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| A dog sniffs out truffles at Ayme Truffle Farm in Grignan, France. (Photos by Nicholas Kouros) |
A 25th anniversary calls for more than a celebration; it calls for a special trip! What better way to celebrate than to float gently down the Rhone river in France on a “luxury barge,” treated to gourmet breakfasts, lunches, and dinners tailored to your preferences, accompanied by an endless stream of fine wines, in between numerous daily excursions no more strenuous than a stroll through a storybook village?
Afloat in France, now run by Orient Express, operates a small flotilla of luxury barges that cruise along the waterways of southern France. We chose the Napoleon, which cruises the Valleys of the Rhone between Arles and Tain l’Hermitage, a region full of sophisticated architecture dating back to the Roman civilization and the ruins of fortifications, arenas, and aqueducts. Endless vistas of tiled roofs, lavender fields, and olive groves are all synonymous with this region.
Here’s a daily review of what we experienced:
We decided to take the TGV train (first-class seating courtesy of Orient Express) to Avignon a day before the trip began so we could adjust to the time, get our bearings, and not scramble to make a boat departure after getting off a plane. With several hours to kill before the train arrived, we wandered into a number of coffee shops, but grew weary of the panhandlers who were not shy about approaching us at our table. We decided to “go upscale” at the Belle Epoque restaurant LeTrain Bleu. Weary, but comfortable, we enjoyed a long lunch before having to catch the train.
The TGV was an exciting beginning to the trip. My marriage partner, John, slept (seating is very comfortable) while I watched the countryside unfold and fly by. After a refreshing nap at the elegant Hotel D’Europe in Avignon, we explored the town, finding it bursting with energy on a Saturday afternoon. The next day, it was deserted, as if all life had simply vanished. That’s Sunday in France.
We walked to one of only three restaurants that were open, and got the last remaining table. The small, but elegant dining room was filled with stylishly dressed locals speaking in whispers, but after awhile the food and wine took effect, and the room was filled with excited chatter and laughter.
That afternoon, we met the group we were to travel with, and an Afloat in France guide drove us to Vallabrègues, where we boarded the Napoleon for our cruise along the Rhône. A champagne reception gave us a chance to meet the crew and discuss food preferences with the chef. (He would go on to prepare a daily lunch and dinner menu, posted in the salon for our consideration, and make any requested adjustments.)
A late afternoon cruise to Arles was our first taste of Rhône River cruising. After dinner, we took a chilly, but brief walking tour of Arles, which is famous for its Roman ruins (lighted for night viewing) and is also where Van Gogh spent much of 1888 and 1889 painting.
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| Trees in St. Remy are pruned of all new growth to keep them as they were centuries ago. |
Beginning with a stroll through a small section of St. Remy, the first thing we noticed was several crews of workers cutting all visible foliage from the rows of plane trees lining all the main streets. Napoleon had these trees planted so that French soldiers would always have shade while they patrolled the town. The annual pruning of the trees cuts off all new growth, keeping the trees as they were centuries ago. It was a strange thing to see.
We walked on to visit the asylum where Vincent Van Gogh was cared for. It is a beautiful sanctuary, and still a working mental institution.
Next we visited an 18th-century Provencal bastide (Domain Le Grand Servan) in St. Remy to tour a beautiful estate, boasting 16,000 olive trees (eight types from Provence). We learned about growing the trees and harvesting the olives. These trees are given the best soil (not a common practice for olive trees), which results in exceptional-tasting olives. The eight varieties are pressed traditionally using a millstone, and blended in a manner that produces a uniform product year after year.
In the estate’s country house, we had an olive oil tasting. We decided not to risk packing a bottle of the oil in our luggage, but to order some from home instead, which we found we could do on the website www.grandservan.com.
We went back to the Napoleon for lunch and to relax during the afternoon cruise to Avignon and watch the scenery of the Rhône Valley drift by. We cruised past Le Pont St. Bénézet (the famous Pont d’Avignon) before taking a mooring at the quay facing the gate to the walled city of Avignon. A visit to the Pont du Gard is a wonderful way to walk off lunch and to learn about a part of the Roman aqueduct that transported spring water from Uzès to Nîmes.
A walking tour introduced us to the city of Avignon, home of the popes from 1309 to 1377. A guided tour of the Palace of the Popes was most interesting, and was followed by some time at our leisure. Shopping! The city is filled with an eclectic mix of shops, from the ordinary to extraordinary.
We returned to the barge, where lunch awaited, and then took an afternoon cruise. We visited Chateau La Nerthe (summer home of the popes from Avignon) in the famous Châteauneuf du Pape region for a tour of the winery and a wine tasting. This producer had created his own bottle seal (versus the crossed keys usually embossed on the bottle) to distinguish his product from the others.
We continued our cruise to the small village of St. Etienne des Sorts.
Led by a guide, we took a tour of Orange, an important Roman city dating back to 100 B.C. The historic town contains two of the finest Roman monuments in Europe. One, the Roman Theatre of Orange, is the best-preserved Roman theatre in the western world (designated a World Heritage Site) and was built under Emperor Augustus in the first century A.D. That afternoon we passed through the lock of Bollene, one of the largest locks in Europe, with a drop of 23 meters. There was time for a leisurely stroll around this charming medieval town.
We passed through several locks on this trip. The Rhone is actually the most treacherous river in France to navigate due to very unpredictable currents. Therefore, many canals were cut to bypass the most difficult sections of the river.
On this day we visited the typical Provençal village of Nyons, set up high in the hills, to visit a working lavender distillery and tour an ancient olive mill. At the Distillery Bleu Provence, the air was filled with the scent of lavender, and we learned about (and saw) the traditional method of essential oil extraction through steam. We also learned to distinguish true lavender from its hybrids, which the French call “flavender”—fake lavender.
We ate lunch in the picture-perfect village of Grignan, which was filled with small alleyways, wild roses, and a medieval chateau at the top of the town. The chateau had been destroyed in the revolution, but has been restored. The view from its perch was spectacular.
Later in the afternoon, we visited the Ayme Truffle Farm in Grignan to learn about the “black diamond,” and taste this expensive and unusual underground mushroom. It was interesting to watch dogs sniff out the truffles and reluctantly cooperate in giving them up (the reason pigs are no longer used). In the farmhouse we tasted shavings of young truffles served on slices of bread dipped in olive oil, while the farm’s owner explained the varying qualities and how prices are set in the different seasons. After buying tiny bottles of black truffle oil, we rejoined the boat at La Pouzin to continue the cruise to La Volte.
In the morning, the chef took us to a traditional French market in La Voulte to purchase vegetables for dinner. After a leisurely lunch on board, I took a walk around the town, and discovered my favorite rugby calendar in a little store. (The female staff on board really enjoyed reviewing that with me.)
During this part of the cruise, the river valley was flanked by the vineyards of the Côte du Rhône and had a different perspective.
After mooring in Tain, we were escorted to a winery on a hilltop overlooking the Hermitage appellation. We learned about this region’s special soil and growing techniques, and tasted its heavenly output. After the private tour and final wine tasting, we returned to prepare for our farewell gala dinner on board. Because it was our anniversary, the table was set very beautifully, with lots of candles, flowers, and creative settings.
The next morning, we were taken by Afloat in France staff to Valence Station to board the TGV to Paris. There we said farewell to our travel companions, and took a cab to the Latin Quarter for a five-day stay in Paris.
You can book a luxury barge cruise through Orient Express or directly through Afloat in France (www.afloatinfrance.com). We went through Coda Tours International, which books small luxury tours for gay men (at no additional cost). Some of the barges are quite small (four to six passengers) and, therefore, are available only by charter to a single group. Ours was the largest barge, accommodating up to 12 passengers in six cabins.