Where We Have A Very Long Day On The Bus And FINALLY Board Our Ship (Hallelujah!)
The morning was a bit of a scramble, because we had to bring our own bags down to the lobby to hand them off to Viking staff, so they can go on the truck to Avignon. The elevators were jammed – we were lucky, because we came down from the 7th floor relatively easily, but we had to bypass people on lower floors. Apparently people on lower floors eventually figured out the trick – take an elevator going up in order to come down, resulting in the higher floors seeing full cars. It’s been obvious since we arrived that this hotel, though called a “conference center”, isn’t really prepared to deal with large numbers of people all at once.
I can only imagine the work the Viking crew has been putting in to create an experience that at least vaguely resembles what we were supposed to have. If we had been on board the ship in Lyon, we would have sailed over night to <somewhere I’ve already forgotten where>, where the default/included/freebie excursion was a visit to the Beaujolais wine country for wine tasting. This is not something we would have normally picked voluntarily, since neither of us are big wine drinkers. BUT there was no choice – the buses were picking us up at 8:30 a.m., and we ALL going to Beaujolais for wine tasting.
Our tour guide was obviously a wine expert – she rattled off the terminology quite naturally. It’s all Martian to me.
One of the few things I remember our guide saying was the description of the still-dormant vines – these were “goblet” style vines. Very traditional.
Her very detailed explanation went right over my head. After a few minutes, I toddled back to a spot where I knew there was a bench and listened to her talk via the “QuietVox” devices provided by Viking. I was joined on the bench by a couple of other people who were more interested in relaxing in the sun than wine grape cultivation.
The rest of the group soon came towards us, long enough for the guide to let us know they were going down into the basement to see the casks – 15 steps down, 20 steps back up. Nope, no thank you. I’ll stay here in the sun.
After the group came up from the wine cellar, it was time for the actual wine tasting. We all took seats in a large room filled with concrete vats filled with fermenting (?) wine. We tasted 4 wines – one white, 3 reds. Apparently 95% of the wines produced in Beaujolais are reds. Once again, the explanation went right over my head.
We were given glasses and small samples of each wine, dumping out the remainder of the previous sample (if there was any), and adding a bit of the next one. We were also provided bread. Of the four, I liked the white wine the best, which is unusual. Even though I only took tiny sips, by the fourth wine I could feel the alcohol starting to upset my stomach (which is what alcohol has always done to my stomach, which is one of the many reasons why I drink virtually no alcohol).
That was the end of the excursion. It would be a 2 hour drive to lunch, so many people took advantage of the bathroom before climbing back onto the bus.
It was very difficult to stay awake during the drive, so I didn’t bother to fight it.
We stopped at this beautiful venue – the Chateau de Fontager. Exactly where this was located, I couldn’t tell you. It was a huge mansion that had been converted into a hotel. This venue could easily mange a couple hundred people for lunch.
Unfortunately the food wasn’t very good – the chronic problem with feeding massive numbers of people: the food is bland and/or overcooked. After a couple of days of “chicken breast in cheese sauce” or “chicken breast in mushroom sauce {with cheese lurking somewhere}”, it was getting tiresome. BUT the dessert was great!
Another couple of hours on the bus to go – but a different bus, bus driver, and no tour guide. Our original bus and tour guide headed back to Lyon.
Another couple of hours on the road to Avignon…lots of farms to see along the way, including cherry tree orchards. I couldn’t get a good photo of one – the trees were all maybe 5 ft tall to make it easy to pick the cherries.
We also saw this interesting formation:
We arrived at the ship right around 5:00. During lunch we had all checked our Apple AirTags and saw that our luggage was already in Avignon. The Viking Buri crew had already distributed our luggage to the rooms. Several Viking longships were stacked up side-by-side (no surprise, because none of them could go anywhere), so we had to walk through one Viking ship to get to our ship. YAY ON OUR SHIP AT LAST YAY!
Before dinner, we were introduced to the crew. Our program director, Lisette, explained what the plan is for tomorrow (Wednesday): we sail (YAY) at 9:00 a.m. to Chateauneuf-du-Pape, where we will dock. At 2:00 p.m. we will board buses to take us Viviers, where we will have our previously scheduled city walk AND also now a home visit. Apparently bathroom breaks will be tricky, so one has been built into the drive for just before we arrive in Viviers, and then also during the home visit. I’m very pleased that they worked hard to build in the bathroom visits. Too many times I’ve been on excursions where breaks were an after-thought.
Another bit of good news – Lisette announced up front about the “leisure” version of the walk. In the past it had not been announced to everybody – news of it spread by word of mouth. Which makes zero sense. Anyway, Susie, Janet, and I are now all signed up for the “leisure” versions, freeing Andy to go on the regular version and walk at a normal human pace.
Then it was time for dinner – the crew was ever so excited to see us! We could just imagine how bored they must have been, once the previous cruisers had left and before we arrived. We all had something that was NOT “chicken with cheese sauce”.
Tomorrow: a leisurely morning, and a walk in the medieval town of Viviers.
Maryland Meshugas 