a few bumps along the way.  Lloyd seemed to sleep ok also.

                                                                                      Saturday, December 22, 2007

            Woke up and got served an awful breakfast.  A croissant in a pouch – yuck!  Seemed like it took forever for the sun to come up.  Arrived in Paris at 8:15 a.m. and made our way through the maze of Charles de Gaulle airport to our gate.  Plane to Lyon was supposed to leave at 9:35 a.m. but we left an hour late.  Didn’t really matter, as the flight is only 35 minutes long!  I slept most of the way.  Arrived in Lyon and got our bags.  Didn’t have to go through customs so met our driver and got taken to the boat.  There is already one bitchy lady who kept complaining about the drive and being sick.  We checked into our cabin (#17) and it is small and cute.  I really like the fact the toilet and shower are in different rooms.  As we were unpacking we saw Harry and Kathy get off the van from the train station.  We’re all here!  We had lunch, cauliflower soup, a variety of salads and Shepard’s pie and chocolate mousse for dessert.  Then we met and walked with Marcus (our tour guide) into town and the Christmas market!  I love Christmas markets!  Just watching the people and the festivities is so fun, not to mention the Vin Chaud (hot, spiced wine!).  I bought some beautiful wool slippers and some Christmas tea.  Lloyd and I bought Santa hats for Christmas day on the boat.  We then walked down the pedestrian shopping area and back to the boat.  Harry and Kathy went to take a nap and we had a drink.

            The weather is gray, foggy and cool.  Luckily no rain yet.  When we flew into Lyon this morning it looked like a fog had rolled through and left everything coated in ice.  It was beautiful, like a Christmas postcard.

            We had orientation to the tour and a safety meeting.  Seems like a nice group of people.  Retired to the dining room for dinner.  Had red and white wine.  Started with a Salad Lyonnais (greens with a poached egg), yummy!  Then we had pork Wellington, ratatouille, and scalloped potatoes.  Everything was very good.  Then we had a cheese course (brie and a mild cheese) and tiramisu.  Dinner was wonderful and we had fun with Harry, Kathy, Meg, Mary, and another couple. 

            After dinner we walked back to the Christmas market, then down the pedestrian walk to the Ferris wheel.  There weren’t many people out so it was nice.  Went by a beautiful “globe of flowers” on the way back to the boat.  On the boat everyone had disappeared – off to bed.  Went to our cabin and went to bed at 10:30 p.m.

                                                                                    Sunday. December 23, 2007

            Got up at 6:30 a.m.  Slept well.  Took a nice shower and had some coffee.  My stomach is a little upset today, hope it goes away soon.  Lloyd is very tired and has decided to skip the city tour and stay on board.  The city tour leaves at 9 a.m. and drives to the top of the hill and the Notre Dame de Fourviere (the Basilica).  The Basilica is huge and new!  It is filled with mosaics and was built in 1896.  We can’t go in because it is Sunday and there is a service this morning.  It is very foggy and damp and soooooo cold!  It is actually almost unbearable.  Because the fog is so thick there is no view of anything looking down on the city of Lyon.  On a clear day it would be beautiful.  The local guide (Pierre) was very good.  He said Lyon is the third largest city in France behind Marseilles and Paris.  Lyon was a huge silk producing area but now has only 6 silk weavers.  We drove through the artist area and saw the most amazing building.  It was painted entirely on the outside in 3 dimensions.  This is called trompe l’oiel (trick of the eye) in French.  I have never seen anything like it.  It is so life like that real people posing for a picture in front of it seemed to get lost in the painting.  Amazing!  We saw a Roman amphitheater near the Basilica and others near the cathedral.  Drove to the old town and walked around it for a while.  It is very quaint with many shops, restaurants and hotels.  It would be a fun place to hang out for a few days.  The weather is still very cold.  I got back to the boat at noon and met up with Lloyd.  We decided not to go to Beaujolais and to just walk around on our own.

            We walked to Nicola’s liquor store and bought a port, sauterne and cognac for the boat because the boat bar seems to be pretty poorly stocked.  We then walked to the Christmas market looking for a crepe place for lunch.  There was a farmer’s market going on around the x-mas market and we walked through it, it was full of wonderful foodstuff.  We came across a guy selling baked potatoes with toppings and they smelled so good that became lunch.  Mine had ham, tomatoes and Camembert fondue.  Lloyd’s had chicken, peppers, Camembert fondue and they were absolutely delicious!  We stood outside under portable heaters and snarfed them down.  Then we had Vin Chaud.  We got back to the ship and got so sleepy that we took a nap.  I think all the cold weather got to me.

            After I woke up I sat in the lounge and worked on my journal and read for a while.  Tonight is the captain’s welcome dinner.  Hopefully, we can sit with just Harry and Kathy and have some sauternes or port after dinner.

            Had a glass of welcoming Champagne and hors d’ourves.  Dinner was different.  We started with a shot glass of pate (sort of), kind of weird.  Then we had a citrus shrimp cocktail with pineapple, also a little weird.  The best thing was a “tomato espresso” which was delicious.  Then we had a duck leg, green beans and potatoes.  It was good but like duck usually is it was pretty fatty.  Desert was a napoleon that was ok but a little dry.  We split our bottle of Sauternes with Harry and Kathy and it was delicious and fun.  Maybe the best part of dinner.

            After dinner they had a musician come on board.  His name was Paolo.  He was entertaining and much better than Wolfgang!  People seemed very happy to be dancing and laughing.  Everyone danced a bit – even Lloyd!

            We went for a short walk after the music and it was cold but really nice to get some fresh air.  Went back to the boat and went to bed at 11 p.m.

                                                                                    Monday, December 24, 2007

                                                                                    Christmas Eve

            Got up at 7 a.m.  Slept fair – I think the duck upset my stomach some.  Showered and decided to have breakfast to avoid feeling like I did yesterday morning.  We had an omelet and it was good and some fruit.

            At 9 a.m. we had a demonstration of silk painting and it was interesting.  It is a very complicated procedure.  The people that gave the demonstration also hawked their wares.  Some of their stuff was very pretty but also very expensive.

            Sat and visited with Harry and Kathy and some other folks as the boat sat sail at 11:20 a.m.  We passed some areas where the trees, fences, etc. were covered in ice, it was beautiful.  We went through a fairly large lock (dropped 12 meters) and headed towards Vienne.

            We had lunch at 12:30 p.m. and it was very good.  We had French onion soup, quiche, salad and a hot fudge sundae.  We arrived in Vienne for a two-hour sight seeing/shopping stop.

            There was a little tourist train that was going to take everyone around.  It was very cold so we decided it would be better to walk than just sit and get cold.  The main drag into the center of the town was lined with beautiful plane trees.  It must be beautiful in the summer when they are all leafed out.  We walked around and most of the stores are closed.  We found an open store and bought our three-euro gifts for the gift exchange.  Then we wandered around some more.  The place is full of Roman ruins; the best being a temple (Temple of Augustus and Livia) is the square of the town.  It is beautiful.  We headed back to the boat and warmth.

            Back on the boat Lloyd rests and I go to work on my journal that proves unsuccessful as everyone is in a visiting mood.  I have a glass of Champagne and spend the afternoon talking.  We sail for Tournon for Christmas day.  We will pass through 3 locks.

            The staff gives a holiday drink demonstration on how to make eggnog from scratch and everyone has some.  We have port talk which just drags on and on and everyone is nodding off.  They talk about santons (clay figures) and the Christmas crèche, which is a tradition in Provence.

            Finally, Christmas Eve dinner!  We have tomato tartar, fois gras (which was served with fig chutney – awesome!), scallops on saffron risotto, guinea fowl, brussel sprouts and mashed potatoes.  Desert was a raspberry Christmas roll that I gave to Harry.  I thought it tasted like cough syrup.  We shared our bottle of port with Harry, Kathy, Meg and Mary.  It was a fun evening.

            We docked in Tournon and decided to go for a short walk.  It is bitterly cold!  There is a breeze that just slices through you coming off the river.  We walk for a bit and town is totally deserted.  We don’t see another person at all.  Kind of neat to have it all to ourselves.  Walked for about 30 minutes and came back to boat.  The guitarist finally showed up and he sucks.  We sat in the front of the boat and had another drink and relaxed.  Went back to the cabin and put out our shoes for Santa.  In France, when you are ready for Santa to visit you put your shoes outside your door and he puts your gifts in your shoes.  Went to bed at 11:15 p.m. to the thrumming of Jacques the guitarist.

                                                                                    Tuesday, December 25, 2007

                                                                                    Christmas Day

            Slept until 7:40 a.m. and it felt good.  We both slept really well.  Looked outside of our door and Santa had been to our shoes.  We each got a GCT wind-breaker (way too big) but nice.  Took a shower and decided to have some breakfast, scrambled eggs and prosciutto.  It tasted really good.  Lloyd stayed in bed for quite a while longer.  People seem cheery since it’s Christmas.  I decided not to go on the city walking tour because it is really cold and the wind is howling.  Everyone who has been out says it’s awful.  This is going to be my day to just relax and be a bum.  It is a pretty day, sunny and clear (only day so far we’ve seen the sun) but it is cold.

            Just sitting around and talking and laughing.  Lloyd and I decide to go on a walk to a bakery that is open.  It is cold out but not as cold as the night before.  The bakery is packed with locals buying their holiday breads and sweets, especially Yule logs.  They are the most beautiful Yule logs I’ve ever seen.  We buy four tarts and I get a cute moon shaped tea strainer.  Back to the boat.

            We have lunch, mustard soup (wonderful!) and pasta Bolognese.  Lunch was very good.  Desert was a lemon tart that I amazingly passed on.  Maybe I was full from my two bloody mary’s!  After lunch, Harry and Lloyd went for a long walk and Kathy and I sat and visited.

            About 3 p.m. our chef, David, gave a cooking demonstration on crepes suzette.  He made the sauce and crepes while Marcus translated for him.  After he demonstrated how to do it he asked for a volunteer to try it.  Of course, I was all over that!  He put his chef hat on me and I flipped my crepe!  Just like Barbara Stanwyck in “Christmas in Connecticut”.  Then I ate my crepe.  Yummy!  Other people tried their hand at crepe flipping and then he served everyone.  It was fun.

            After the cooking demonstration we got to paint our santons.  Santons are clay figures that populate the Christmas crèche.  They are usually painted very bright colors.  Lloyd didn’t paint one so went to the room to read.  Harry, Kathy and I sat and painted our santons for a long time.  Mine was a woman carrying flowers and a sickle.  It was hokey but fun and everyone seemed to get swept up in it.

            We had our port talk and then dinner was served.  I think all I’ve done all day is eat!  Christmas dinner in France is a smaller, more simple meal than the Christmas Eve meal so we had escargots, beef bourguignon, cheese course (with an awesome blue), and a molten chocolate cake.  It was a very good dinner.  We finished the bottle of port we had bought in Lyon.

            After dinner we had our gift exchange.  It was pretty funny.  Everyone got a number and you either chose a gift from under the tree or you could steal someone else’s gift.  People were funny and seemed to enjoy the game.  After the gift exchange we had a drink with Harry and Kathy and shut the bar down.

            Went back to the cabin and went to bed at 12:30 a.m.

                                                                                    Wednesday, December 26, 2007

            Woke up at 7:35 a.m. when the boat started moving.  We’ll be sailing all day except for a two-hour stop in Viviers.  We are headed to Avignon.  Didn’t sleep very well because of, you guessed it, beef bourguignon.  Oh well, it sure was good.  Went to the lounge and had my coffee.

            We are going through 13 locks today.  The biggest has a 70’ drop!  Should be fun.

            Sat down and read and ignored the napkin folding demonstration.  My book has gotten really good and I’d like to finish it.  The captain gave a talk on the boat and the Rhone and it was interesting.  France has 18 nuclear power plants and gets 78% of its power from nuclear, the rest from wind and water.  The U.S. could take a lesson from this.  The most interesting thing about the boat is that it has its own sewer processing system and at the final stage water is actually released to the river.  Amazing!  It was an interesting talk. 

            Lunch was early today due to our arrival in Viviers at 1 p.m.  Today was a buffet and we had vegetable soup along with a variety of salads (potato, caprese, leek, deviled eggs), a pate plate, baked potatoes, steamed veggies, prime rib and cheeses.  It was all very good but the desert was the best – a floating island (made me think of “Desk Set”).

            After lunch Marcus took a group into town on a city tour.  It is a medieval town and very quiet in the winter.  Lloyd went on the walk.  I stayed on the boat and read.  The lady who is sick, Daisy, sat right next to me and kept coughing!  The whole room empty and she sits right next to me!  UGH!  I got up and went to the room and ended up taking a nap.  Lloyd got back and I had an espresso and finished my book.  Went to the lounge to wait for the big lock and vin chaud.

            Went through the big lock and it is huge!  The drop is 75’ and as you’re going down there is a wall behind you that is holding back the entire Rhone River!  Very eerie but amazing at the same time.

            Had our port talk and dinner.  We had a carrot soufflé with an herb sauce, which was really good.  Then we had a potato gratin, zucchini and lamb in a tomato sauce.  We had our cheese course and crème brulee.  It was all very good.

            The lady from California, Laura, brought 11 bottles of wine from CA for a wine tasting.  I tried a couple but wasn’t overly impressed.  They all tasted the same and finished with a very sharp bite.  I can’t believe she hauled 11 bottles of wine all the way to France from CA.  What a strange thing to do, especially because it’s not like they don’t have good wine in France.  She definitely likes to be the know it all in a lot of situations.

            As we were tasting the wine all of the sudden the boat slammed into a lock wall!  Coffee cups hit the floor and shattered and it scared people.  Seems the captain had to use a side thruster and got caught by a gust of wind and BAM!  It got everyone kind of jazzed up for a bit.

            Then they had movie night.  They showed a French movie called “The Chorus” which everyone said was really good.  I watched a few minutes in the before falling off to sleep.

            We docked in Avignon at 9:45 p.m., about the same time we went to bed.  We are docked right across from a huge, fortress like building. 

                                                                                    Thursday, December 27, 2007

            Got up at 6:30 a.m.  It looks like a nice day, the sky is blue!  I didn’t sleep real well, kept getting hot and cold.  Took a shower and decided to have breakfast since today is going to be busy.  Had a couple of poached eggs.  It’s funny how much better eggs taste out of the U.S. and the yolks are yellower.

            At 9 a.m. Marcus gave his intro to Avignon talk about the city and the Palais de Pape (Palace of the Popes).  We left the boat at 9:30 a.m. and walked into town.  There is a cute Christmas market that is still open with some different stuff.  We ran into our group and joined the tour of the palace.  It is very huge and stark in some rooms but very ornate in others.  Nine Popes lived here when they were driven from Rome.  Chateuneuf de Pape means “house of new popes”, not “house on nine popes” like I thought.  We finished a tour and bought a bottle of Chateuneuf de Pape at the gift shop in the palace.  Also, got a “stylo flottant” – a floaty pen!  Walked back to the x-mas market and looked around.  Bought a couple bottles of Christmas beer and some kitchen towels.  Headed back to the boat for lunch.

            Quite a few people came back for lunch.  We had pumpkin soup with a cinnamon crouton, chicken a la king and apple crumble.  Had another glass of Laura’s wine, still not impressed.  Decided to relax for an hour before the Pont du Gard tour.

            Lloyd decided to skip the Pone du Gard to rest and read.  I think I’m getting a bladder infection so I’m a little worried about going.  Bus leaves at 2 p.m. and I’m on it.  It takes about 25 minutes to get to the Pont du Gard, which is a 2000-year-old Roman aqueduct.  It’s 33 miles long and only drops inches over its length.  The only thing that saved it from total disrepair is that people started using it as a footbridge to cross the river Gard, the Unesco stepped in.  When we arrived we were the only bus and there were very few cars – nice!  Marcus walked us to the movie and we watched a 25-minute movie on how the bridge was built.  It was good and informative, but I have to admit, I dozed a bit.  Then we spent 30 minutes in the museum.  We had it all to ourselves!  The museum was really well done and had good interpretive exhibits.  We then walked to the bridge, it is beautiful and much bigger than I was expecting.  Walked up a hill and down to the river to see it from all angles, and across it.  This will be the highlight of the trip for me!  Went back to meet the rest of the group and I’m definitely getting a bladder infection.  UGH!  Got back at 5:30 p.m.

            Talked to Kathy and described my symptoms and she said I needed cipro.  Luckily, Lloyd got some the last time he was in Mexico so I started taking it and am going to drink lots of water.  I’m not surprised about this given the amount of wine I’ve been drinking and how little water.

            Had our farewell dinner tonight.  We opened the bottle of Chateuneuf de Pape we bought and it was delicious!  For dinner we had salmon on goat cheese with caviar that was laid out on the plate to look like a flower.  Beautiful!  Then we had scallops in a cream sauce followed by a vin chaud sorbet.  The main course was tenderloin with béarnaise sauce, potato and peas served in an artichoke bottom.  It was very good.  Desert was baked Alaska which always presents better than it tastes.  It was a nice dinner.

            After dinner I drank 2 liters of water so couldn’t go look at the Christmas lights with some of the other folks.  Lloyd went on the walk.  I went to the room at 10 p.m.

            Lloyd’s walk turned into numerous bottles of wine in a bar.  It sounded like fun.  He got back about 11:15 p.m. and lights were out by 11:30 p.m.

                                                                                    Friday, December 28, 2007

            Boat started moving at 5:45 a.m. headed for Arles.  I feel exhausted and am going to sleep a while this morning.  I was up many times during the night after drinking all that water but I feel better.  Now I’m getting a sore throat and am congested.  I’m not surprised as this has been the “sickest” boat I’ve ever been on.

            I got up at 8 a.m. and we docked in Arles at 8:45 a.m.  At 9 a.m. I went and listened to a woman give a presentation on Van Gogh and his years in Arles.  It was very interesting.  Amazing that we will be walking the same streets Vincent walked!  At 10 a.m. the city tour starts but we decide to strike out on our own.

            It is really cold so we’re bundled up.  We catch up to the group and listen to the talk on the amphitheater that is in the center of the city.  It is in good repair and is used today for bull fighting.  The group moves on and we buy tickets and tour the inside of the theater.  It’s kind of weird because it’s all scaffolding and wooden bleachers.  The best part was climbing up in the tower and getting a great view of the city and the Rhone.  We walked to the other theater but didn’t go in because it is under renovation.  Walked some more and browsed the shops.  Found a creperie to have lunch at and had the best meal of the trip!  We had a bottle of red wine; Lloyd had a ham, potato and cheese crepe and a salad.  I had a tuna, tomato, onion and cheese crepe and a salad.  It was absolutely wonderful!  For desert we had espresso and Lloyd had a chocolate banana crepe and mine was chocolate pear.  Yummy!  Our lunch cost 60 euros ($90!)!  Yikes!  It was expensive but fabulous.  We left, stopped at an ATM and headed back to the boat. 

            Got back to the boat and took a short nap and then packed for the flight home tomorrow.  Can’t believe we leave already.  Got the tips together and checked our bill.  We didn’t owe anything at the bar because one of our vouchers covered it.  Kind of hard to believe and we’ll use the other one on optional excursions.

            Marcus had a pastis (licorice liquor) tasting along with some tapenade, olive oil bread and a marzipan cookie.  You mix the pastis with water to dilute it and it tastes like crap!  Then Marcus showed us his slides of the trip.  It was fun to see everything we’d done.  He gave a CD with the photos to all of the Inner Circle members.  Aren’t we special?

            Then we had dinner; I’m still so full from lunch I’m going to go easy.  Had a delicious mushroom soup, cod stuffed with spinach, carrots, potatoes, a cheese course and a pear poached in Vin Chaud.  It was a very nice dinner.

            Said good-bye to everyone and had a final drink with our bartender, Andrew (who looks exactly like Tom Cruise). 

            Went back to the cabin and was in bed by 9:30 p.m. since we have to get up at 1:15 a.m. for our ridiculously early departure to the airport.

                                                                                    Saturday, December 29, 2007

            Got up at 1:15 a.m.  What a short night.  Finished packing and showered.  Relaxed a bit before leaving at 3:45 a.m. for the airport in Marseilles.  It was about an hour bus ride to get there.  We arrived and checked in very smoothly and then waited for the flight to Paris.  The flight to Paris was uneventful.  Upon arrival in Paris we got bussed around the airport and finally delivered to our terminal.  It is raining quite steadily.  Had a sandwich and just sat and waited for the flight to Atlanta.  We boarded the flight home and I slept for quite a bit.  We arrived in Atlanta and got through customs with no problems at all.  I can’t say the same thing for Harry and Kathy.  They got pulled out of line and had of all their baggage hand searched.  We waited for them for quite a while and then went on to our gate.  We stopped and had a bloody mary while we waited to leave for home.  Harry and Kathy finally showed up a few minutes before they started boarding the plane.  We arrived in Denver around 7:30 p.m., got our luggage and headed home.  Harry and Kathy met with another blip, as one of their bags didn’t arrive in Denver so they had to stick around the airport and put in a claim.  They have had a rough day.

            We finally got home around 10 p.m.  It always feels so nice to walk through the door, see the cats and know you’re home for a while.  We unpacked, started laundry, ordered a pizza and started to settle back into the routine of being home.

            It was a really fun trip and we very much enjoyed traveling with Harry and Kathy.  We hope to do it again very soon.

Please send any questions or comments about this site to the webmaster at lloyd@vickery.com.