The weather in the Rhone valley continues to border on marvellous. Blue skies with the occasional wispy clouds in the morning, larger pillowy clouds drifting in during the afternoon and early evening. As with each port, there are a number of excursions available; from Tournon sur Rhone there are three trips available. Don & Ann chose the nine hour optional excursion to the Ardeche. They are gone the entire day. The ship departs Tournon sur Rhone after lunch, so they will be picked up at a stop at Pouzin. The rest of the group takes the two and one-half hour steam train up the Doux River gorge to Colombier-le-Vieux village. This is a very steep narrow gauge rail line that makes two runs a day, morning and afternoon. Although there is a winding road up to the village of 600 people, the steam train serves tourists. An engaging trip with scenery that is breathtaking. The forested hillsides are covered with acacia trees, and the hilltops feature chestnut trees, which are harvested for their nuts; then made into spread, butter, liqueur, and nuts for roasting.
The train returns shortly after noon and we take the coach back to the Viking Heimdal for the noon meal and a relaxing afternoon. The ship casts off at 1:00 PM for the next port - Viviers. There is an evening shore excursion walk into the town of Viviers. this is one of the best preserved medieval towns in southern France. It serves as the administrative and religious capital of Vivarais and is situated on a hill overlooking the river. It features narrow, winding cobblestone streets. In the center of Old Town sits St. Vincent Cathedral, the smallest active cathedral in France.
The cathedral is a blend of Romanesque style, its tower dates back to the previous century. In the 16th century, Bishop Claude de Tournon led the construction of the flamboyant Gothic apse.
The town of Viviers was founded in the 5th century. the former Roman settlement became the bishop’s seat and conflicts during the ensuing centuries required the town to be fortified. During the renaissance ca more stable period of wealth allowed many new houses to be built. some buildings date back to the Middle Ages, and time seems to stand still along the cobblestone streets of the Old Town.
Dinner this evening featured Quiche Lorraine as a starter, Potage Garbare, a soup of mixed vegetables, potato and croutons, and a main course of Marinated Rack of Lamb. Dessert was a Layered Coconut Mango Cake or a Creme Brulee. Outstanding as usual. Following dinner most of the team headed to the Viviers Walk and others stayed behind, retiring to their staterooms.
The ship sailed over night and arrived in the early morning in Arles, of Vincent Van Gogh fame. Morning featured a walking tour of Arles, including to the hospital and the Café de Nuit, of the famous painting. Many of his paintings are displayed in the Old Arles Hospital, now renamed the L’Espace de Van Gogh.
Arles is also home to Les Arenes Amphitheater, a roman era structure, part of a UNESCO World heritage site. the arena was built in the 1st Century to seat 21,000 people. Wild beasts old be run into the center of the arena to battle gladiators. there were also chariot races and hand-to-hand battles of gladiators. It is now primarily a venue for the traditional spectacle of corridors, bullfights. This less bloodthirsty form of local bullfighting is called Course Carmarguaise, in which the bull is not killed.
In the afternoon, most of the members took an optional excursion to Les Baux & Carrier es de Lumieres. Les Baux is a small village located in the Alpiles mountains northeast of Arles. It sits atop a rocky outcrop that is crowned with a ruined castle. From the village name the word bauxite was coined for the aluminum ore when first discovered there by geologist Pierre Berthier in 1821. The village has over 1.5 million visitors per year, although it has only about 20 residents in the upper part of the commune and 315 for the whole commune.
The Carrier es les Lumieres is a light show projected on the walls of the old quarry. Beautiful colors and images of the impressionist and post-impressionist painters famous to the region of Provence. If you look closely at the photo below, you will see Ann & Don Hosford n the bottom of the photo.
