Lyon & Provence Cruise on the Viking Delling

3/26/2024 to 4/6/2024

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Page 1 – Embarkation, Ship, Cabin, Entertainment, Activities; Ports of Call: Avignon, Arles
Page 2 – Ports of Call: Avignon, Vivieres
Page 3 - Ports of Call: Tourmon, Lyon - Day 1
Page 4 - Ports of Call: Lyon - Day 2, Paris Extension Day 1 & Day 2
Page 5 - Ports of Call: Paris Extension Day 2 (Continued) & Day 3-4

Day 7 - Lyon Day 2

After overnighting in Lyon, we had another full touring day planned. We booked two excursions that would take up much of the day. After seeing how much there was to see and do in Lyon, I wish that we had cancelled the morning tour, so we could explore the town on our own.

The first tour, Beaujolais Wind Country, was an included tour. It ran from 8:45 AM until 1:00 PM. As we left the ship for the tour, we were thrilled to see a beautiful clear day. It made the view across the Rhone look even prettier.

We had another great guide for this tour, Perrine.

As we headed to wine country I had a different view of the Museum of Confluences behind a bridge. When I saw it from the river, I couldn’t see the unusual swirl in the roof.

As we did the previous day on our panoramic tour, we were going through a tunnel to get to the other side of the river. This time I was able to get a photo of the unusual structure above it.

As we approached the tunnel, gates came down and Perrine groaned. She said that this happens if the sensors determine that there is a vehicle that is too tall to go through the tunnel. She said it could take a while. After about 15 minutes, some orange vested workers came up the road with a tall measuring device. They were heading behind us to verify if the sensed vehicle actually was too tall. About 5 minutes later the gates rose and we were on our way. That was our second unplanned delay after the steam train turnaround. We hoped it would be the last.

We would stop after driving an hour for a restroom/sightseeing break in the town of Beaujeu. On the way there we passed by a large concrete statue of two dancers. She was holding up some grapes above their heads.

When we arrived, Perrine told us where the restrooms were, as well as where to get drinks. She told us that we might also want to see the local church.

The church’s exterior was being renovated.

I was pleasantly surprised that the interior was quite pretty, even with renovation work being done on the ceiling.

After leaving the church, I went back to where the bus was waiting for us. Nearby was a gazebo with the statue of Bacchus, the god of wine. Most appropriate for the region.

Cathy noticed an interesting looking bar that appeared to be in a cave based on the sign. We didn’t have a lot of time before we were supposed to board the bus, but we couldn’t pass it up. We were glad we didn’t. It was very cool! There was a relief of Bacchus over the entrance.

It was quite an inviting wine bar.

As we left, we told others waiting for the bus to check it out. Most did. We then left for the winery where we would taste some Beaujolais wine. It was only about a fifteen-minute drive, and we saw some beautiful scenery through the bus windows.

We could see the Chateau du Varennes winery in the distance as we got closer.

When we arrived, the owner of the winery met us outside the gate. Perrine interpreted for us, since he didn’t speak English. He told us about his family’s history with the winery.

Upon entering the grounds, we got a nice view of the large chateau.

He then talked about the different types of wines they produce as we looked at some barrels and a storage area.

There was an old grape masher in one corner of the yard.

We then walked into the building where he showed us the current equipment they use. He talked about the barrels and vats they use and how long the wines needed to age.

We moved to a stone room with vaulted ceilings where we would get to taste four of his wines.

Unlike the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine tasting we had in Avignon, we sat around in a circle while the owner poured each wine in the glass he handed us. After each wine he would walk around with a basket of bread chunks to eat between tastings. These wines were OK, but after the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine, they didn’t impress. Of course, where these wines were priced between 12-18 Euros per bottle, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape wine was priced at 30-70 Euros per bottle. Not many bottles of Beaujolais were purchased that day. Quite a few were in the Avignon tasting. It was a much more professional tasting and accordingly they sold more wine.

After the tasting we were given some free time to walk around the grounds and enjoy the scenery. It was a beautiful place.

We got back to the Delling at around 1:00 PM as planned. With the next tour beginning at 2:15 PM, it would be difficult to have a full lunch. Rafael told us that the wait staff was aware that people were on the optional tour and would need to eat faster than others. We told our waiters we were on the tour, but we were served at the same pace as everyone else. We probably just should have gone to the Aquavit Terrace for a lighter lunch. It would have been much faster. We were able to finish lunch on time by skipping dessert. Probably a good thing. We didn’t need more calories.

The optional afternoon tour we booked was Taste of Lyon, a walking food tour from 2:15 PM until 5:45 PM. We had a wonderful guide named Megane.

Rafael told us at the previous day’s tour talk that the tour would not spoil our desire for dinner, since they would just have small tastings. We were looking forward to this tour since Lyon is known as the gastronomy capital of France. Megane said that there was one restaurant for every 300 residents of Lyon. As we began our walk, the sunny day made for some beautiful views of lovely Lyon.

On top of one of the metal posts was the national symbol of France, the rooster. We saw many of these during the cruise.

As we were walking to our first tasting, we were enjoying the sightseeing, since we were in a different area of the old town than we saw on the previous day's tour. This made me feel better, since I was still disappointed that we did the Beaujolais wine tasting tour instead of just enjoying Lyon.

Our first stop was at Louis Simart Artisan Chocolatier. We knew immediately what we would be tasting before entering the shop. In addition to being an excellent cook, he was an artist with the beautiful items he created. It is also a very popular store. People were entering while we were taking up most of the space in the small shop.

He told us about how he makes his chocolate and some of his special creations. We had four samples of different items. They were all outstanding. Many on our tour came out of the shop with full bags of goodies.

Our next stop was to Café de la Mairie.

We had samples of three types of meats along with some wine. She told us about the different meats as we tried each one. The meats were all delicious and the wine most enjoyable.

We continued our walk seeing more areas of Lyon we hadn’t previously seen. We were enjoying this tour.

Our next tasting was at La Planche à Parteger. Translated it is The Board to Share.

This was basically a sweet shop. The proprietor was a very nice fellow. We started off with a delicious type of apple juice.

He told us about the places name. He wanted it to be a place where people came to be with others and share the foods he prepares. We certainly enjoyed the four items he provided us to taste.

We continued enjoying walking by the beautiful old buildings. We were so glad we were doing an outside tour in the beautiful weather.

Our last tasting would be at Fromagerie de la Charite or the Charite Cheese Factory. Now this was my kind of place! Both Cathy and I love cheese.

They had so many different types of cheese.

The proprietor set us up with some nice white wine and three different cheeses. He told us the order to eat them so we would enjoy them fully. We certainly did enjoy them. I could have spent the rest of the day there tasting different cheeses.

On the way back to the ship, I was finally able to get an unobstructed photo of the Delling with the sun shining directly on it as we walked over the bridge. I had been trying for days to get a good shot for the review’s front page and was finally able to get one.

At the end of the bridge was the beautiful Lyon University building.

We returned to the ship for our last evening on board. Seven-day cruises are just too short. As soon as you get familiar with ship and crew, you are having your farewell toast. We also met some lovely people that we would miss.

Paris – Day 1

We woke up to a beautiful view across the Rhone. A great way to end a river cruise.

After seven very enjoyable days on the Delling, it was time to disembark for our 3-night Paris extension. We were lucky that we weren’t flying home on an early flight since some people were leaving the ship at 3:00 AM to get to Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport. We only had to leave the ship for the train station at 8:45 AM. We were able to get a full night’s sleep for our travel day.

Our bullet train to Paris was at 9:50 AM with an expected arrival at 12:08 PM. This would work out perfectly for our afternoon plans to visit Saint-Chapelle Church at 3:00 PM. I purchased the tickets a couple weeks earlier to be sure we could see this gorgeous church that I previously visited in 2011. I was looking forward to Cathy getting to see it. When we got to the train station, we had to wait in an area that didn’t have much seating. Our Viking rep said that they would announce the track we would leave from about a half hour before it would leave. It wasn’t showing on the board when it was supposed to. The 25 people from the ship that were going on the extension walked to the track entrance with the Viking rep to wait for the announcement. Still no announcement. The rep finally went to find out what the problem was. Someone left a bag on the train, and security had to clear it before we could board.

We waited almost an hour with no news. We saw security people with machine guns go down to the train and were told that they had bomb sniffing dogs and robots to check out the bag. We originally planned to have lunch in Paris before visiting the church, but we wouldn’t have time to now, so we bought a couple sandwiches to eat on the train when we did board. Since there was no place to sit near the track entrance, everyone went back to the waiting area. With very few chairs in the area, all of us would not be able to sit down. We were lucky to find a couple seats when somone got up to go to their train.

Finally, at 11:30 AM we were told we could board. We went down the escalator to find our car.

I tried to get a photo of the train’s front car as they sped through the terminal. This was the best I could do. Even though they slow down at the station, they are still moving fast.

The train cars were very comfortable with plenty of leg room.

Once on the train, we had another delay and didn’t leave for Paris until almost noon, two hours late. It took another hour to get to the hotel since we had to get the luggage from the train to the bus. We missed our opportunity to go to Saint-Chapelle, since tickets were sold out for all three days we were in Paris.

The hotel Viking put us in was the Pullman Paris Montparnasse. It is a very attractive 32 floor, 957 room hotel.

Upon entering the hotel lobby, we went up an escalator to the check-in floor. The yarn artwork on the walls was very attractive.

Once on the main floor there was a very colorful display in the middle of it.

We met our Viking contact, Danny, in front of her office. She passed out our room keys along with an information packet. She told us that she would do a short orientation tour of the area at 5:00 PM for those that were interested. We were and planned on doing it.

Danny told us how to use the elevators, since most had never used a system like they have. The hotel has a bank of eight elevators, four on each side. When you touch the card to the wall panel, it shows your floor and the letter of the elevator that will take you there. It is very slick. When you get on the elevator it takes the passengers to whatever floor they are on. This prevents people from hitting the wrong buttons and slowing down the process. It also provided very quick service.

When we got to the room, it was quite a modern design. We were pleased that we had a king size bed. The only chair in the room was at the desk. I suppose that the yellow bench next to the desk could have been used for a chair, but since the room only had two small drawers in the closet, it had to be used for my suitcase, where I kept items that would normally be in drawers.

Below is the closet with a narrow short hanging space, two small drawers and a small shelf above the closet. Just not adequate for many couples.

The bathroom was a nice size. We found it most unusual that there was no door between the hallway and the shower. This would not be a good hotel if you were traveling with kids. I also don’t like the showers that are open allowing water to get on the floor.

There was a door in the commode room, thank goodness.

Being on the 24th floor, we had a great view of the city. However, the direction we were facing didn’t have anything famous to look out upon.

At 5:00 PM, we went to the Viking area where Danny was waiting to give us the orientation tour. Close to our hotel was the 59 story Montparnasse Tower. It is the only skyscraper in Paris and probably always will be. The people hate it and think it takes away from the beauty of the city. Parisians say that the tower has the prettiest view in Paris. Not because you can see the Eiffel Tower from it, but because it is the only place in the city that you don’t see the tower itself. It is out of place, but the views are amazing from it.

The main purpose of her tour was to show us where we could find some decent restaurants, shops and ATMs in the area. One restaurant with the canopy covered with flowers caught our eyes.

After she completed the tour, we decided to stay in the area and find a restaurant for dinner. Using Google maps, I found a highly rated one close by, Le Plomb de Cantal. The building itself was very appealing.

The interior was very nice too.

The waiter directed us to a table that we thought was the best in the house. It is in the corner right in front of the restaurant that used to be the restaurant's entrance. It had a lovely view onto the street. The flower covered restaurant we saw earlier was just across the street.

In reading reviews about the restaurant, everyone raved about their aligot and garlic mashed potatoes. They also said that the portions are way too large. Cathy and I both wanted the stuffed cabbage, so Cathy got the aligot potatoes and I ordered the garlic mashed ones. Both were outstanding.

We normally don’t have dessert at home, but when on vacation if there is something that looks very tasty, we will order it. The French apple pie à la mode looked too good to pass up. Glad we chose it.

Our Paris adventure had started, and we were looking forward to the next two full days to experience more of it.

Paris – Day 2

This morning, we had the only included tour for our 3-day Paris extension, Panoramic Paris. We would ride around in a bus from 9:00-12:30, with a couple of stops. Up until now we had been very lucky with the weather other than the morning drenching in Viviers. Unfortunately, we had a light rain forecast for the morning and the forecast was correct. A panoramic bus tour in the rain can be a real downer. We hoped the rain would let up sooner than later.

We met our guide, Kaoru, for the tour. She was very good at her job and did all she could to make a rainy tour as enjoyable as possible.

We could sort of see the things she was pointing out, but the wet windows made it impossible to take any photos. Below is what the beautiful streets of Paris look like in the rain from a bus.

When we got close to the Eiffel Tower, we were able to get off the bus to take photos. Thank goodness for umbrellas.

Karou offered to take our photo. How could we resist, so we put down our umbrellas for the photo.

Later in the drive, the rain did slow down. It allowed the windows to dry some so I was able to take some shots of the Arc de Triomphe or Arch of Victory. This was the only one that was acceptable to post, even though there is some window reflection. Napoleon commissioned the arch in 1806 after a battle he won. It was completed 30 years later, 15 years after Napoleon’s death.

Our next stop was to be at Notre Dame. The bus was stopped prior to entering the island it sits on. This allowed us to see the beautiful Paris City Hall. It is getting ready for the July Olympics. Everywhere we went work is being done to make the city ready. Everything probably won’t be totally finished, but it should be quite an Olympics to watch. I don’t how the city will be able to handle all the people that will be coming to town in July. The traffic is miserable now and the airport is already overloaded.

As we crossed the bridge to the island, we had a nice view along the Seine.

We then came up to the side of Notre Dame. It is an imposing structure. The cathedral’s beauty still shows through all the construction activity.

Stands were set up in front to allow you to get photos over the barriers.

I took some more photos of Notre Dame from different locations before Karou gave us some free time before returning to the hotel.

We decide to go to the café in the beautiful building across from Notre Dame, Café Paris, for some coffee.

It was a cute French restaurant with plants growing from the ceiling. That was different, but the rest was more traditional.

The menu had a French Coffee that is made with calvados, a French brandy made from apples. When it came to the table it looked incredible. When we drank some, it was love at first sip. So good! It was a great way to spend some free time.

Even though there aren’t many photos from the tour, we did see most of the famous attractions in Paris. On our return, the rain stopped, and the sun was shining, so I could take photos although challenging through a moving bus window. We saw so many beautiful buildings and structures. I just love visiting Paris.

We saw copper coated tower in the distance. I didn’t know what it was, but it was quite pretty.

We drove by the Pantheon that I visited in 2011. It is a beautiful building inside and out.

We finished the tour at 12:30 PM as planned. After dropping off our umbrellas and heavier coats, we headed out to lunch. We didn’t want to eat too much since we had reservations for a very special dinner at 7:00 PM. One thing that Cathy wanted to eat while in France was a butter and granulated sugar crepe. It is something that her mother had in Paris and raved about to Cathy. During the previous day’s orientation tour, Danny pointed out a creperie to the group that she said was very good and popular. So that is where we first headed to. I had to stop to take a photo of Theatre Montparnasse. Just a gorgeous façade.

We found the Creperie de Quimper that Danny recommended. We sat outside as should be done, when possible, in Paris. Cathy ordered hers and I ordered my favorite Nutella and banana. They were quite delicious as we hoped they would be.

Our plan for the rest of the afternoon was to walk to Luxembourg Gardens and then to the Saint-Sulpice Church close by. The walk there was most enjoyable. When I saw the Notre-Dame des Champs Church, I walked over to check out the inside. It was closed. That was OK since were already on a different mission.

We continued the walk appreciating the French architecture.

After the 20-minute walk, we reached Luxembourg Gardens. The first part is mostly in a wide-open area, although there were trees on the side.

As we approached the main area, there were lots of beautiful flowers.

We could see the Pantheon behind the octagonal Grand Bassin where people sail model sailboats. It is fun to watch. The whole area is such a pleasure to spend time in. It is a very popular park.

The highlight of the park is the gorgeous Luxembourg Palace that is behind the Grand Bassin.

We sat down on some lawn chairs for a while to rest after our walk. A perfect place sit and take in all the beauty.

As we were walking toward the garden exit, we saw the statue of a Greek actor with the Pantheon in the background. Too lovely!

Continuing, we came to the lovely Medici Fountain that was built in 1630.

There are 102 statues in the Luxembourg Garden. There are all sorts. The blooming red bud trees were also a pleasure to see.

After a 10-minute walk we came to the back side of the Saint-Sulpice Church.

It is the third largest church in Paris. The original church was constructed in the the 3rd century. There have been many additions, and the current one was completed in 1646 AD. The church is well known due to its inclusion in the Dan Brown book the DaVinci Code and the following movie. Some of the scenes were filmed there. It is also just a beautiful church. The exterior is quite stunning with its twin towers and many columns.

I was lucky to be there when the sun was shining on the front of the church and its large fountain.

The fountain has 17th century religious figures on each side.

As expected, the interior is beautiful with so much to look at.

There are so many beautiful statues throughout the church.

The Pieta statue with angels on each corner was an amazing work.

Inside the entrance are the two halves of an enormous shell that was given to King Francis I by the Venetian Republic. They are used for holy water. Other sea life creatures are on the bases.

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting this church. I wanted to go the last time I was in Paris but didn’t have the time. When we were finished enjoying the church, we went outside and called for an Uber. We were tired and ready to get back to the hotel to get ready for the evening’s big event. I have used the Paris Metro in the past and gotten around town very easily, but we decided to use the Uber when we needed a ride on this short visit. Every time we used it the charge was only 13€.