After a lovely breakfast at the hotel, we boarded our bus for a drive around the international sector of Geneva. Our hotel was right on the shore of Lake Leman and we could see a little of the lake from our room.

View of Lake Leman from our hotel

The President Hotel

Our only stop in the international area was at the United Nations Building and the Broken Chair Monument. The UN building was originally the home of the League of Nations formed after World War I. Unfortunately, the League of Nations was not successful in preventing the arms race that lead up to World War II. The Borken Chair was constructed as a protest against anti-personnel weapons like land mines and cluster bombs that often remained after a conflict was concluded and continued to injure non-combatants.

UN Sign

UN Headquarters in Geneva

Broken Chair Monument

After taking pictures at the Broken Chair, we walked in the park next to the UN Headquarters to see some of the sculpture and the Ariana Museum in this park. This museum houses a very large collection of glass and ceramic items.

Ariana Museum

After we left the park, it was back on the bus for a trip to the Old Town of Geneva. While in the Old Town, we learned about the link between Geneva and Calvinism, a reformation religion. John Calvin preached reformation in Geneva and in typical Swiss fashion, there was a referendum and the City adopted Calvinism. While all the Catholic churches were converted to protestant churches, many uncharacteristically kept their saint’s name.

Flags outside City Hall, the Swiss love flags.

Oldest house in Geneva

St. Peter’s Church, a protestant church

After our walking tour of the Old Town section, we got back on the bus to drive to Montreux, a charming town on the shore at the east end of Lake Leman. There we enjoyed some free time and had lunch overlooking the lake. The view of the Alps from the town over the lake was amazing.

View of Alps and Prealps over Lake Leman from Montreux

After lunch we got back on the bus for the short drive to Chillon Castle at the east end of the lake. The castle started as a tower constructed by the House of Savoy to impose tolls on travelers and grew over time. The location is strategic because of the mountains and lake. Travelers going from France or Germany south to Italy must pass by the castle. It was captured by the Swiss in the 16th century, first by the German Swiss from Bern and later by the local French speaking Swiss. We had a tour of the interior of the castle and its many rooms.

Castle Chillon

Interior of Castle Chillon

Linda at Castle Chillon

After the visit we drove back to Geneva and walked along to shore of Lake Lemon to a very nice local restaurant of a quiet dinner alone. Tomorrow is our last day and we are visiting the French town of Annecy.

It was time to say good-bye to the AMACello and go on to Geneva. But first we took a last picture from our cabin of Saint-Jean-de-Losne and the Saone River.

One last view from our cabin

Identified our luggage and boarded our bus to take us to Geneva, Switzerland via Dijon, where we has a short tour of the old town area and time for lunch. We toured through the Duke’s Palace, saw the oldest house in Dijon, some picturesque medieval streets, the Notre Dame Church in Dijon and the Porte Guillaume arch. Had time for a nice lunch and for a little shopping.

Tower from the courtyard of the Duke’s Palace

Medieval street (early Christmas decorations!)

Linda walking toward Notre Dame in Dijon

Oldest House in Dijon

Cafe at Place Francois Rude

Porte Guillaume

After Touring Dijon, we got back on the bus for the trip to Geneva, Switzerland. The ride was pleasant and the scenery beautiful, except the traffic in Geneve delayed us getting to our hotel.

Mountains along the way to Geneva

Finally settled into our hotel and walked to a steakhouse to meet our friends for dinner. Tomorrow, we tour Geneva and Chillon Castle along the shore of Lake Leman, the proper name for what we think of as Lake Geneva.

After a nice breakfast, we got ready for our morning tour. It was to the town of Beaune where there is a museum in the ancient Hotel-Dieu or hospital. It was constructed in the 15th Century as a hospice for the poor sick and homeless, a very early example of Christian charity. The hospice owns a number of vineyards in the area and wine produced in the vineyards supports the hospice. The architecture was amazing. This is an example of a wife spending money to insure her husband makes it to heaven! The building had finishes more lavish than those owned by many nobles at the time. Apparently even though the nurses wore habits like nuns, they were trained lay people.

Inside courtyard of the Hotel-Dieu, note the design of the roof tiles.

Interior of the ward with reconstructed beds, note the privacy the bed’s design afforded the patients

Hotel-Dieu kitchen

Original altarpiece from the Hotel-Dieu

After we toured the Hospice, we has some free time and looked around the town center and also bought some local mustard and honey at the market, we do travel on our stomachs.

Center of Beaune and the local market

Took our tour bus back to Chalon. The large houses in Chalon along the Saone were quite amazing.

Large houses in Chalon next to the AMACello dock

Decided to stay onboard and skip the afternoon tour to a winery, I know it is hard to imagine that, but we wanted to see the scenery along the Saone as we sailed north to our last stop at Saint-Jean-de-Losne where we will leave our home for the past week. We did have a very nice final night dinner with friends we met on the cruise at the Chef’s Table Restaurant.

The AMACello stayed docked overnight in Macon. We decided to skip the morning tour and instead walked into Macon for a little sightseeing and shopping on our own. The docking location was very near the center of Macon so this was quite easy.

Macon Chamber of Commerce Building

Saint Pierre Church

After shopping, we stopped by a cafe for our morning cappuccino and headed back toward the ship along the riverfront.

Linda at the Macon sign

Saone River at Macon

Once aboard, we had lunch followed by a wine tasting and lecture. The wines on this cruise were spectacular and there was something for most everyone’s taste in wine. We also had an opportunity to visit the wheelhouse after we left Macon while cruising toward Chalon-sur-Saone. We learned about the navigation and how close to the low bridges we came as we entered the rain swollen Saone River.

Captain Adam (Yes he is very competent)

Swans on the very high Saone River

Sunset on the Saone

We arrived in Chalon-sur-Saone during an excellent dinner. The food has been wonderful and a great complement to the wine.

Tonight’s main course.

After we arrived at Chalon and docked, a local band came aboard to entertain us. The were great to listen to and a lot of people got up and danced. We stay overnight in Chalon.

Had a busy day today, but the weather was a bit rainy. Our first adventure was a trip to the ruins of Cluny Abbey. The ride to the abbey would have be truly spectacular if it were not raining. The vineyards were a beautiful golden color and the rain only muted this a little. We also drove past the fortress at Berze-le-Chatel. A remarkable fort perched high on a hill.

Burgundy Vineyards in fall

Fortress

When we got to Cluny, it was still raining, so it was umbrellas and rain jackets. Fortunately much of the tour was inside, but we still got a little wet. The most interesting thing was the monks built a huge church and complex in the middle of nowhere. Before the church itself was partially destroyed after the French Revolution, the church was the biggest in the world. The French used the site as a stone quarry and it took about 40 years to destroy much of the church. Fortunately, much of the transept, the top of the cross in most classic churches, was intact.

Cluny Tower and partial transept

Walking in the rain touring Cluny

Inside Cluny

One of the Cluny outbuildings

In the afternoon, we went to taste some Burgundy wine. First, burgundy wines are all either chardonnay or pinot noir. But based on where the grapes are grown, the wines made from the “same” grapes can taste very differently. We tasted three whites and one red. All were very good, but we liked the Pouilly-Fuisse best.

Wine chateau

Cellar

Us at the Chateau

Vineyards at the Chateau

After the wine tasting, we drove by the landmark Solutre-Pouilly. This is a formation that many people climb. Fortunately the rain stopped and we got out and took pictures.

Solutre-Pouilly

Then drove back to the ship through more beautiful wine fields. This was a busy day and tomorrow will be less busy.

The decision speed up and go directly to Trevoux turned out to be good one. We had just about 6 inches of clearance as we sailed under the low bridges.

Sailing on the Saone River toward Trevoux

This afternoon we left Trevoux to tour Vieux Lyon on a tasting tour. Vieux Lyon is the largest intact Renaissance district in the world. It has also be designated as a UNESCO site. The district has narrow streets and tall buildings as the citizens had to maximize the space between the Saone River and the hills next to the river.

Narrow street in the Vieux Lyon

Next we stopped by a Patisserie to buy a Brioche bread baked with red almond pralines. Very tasty!

Guide buying our first tasting treat

We then went through some of the passages that are unique to this district and into a courtyard to see one of the towers constructed to minimize space. The towers have a circular stairway that connects galleries to the individual units.

Stairway Tower

We then made our way to the next tasting spot. There were a selection of local sausages and cheese along with the lovely red pralines and some wonderful local red wine.

Second tasting

After having a snack, we walked by the oldest house in Vieux Lyon and then to the Gadagne House. The indoor courtyard at the Gadagne House was amazing.

Oldest house in Vieux Lyon

Courtyard at the Gadagne House

We then had a few minutes to buy a few souvenirs before getting on the bus to go back to the ship. Tomorrow we visit Cluny Abbey and do a Burgundy wine tasting.

We docked in the small village of Viviers on the Rhone. Our tour today was to a truffle farm. The ride out to the truffle farm through the countryside was very pretty. The first view was the Cathedral Saint Vincent perched high on the hill over looking Viviers. Also we learned the Viviers was not bombed by the Allies because the bridge over the Rhone had been blown up by the French Resistance a week before the bombing campaign to blow up all the bridges across the Rhone.

Viviers Cathedral

While at the truffle farm we learned about the different types of truffles, mostly based on the time of year they are found, as well as how truffle trees are cultivated. The farmer inoculates new oak tree saplings with truffle spores. It takes ten years for a truffle tree grove to mature to produce enough truffles to be economically viable. In the meantime, they plant rows of lavender between the trees to have a crop while waiting for the trees to mature. They also train dogs to locate the truffles which grow underground.

Truffle dogs in the truffle grove

Linda holding an Autumn Truffle

Truffle farmer holding found truffles

Truffle Farmhouse

View from the farm

Left the farm and went back to the ship. That afternoon, we learned that because the Saone River was rising, we were going to miss our next stop at Vienne and sail directly to Trevoux, a port not on our original itinerary north of Lyon.

Entering a lock

We are cruising as quickly as a we can northward. We will pass the low bridges in the early morning tomorrow.

After a night onboard the AmaCello, we did a walking tour of Arles. This city was an important city in Roman France. We toured around an number of locations that were important to Van Gough and also the Romans. One of the most amazing things was the Roman arena. Because the arena was converted to housing during the middle ages, this protected the arena structure from being used as a source of building material like other ancient structures. Now the arena is used for a variety of events including bull fights.

Roman Arena in Arles

Interior of the Arles Roman Arena

Arles has a variety of architecture including the Town Hall plaza, a Provencal Bistro and a decorative tower.

Arles Bistro

Arles Tower

Obelisk in Arles Town Hall Plaza

After the walking tour we decided to remain onboard as the AmaCello left Arles for Avignon. We had a very relaxing afternoon as we made our way north toward Avignon. After a wonderful dinner we left for Viviers. As we were leaving Avignon, we sailed past the famous Avignon Bridge. Many of the Avignon monuments were also lit and visible from the river.

Avignon Bridge at night

Papal Palace and other monuments in Avignon

Looking forward to our tour tomorrow, I will post more then.

Left Nice early to drive to Arles where we will board the ship. First we toured Aix-en-Provence, an old city. It was raining when we got to Aix, so it was difficult to take pictures as the cobblestones were slippery. We toured through the Cathedral Saint Savior. The cathedral was built over many years so it is a composite of many different architectural styles.

Aix Cathedral

After touring the cathedral we went to the Town Hall Square where we had time on our own to have lunch and shop.

Town Hall Tower

We had lunch in an Irish Pub where we had wonderful salads and great local wine. After lunch we walked around and did a little shopping. We found a great chocolate shop and an organic tea shop.

Got back on the bus and finally got to Arles and boarded the ship. The ship is very nice and we had wine at the welcome reception and decided to have dinner with a couple we met on the pre-tour. At dinner we were joined by 2 ladies we also met on the pre-tour. This looks like it will be a wonderful week.

Had a long day of touring today. It was a bus tour to Monaco via the mountain village of Eze. The drive to Eze was along the Middle Cliff Road to Monaco and the views were wonderful. There were scattered showers in the morning and it made the climb to Eze a little more difficult as the cobblestones were a bit slippery in the rain. Our tour guide pushed on to a higher view in Eze but we went back to a coffee shop and had cappuccinos. This turned out to be a great choice as we heard from those who pressed on with the tour that the ground got even slipperier.

View at Villefranche-Sur-Mer

Coffee Shop in Eze

View from Eze

Got back on the bus and continued to Monaco. We toured the gardens where there is a statue of Princess Grace and went through the Old City to the Prince’s Palace. The view of the harbor from the Palace area was amazing and you could see much of the circuit of the Grand Prix

Princess Grace Statue

Monaco Harbor

We then drove to the district of Monte Carlo where the famous Casino is located. While a few people from our group went in and gambled, we just went into the lobby for a photo opp.

Linda in the Lobby of the Casino.

We went from the casino to the famous Cafe-de-Paris and had coffee drinks before going back to the bus. We had a relaxing ride back on the Lower Cliff Road with a different view of the Sea from a lower vantage point. Tomorrow we drive to Aix-En-Provence and then on to Arles to board the ship for our cruise.