Rhone River Cruise and Visit to York - April 2019

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The Place Antonin Poncet with its bell tower The Rhone River at dawn in Lyon, France A flower tree sculpture Our hotel next to the Place Antonin Poncet and with Fourviere Hill in the background Bulldog and pups in our hotel lobby Hotel waiting area Linda's room Fourviere Hill St George Church and a footbridge over the Saone River An old Peugeot panel truck This door leads to a passageway between streets called a traboule St John the Baptist Cathedral Another traboule entrance The actual traboule passageway A side street packed with restaurants Candles of all different fragrances in jars Every color of soap imaginable The Temple du Change protestant church was originally a stock exchange from 1631 Courthouse The stones from this 4th century Roman monument were used in building the cathedral We begin a foodie tour at the Luminarium coffee house Pete and June on the foodie tour I almost finished the praline tart before remembering to take a picture There's a spiral staircase inside June window shops the gourmet bread and macarons Beef Street has a statue of cattle We next visit La Fabrique Givree for ice cream The fancy ice cream menu We have to guess the flavors (saffron and banana with seaweed) June and Linda ready for their ice cream Cream of Chestnut sauce The Rue St Jean is getting busy Clock on the Cathedral The Minstrel's Hall dating back to Roman times Some of the original Roman brick and stone works We next visit a cheese shop on our foodie tour Lots of different kinds of French cheeses The shop owner explains French cheeses What we'll be tasting A Smart Car jammed into a tiny parking spot A statue of Mary on a street corner We next visit the Soieries Lyonnaises silk shop The owner of the silk shop An old loom still in use today Jacquard cards for the loom for the pattern This machine makes braids from metallic thread The locals using a long stairway Lyon has 41 restaurants with Michelin stars. Two are on this street We next visit the BMD wine cellar and cafe Cafe menu Food for wine Our hors d'oeuvres to go with our wine tasting One of my favorite wines Wine tasting After the foodie tour we head back across the Saone River A local tour boat The Cathedral with the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere on the hill Yea! Chocolate figurines June bought some of these June wants the fire put out on her cocktail Linda's fancy drink Chris and John join us for cocktails Jude making a funny face Riverboats parked along the quay. Ours is second A view across a footbridge to Vieux Lyon June's hamburger... ...with a brioche bun... ...is actually chocolate ice cream... ...mmmmmm... ...a big bite Pete got the piste noir ice cream Burger givre Piste noire A bird sculpture on a bridge Figurine in a window carrying books French rooster on pole and university lights Someone gets a hug We visit the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere The Lyon skyline The Place Bellecour next to our hotel City hall, the fine arts museum, and opera house The bell tower with a golden statue of Mary at the top Inside the Basilica Ornate ceilings Votive candle with depiction of Mary One of several mosaics on the walls An angel Pieta chapel A very modern statue of Mary holding Jesus Lyon's communications tower Construction started in 1192 The Roman theater built in 15 BC is still in use today All the windows are paintings Even the storefronts are paintings A shady spot as we walk down the hill back to Lyon Even the cafe is a painting Lots of steps Courtyard of the Gadagne Museum Interesting doors Courtyard of a house built in 1295 Spiral stone staircase behind bars Pretty courtyard in a different building Looking back to the Basilica from street level below A fountain in the Place de Jacobins La Place Royale Theatre Isn't that the hand from the Statue of Liberty This Smart Car squeezes into this tiny spot Back to our Amacello riverboat A Good Friday procession There are lots of swans on the river like this one Bridges in Lyon Old riverboats are now housing Another swan An example of dinner on our riverboat We are now on an excursion to Oingt in the Beaujolais region A Beaujolais vineyard and production facility Beaujolais vineyards and rolling hills We stop at the village of Oingt started in 1310 Someone is very happy Entrance to the village of Oingt The main street through the village Old windows with hearts This gate has a 'bizarre cat' sign View from village of the countryside The entire town is built from 'golden stone' Taking a break A pretty ivy covered building The village church Playing with a cat The village prison A man playing a crank organ Jude amongst the wildflowers Escapade Gourmande 2019 placard on the front A small barn on a hill We stop at the Domaine de Fond-Vieille winery Where the golden stones come from for buildings Jude plays with the winery's dog in the vineyard Dominique Guillard's family has owned the vineyard since 1758 Sassa and the Marions Highest price for a bottle is 12 euros Wines for sale We pass the Chateau de Chessy A very colorful old boat Our riverboat barely fits under some bridges Musee des Confluences We are now leaving Lyon on the Rhone River Looking back at Lyon at the confuence of the Rhone and Soane Rivers We enter the first of many locks, barely missing the sides June could reach out and touch the walls of the locks from our cabin That's how close we are to the sides of the lock After we drop 30 feet or so, the lock gate opens We arrive in Vienne for the night Ruins of a thirteenth-century castle Chapel of Notre-Dame de Pipet One of the better Rhone wines with dinner An Easter bunny role for breakfast A swan swims on glassy smooth water A portion of the original Roman road through Vienne We visit Saint-Maurice Cathedral from 1052 This cathedral isn't very ornate inside An old tapestry in the cathedral Notice that some of the columns are crooked Side entrance to the Chapelle Saint Theodore A modern art sculpture of a bull Posters of people holding books Jude has a big smile The Roman temple in Vienne is surprisingly complete Jude high above Vienne View from the top of Mount Pipet Vienne's Roman theater is still in use today Statue of Mary on a tower next to the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Pipet Inside the Chapelle Notre-Dame de Pipet Votive candles The local cemetery City Hall A huge mural on the side of a building showing Vienne's history Roman walls Pretty wisteria The archealogical gardens of Cybele This half-timbered building is from around 1600 We visit the Musee Saint Pierre in what used to be a church A round oscillum Roman mosaic and sculpture Amphorae Relief sculpture A dog mosaic The Marions on the top deck of our riverboat We pass many vineyards like these on the hills A fancy chateau Easter candy Eating Easter chocolate Another deep lock John Marion and Jessica Carroll teach us about Rhone wines Jude is all dressed up Dinner Chapoutier vineyards in the hills above Hermitage Castle of Tournon rebuilt in the 1600s This suspension bridge was built in 1825 Fountains in the Hermitage town square A sad dog Chapoutier and Paul Jaboulet Aine are friendly rivals A walled vineyard is a 'clos' We hike up into the vineyards Our guide is the fantastic Nancy Kerschen, a local winemaker We can see the Tournon Castle across the Rhone River The hillsides are heavily terraced with stone Pete and June in the hills above Hermitage Our riverboat docked in Tournon Steep terraces The trail to the very top is treacherous A sign on a Chapoutier vineyard Vines are planted everywhere, even in thie small ravine Coming down is harder than going up The vines are just starting to leaf The vineyards above town We visit the Chapoutier tasting room Jude and Mom ride the Train De L'Ardeche steam train A dam on the Doux River Stone bridge Pont sur le Dourdou The tasting room store Different types of soil found in the vineyards The Valrhona 'city of chocolate' An old house with pretty blue shutters Town hall Our riverboat passes underneat the bridge as we leave The vineyards that we hiked into We pass a castle on the river The lounge of our riverbat The bar The main atrium Hallways to our cabins Front desk Inside our cabin 1 Inside our cabin 2 Inside our cabin 3 On the top deck as we go through another lock Hot tub Easter bunny June at our 'usual' table We arrive in Avignon where several other riverboats are already docked A statue commemorating Avignon becoming part of France in 1791 This old boat is a restaurant and hotel The Avignon city walls Look at that huge loaf of bread in the center We enter the Palais du Roure museum with the Baroncelli coat of arms Narrow streets from the 1500's and 1600's Lots of bells and lights on the Palais du Roure museum Outside cafe in downtown Avignon Some buildings have paintings in the windows The town clock tower has marionettes This ornate building is dated 1619 Entrance to the Papal Palace Ceiling details A banged up old door Windows seem to be scattered everywhere A model of the entire Papal Palace Some recovered frescoes Most of the colorful wall paintings are gone, so we look at a re-creation on a TV A cloister Le Grand Tinel from 1345 Where the Pope had dinner with his guests The bricks wtihin this archway were sometimes removed for large dinners A peek into the restored Chappelle Saint-Martial Looking up into the chimney for the main kitchen Fragments of decorative tile Serving dishes Statues from the heydey of the Papal Palace - 1 Statues from the heydey of the Papal Palace - 2 Statues from the heydey of the Papal Palace - 3 Statues from the heydey of the Papal Palace - 4 North Sacristy Ornate entry way (with lots of pieces destroyed during the French Revolution) Gift shop This walkway was cut through solid stone A memorial to war dead We can see the palace of the King of France across the river Golden statue of Mary above the cross Interior of Notre Dames Des Domes Church There is now a long line waiting to enter the Papal Palace Directions Carousel in downtown Avignon Shopping Chocolates and cookies Statue of Mary at end of a street Smart car for Bateau Restaurant The Pont Saint-Benezet bridge to nowhere We are on our way to visit the Chateauneuf du Pape wine region We pass a large winery We stop to taste wine at the Famille Mayard winery The winery's wine cave Bottles in a wine rack This building was bombed during WW2 Pete with the town of Chateauneuf du Pape in the background This one vineyard grows every type of Rhone grape varietal The rocks can be 9 feet deep in the vineyards Goodbye to Avignon Crepes for dessert We visit the Carrieres de Lumieres in an underground limestone quarry A Van Gogh presentation Without the images A Japanese presentation A Van Gogh painting A smaller version of the Coloseum in Rome, but in Arles Downtown Arles Dinner conversation Surf and turf for dinner Chocolate lava cake Elms River Valley organic wheat farm quality corn labels Pete at the Sheraton Hotel at the De Gaulle airport The view from our window (but very quiet) We arrive at the Waggon and Horses Inn and Pub in York to visit Ehren and Mark Tipsy tea Fresh veggies Butcher memorabilia from The Shambles About The Shambles Carousel in downtown York Very crooked building They now have Five Guys burgers Evil Eye gin shop A protest parade about climate change Mark and Ehren in their allotment garden They recently built this shed We visit the very popular Harrogate Flower Show Interesting stonework as we enter the exhibition grounds We are greeted with a Lord of the Rings exhibit Garden exhibit Pots and sculpture made from chicken wire Pretty flowers This shed looks like a Hobbit house As does this one Colorful fudge Mark and June admire the flowers Ehren next to a wall of flowers Hosta 'June' Elisabeth Bailey tells June about her pottery Mouse plate that June bought Sign for the Slug and Lettuce pub Sign for the Old Bell pub Downtown Harrogate Sign for the Drum and Monkey pub The view from our hotel room next to the Leeds Airport