Côte d'Or, Lyon, Avignon, Arles, Nice

Since the 1790s, France has been divided into 27 regions, with sub-regions called departments. Our tour of eastern France passes through four regions, as outlined in the following trip overview.

As we exit the Paris region (Isle de France) by bus to the southeast, we enter the region of Bourgogne (Burgundy in English). After a stop in Beaune, we begin to go south, parallel to the Saône River until the town of Mâcon, on the navigable lower part of the Saône. We board our river cruising ship at Mâcon and cruise through the home of beaujolais wines. We pass into the Rhône-Alpes region to the lovely city of Lyon, where we encounter the Rhône River that flows west out of Switzerland and turns south at Lyon. We cruise the Rhône south through the southernmost region, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) and make our final stops, the towns of Avignon and Arles. We say goodbye to our ship's crew at Arles and then head east by bus, skirting Marseille and arriving at our tour debarkation point, Nice.


Bourgogne Wine Region

The Bourgogne is characterized by vineyards growing red (pinot noir) and white (chardonnay) wines. Evidence of wines in Bourgogne date to the Romans, although Greek traders with the Celts may have first introduced them. In medieval times, monasteries grew wines in their walled vineyards. As their land holdings grew, they dominated the trade. The monks were first to discover the concept of terroir, which recognizes that minute variations of soil and climate can create a discernible difference in product.

Wines of Bourgogne are quality-rated, in order of decreasing rating, as Grand Cru, Premier (1er) Cru, Villages, or Regional. Wine marketing regulation restricts labeling on bottles to refer to its vineyard locale (terroir) at a prescribed specificity, according to the ratings of the vineyard. The highest rated vineyards can be most location-specific in their labeling. Such regulation is the domain of the French Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC). In France, official marketing controls on specifying produce source locations date from medieval times, initially for cheese.

The individual wine producer arguably has a greater effect on the content of the bottles than does the promise of a prestigious label on the outside. Village-rated wines from a talented producer can exceed the quality of a 1er Cru product from an indifferent producer. The best regional wines will be very drinkable. The great expense of a Grand Cru vintage makes the seeking out of talented producers of lesser-rated wines a sensible approach to buying wines of Bourgogne (or anywhere).

Aside - Named areas of France, such as Bourgogne and Côte d'Or, frequently can refer either to official wine regions, or to French administrative regions. Bourgogne is a wine region that includes parts of the French administrative regions of Bourgogne and Rhône-Alpes. Similarly, Côte d'Or (golden slope, a limestone escarpment running along the western bank of the Saône River) is a department within Bourgogne region, and also a wine sub-region of the Bourgogne wine region. Here, we use these names only in the context of wine regions, where in each case, the French geo-political region/department is largely within the wine region of the same name.

The Côte d'Or has two further sub-regions: Côte d'Nuits (Dijon) and Côte d'Beaune, containing the most esteemed vineyards in the region. The Route des Grands Crus (Hwy. D974) connects the towns of Dijon and Beaune as it transverses the Côte d'Or. Our bus connected to this Route at Beaune, and we followed it south through Côte d'Beaune.

Côte d'Beaune produces Premiere Cru pinot noirs on the higher slopes. Red wines with Village ratings, and most of the chardonnays, are typically sourced from the flatter areas around the communes that give the wines their names, Pommard, Volnay, and Meursault for example.

Côte de Beaune - Pommard commune

Côte de Beaune - Volnay commune

Aside: In my youth, my favorite burgundy wine from France was a Pommard, which to my taste offered more character than a typical Pinot Noir. I haven't considered premium French wines competitive in a quality/price calculation for decades, compared to wines from the west coast of the USA. But I was excited that this Route allowed me to view the vineyards that produce the great burgundies, including a closeup look at the Pommard commune. Now I could associate a sense of place with my fondly-recalled sense of taste. This was one of the features of our tour that initially attracted my interest. The small area from which these wines are sourced makes today's high prices understandable, if not palatable.


Beaune

Our major stop on our bus trip from Paris was the town of Beaune, at the heart of Côte d'Or. It was lunch time, and another couple joined us at a small bistro off the main square. I sampled my first authentic food of the Bourgogne, the namesake beef Bourguignon, a very tasty stew.

The highlight of Beaune was the after-lunch tour of Hotel-Dieu, a charity hospice built in 1443. (All our guided tours used portable digital walkie-talkies with ear-plug, called 'whispers' for enabling the leader to speak softly and everyone else to hear the leader even if not within line of sight. Technology scores another big win.)

Hostel Dieu - 1443

The hospice was retired as a working hospital in 1971 when it moved to a newer facility and the old buildings became a museum. Its quality construction and materials accounts for it having survived 570 years.

The main ward had bed chambers along each long wall, with a chapel at one end. The high 'barrel' ceiling maximizes air space, perhaps mitigating the likely malodorous environment (no indoor plumbing, limited windows). Some ceiling details are on the gruesome end of the spectrum.

The nuns could monitor the ward from a window high on the end wall opposite the chapel.

From the hospice's inner courtyard, the decorative roofing tiles are shown to full advantage. The building with the decorative facade opposite the hospital ward housed staff living quarters, kitchen, pharmacy, laboratory, and workshops. The museum's continued maintenance and support is funded by a wine auction. The wines are from hospice vineyards whose purchase and operation is funded by donations and gifts.

Hostel Dieu - Main Courtyard

When the tour ended, we returned to city center in time to see an end-of-school-day parade celebration.

Beaune City Square

Beaune City Square

After leaving the Côte d'Or, we passed through other Bourgogne subregions of Côte d'Chalonnaise and Mâconnaise, noted almost exclusively for their white wines. In the afternoon, we arrived at our river cruiser 'Provence' at the town of Mâcon.


Mâcon to Lyon on the Saône

Mâcon is the southern-most city in Bourgogne, with 36K population. It was an ancient fording place across the Saône until the Romans built a wooden bridge. A stone bridge dates to the 11th century, the basis for the current 12-arch bridge, which miraculously survived WWII.

Since the 9th century, Mâcon has assumed an increasing role in communications and administration of its department. It was an active center for the French resistance in WWII as the northernmost city in the free zone. Wine is the big industry; the area's 14K acres produces Pouilly-Fuissé among world-renowned names, and many locally-known labels.

We had one of the balcony rooms on the main deck of our ship. Below is a picture of the Pont St. Laurent at Mâcon, from our balcony. The other end was captured in a painting by Corot in 1834. (The river was apparently considerably lower back then - perhaps a seasonal flow variation?)

Pont St. Laurent

Pont St. Laurent, Corot 1834

After dinner on board, we took a guided walk through Mâcon.

We sailed south early next morning. The river was misty. The navigation channel was marked by tall red posts. On top of each was a fisher, usually a gull, cormorant, or heron. Many trees had large clumps of mistletoe evident.

The Saône/Rhône system has several locks. The deeper ones downriver also are designed to generate hydroelectric power from the drop in the river. Here is a shallower lock early on our journey.

After the view of the powerful waterfalls above, the life vest drill was cheerfully performed.

The scenic banks along the route presented beautiful large old buildings, as well as other natural attractions.

Lyon, Where the Saône meets the Rhône

Lyon, the 2nd largest city in France with ~500K population, was put on the map by the Romans. Romans named this place Lugdunum when they founded it in 43BCE. It became the capital of Roman Gaul and from medieval times was a financial center. In the 16th century it became a silk weaving center. In WWII, Lyon was an important center for the French resistance.

Although the lion is the symbol/emblem for Lyon, there is no connection between the two terms, as Lyon derives from the Latin name for the city. It was an important home away from home for Roman administrators, who built theaters, temples, and forums here. There are many Roman ruins around Lyon, including a small ampitheater. Roman emperors Claudius and Caracalla were both born in Lugdunum.

In the early afternoon after lunch, we neared the end of the Saône where it intersects the Rhône at Lyon.

The old medieval town Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) is at the base of Fourvière Hill (the hill that prays). Coming into Lyon down the Saône, one sees Old Town with Fourvière in the background. Here, Église Saint-Georges appears in the foreground. There has been a church on the site of St. Georges since 550. The current neogothic version bears no resemblance to the earlier versions.

The Saône flows between Fourvière hill and Croix-Rousses (the hill that works, home to the centuries-old silk industry).

We encountered some whimsically-designed modern buildings along the banks of the Saône in Lyon.

The two rivers meet in a long, narrow 'V' intersection at the south of the city, with the Presqu’île (peninsula, literally 'almost island') between them. Both rivers flow toward the point of the 'V'. Below, a gull stands on the end of the peninsula, dotting the point of the 'V', with the Saône in the foreground and the Rhône behind.

Tip of the Presqu'île

The Presqu’île extends north ~5km to Croix-Rousses and is the heart of modern Lyon, a stature not promised by its diminutive southern tip.

The boat hung a U-ey here. Following are views going upstream on the Rhône. The first image, only ~100m from the tip, is the nearly completed Musée des Confluences, a combined natural history and cultural anthropology museum that will anchor redevelopment of the Confluence Sector of Lyon. (One must assume flooding is a thing of the past on these rivers.)

Musée des Confluences

We participated in a bus tour of Lyon. For reasons best forgotten, Debby and I were five minutes late for the bus, gaining the further disgust of the tour leader, who still recalled our Paris misadventure. We were gaining a reputation amongst the group. It was sort of cool to play the 'bad guys' for once. One doesn't want to be type-cast.

First up was the Basilica.

The Basilica offers a great view of greater Lyon. It shows a cross section of Lyon, looking east. In the foreground is Old Town, then the Saône, then the Presqu’île, then the Rhône bisecting the picture. Beyond is the second most important sector of Lyon, Part-Dieu, its commercial sector. The Part-Dieu Office Tower, aka crayon, was perhaps inspired by the shape of medieval towers. It is near the train station.

Lyon Looking East from Fourvière Hill

We then attended a workshop, where silk screen painting was demonstrated, before returning to the Old Town. Here we look back at Fourvière and the baby Eiffel (just the top structure to be sure), balancing the Basilica. We crossed to Old Town and then look across the river to the Presqu’île (guessing here, sometimes the memory fails).

Fourvière Hill and Basilica

Presqu’île From Vieux Lyon (?)

In the Old Town, we explored secret passages through buildings that seemed disguised as normal entry doors. These shortcuts, called traboules, facilitated movement of goods and services mid-block, providing some protection from weather. Following is an interior courtyard accessed via a traboule, followed by street scenes from Old Town.

Place des Terreaux, at the foot of Croix-Rousses Hill, is a plaza in front of the Hôtel de Ville de Lyon (City Hall). It is the current home of the Fountaine Bartholdi, a sculpture representing France as a woman who is driving four wild horses symbolizing the four great rivers of France. Bartholdi also designed the Statue of Liberty, a miniature version of which stands on Fourvière.

Hôtel de Ville

Fountaine Bartholdi

The second day in Lyon we took a bus tour to the northwest ~35km, back to the beaujolais wine region west of Villefranche-sur-Saône. Beaujolais is a light and fruity red wine, made principally from the gamay grape. This is also the land of Pierres Dorées (Golden Stones), referring to the rich color of the local limestone used in building.

Our first stop was the town of Oingt, which we all had a laugh trying to pronounce (try saying wham without the 'm', in a nasal tone). It is a restored medieval town on a hill. The warm ochre colors of the local stone seem to glow internally in the sun and give the buildings a uniform hue.

Oingt's central attractions are the 11th Century Ste. Mathieu Church, the town tower, and Rue Trayne-Cul, a street whose name loosely translates as drag-ass street, perhaps due to its slight incline. (I thought the French were tougher than this; maybe they refer to the tourists instead?)

Centuries-old Beam, Stronger than Ever

Oingt Town Limits

No Fear

Lovely View

Translation: Drag-Ass Street

From Oingt, we drove northeast, across the territory viewed from the Oingt church parking lot above. As we were leaving Oingt, some workmen waved happily to us. Can only assume what was in their cups.

A short way out of Oingt, we came across a really nice house.

Really Nice House

Our bus was aiming for the Domaine des Averlys, a small vineyard and guesthouse that participates in viniculture tourism in the beaujolais area. Below, our tour guide introduces the proprietor. We received an instructive talk about the vines and their care, and then went to their vaulted cellar for a wine tasting.

We tasted four different vintages, together with local sausage and cheese aperitifs. There was a drawing for a bottle of wine, which Debby won (we will keep the lucky number secret). I took her picture with the proprietor, who held her bottle for her. We did not find time to drink it on the trip, though, so on leaving the Provence for the final time, we gave it to the head of the service crew as a token of appreciation for great food and service.

After returning to the ship for dinner, the ship sailed back down the Rhône and then up the Saône around Lyon, a city lights cruise as our farewell view of the city.

Lyon At Night

The next morning, before sailing, Debby took some pictures of our 'hotel' site for the last three nights. Our ship tied up at the best Lyon berth, by Place Antonin-Ponchet, adjacent to Place Bellecour on the Presqu’île.

At the inland end of Place Antonin-Ponchet, one sees a prominent campanile, all that's left of the old renaissance charity hotel that used to occupy the site; the rest was torn down to expand the post office and create this small riverside park. At the water's edge of the park lives the 'Flower Tree', created by a Korean artist for display at a 2003 art exhibit. Lyon has adopted it. These made great landmarks for finding our 'hotel'.

Debby and I decided Lyon was our favorite French city and hope to return for a more extended stay. Perhaps I am destined to learn some French. We even checked out the real estate prices in Oingt, envisioning some quality time on Trayne Cul. HaHa.


Lyon to Tournon on the Rhône

After breakfast, a distinguished visitor came on board to tell us about the WWII atmosphere in the Rhône valley and the operations of the French resistance there. He joined the resistance as a teen-ager. Initially, they supplied their own weapons and did not wear uniforms.  At first it was not so dangerous because Lyon was in unoccupied France. But as Germany began to lose ground in the war and anticipated an Allied landing in France, it placed all of France under occupation and from 1942 on, it became a very dangerous business.

Operation Dragoon was the code name for the landing of the Allies in southern France to capture the ports of Marseille and Toulon in August, 1944. Strategically, gaining these ports intact would greatly improve Allied combat supply logistics. The French resistance was instrumental in supplying intelligence, and later in actual combat, tying German units up to facilitate rapid advances by the Allied invasionary forces. Our guest told us many resistance fighters became casualties supporting the Allies during operation Dragoon and the subsequent Allied rapid advance up the Rhône.

At mid-morning, we sailed south and entered the Rhône-Alps wine region. First up was the lock at Pierre Benite south of Lyon.

The slopes on the west bank of the river were fairly steep and showed extensive walled vineyards. Here, Syrahs are the typical red wine grape.

It was a splendid day for the sun deck.


More interesting old buildings and vineyards decorated the river banks on the route, and even an aging nuclear power plant.

In our dining room, we had a chef's talk and demonstration by our wonderful executive chef, assisted by our tour guide.

Tournon

Tournon, a town of 10K inhabitants, is perched on the west bank between the river and the hills behind. The area is known for wine (St. Joseph), fruit, and industry. Tournon was an evening stop; our stay was brief and included no sightseeing.

Here we would meet a French family and converse in French over a home-cooked meal. Only, the French government had just meddled in the program and there would be no further home-cooked meals. Seems the families did not always report their small earnings from these tourist encounters for tax purposes, so the government said no more.

Since the stop was still scheduled on our tour, it had been arranged that we would go with our families to a local restaurant. The only compensation for each host family appeared to be the cost of their dinner. We met our hosts at the ship and were divided into small groups, one group for each host. Then we walked with our hosts across the town square and a couple of blocks down the street to the restaurant.

This would be our coq au vin night, all 40 of us and our hosts. Unfortunately, the chicken was excessively salty, unattractively prepared, and the service was generally unresponsive. The conversation made up for it, and not all opinions of the food matched our own.

We were told there would be no more hosted dinners after this one. Our hosts made the best of it and we enjoyed their unassuming, straightforward manner. Debby conversed mostly in French and then translated for the rest of us.

As we walked our hosts back to their cars, Debby took a picture of a lighted building appearing to float above the river. Looking above it, you can see a lighted chapel glowing in the distance as if floating in the air.  It is the Hermitage Chapel of Tournon, on a hill east of the town.

After embarking, our ship took us overnight to our next stop, Viviers. As we arrived in the morning, we were being passed by a barge.

Viviers

Viviers is a small town of fewer than 4k inhabitants on the west side of the river. It was a Roman town back to the third century. It became a bishopric in the fifth century. Before Roman conquest, Viviers was an outpost on the Roman northwestern frontier, strategic by its location. History notes considerable Roman interaction with the Celtic Helvii in this area from early in the 1st century BCE.

The town attracted significant wealth over the centuries. The central historical attraction is the cathedral on top of the hill, completed in the mid-12th century and continuously updated until the 18th century, when the vaulted ceiling was added. Many old residences provide historical interest.

We disembarked after breakfast for our tour. Our city walk wended through the town up the hill to the cathedral and back. There was an open market in the town and Debby chose to browse the market and shops, and enjoy the coffee-house with like-minded travelers, while I hit the trail, huffing and puffing, camera in hand. On reflection, I can see her point.

Debby did the flatland pictures: closeups buildings on the main square, the market on an inner square, and streets and houses nearby. The overview of the market and of the town are from my hill collection.

We boarded the ship again in time for lunch and the ship resumed its southward journey.

Viviers to Avignon

The river locks were getting deeper. The deepest is 25m here at Bollene, now second deepest in Europe. The pictures show the lock swallowing our ship whole. Then we get spit out of the bottom.

Castles, old ruins, and my sunshine were also there for the viewing.

When we pull into Avignon, we are shocked that we are not the only tourists there.

Avignon

Modern Avignon has close to 90K population and hosts the largest summer arts festival in France. It is a well-preserved medieval town, complete with enclosing wall. It is noted for its food of Provence, Chateauneuf-du-pape wines, and shopping. Avignon is derived from Latin avenio, indicating a windy place by a river.

Avignon, first noted in Roman history in the 1st century BCE, dates its fortifying wall to the 14th century, when nine popes (seven official popes in succession and then two anti-popes) based themselves in this overcrowded, plague-ridden French town to escape the violent political intrigue and factional conflict in Rome. Avignon was sold by the local nobility to the papacy in 1348, and did not become administratively part of France until after the revolution.

Central attractions of modern Avignon include the city plaza, place l'Horloge with its market stalls and open air cafes, and the Palais des Papes, originally a modest Episcopal church turned into a fortress and papal palace by Pope Clement V (born in Avignon) and his successors. The French revolution stripped the Palais of all its furnishings; today it is bare. The old bridge at Avignon also dates to the beginning of the 14th century, but the Rhône exacted so much damage that attempts to keep it in good repair ceased in the mid-17th century and only a short segment of its original span survives.

The walled-city dominates our view from the arriving ship.

After our arrival and dinner on-board, our tour leader took a group of us on an impromptu evening walk into the walled city. The next morning was our formal tour of the central square and the Palais des Papas.

Hôtel de Ville

Cathedral

Hotel with Painted Window

Clock Tower

Theater

Palais des Papas is an austere fortress-like building made the more formidable for being bare inside. The building was designed to convey a clear message: 'Don't mess with the folks that live here.' It is one of the ten most visited structures in France.

Pope House

Main Courtyard Internal Entrance

Main Courtyard

Main Courtyard

Cloister Courtyard

Half of Main Dining Hall (modern wood ceiling vault)

Sparsely Furnished

Remaining Battered-looking For Effect?

Back Door (Tour Exit)

Square In Front of Palais/Cathedral

Avignon Sweets

Debby and I opted to stay in town for lunch and a gelato, and then sightsee on our own while others took the optional bus tour to some other highlights of Provence.

At lunch a single gentleman seated next to us while we were deciding what to order, offered that the restaurant served a great hamburger. We found he was from Ohio, his wife had died nine years before, and since then he spent three months of the year, in the spring, in Avignon. It was initially to get his mind directed to new experiences, but has evolved to become a way of life. He stays in a boarding hotel (studio apartment with care-taking) for about $800/month.

Our lunch companion told us there was an inexpensive electric cab that would take us around the city. We spent a while finding the cab stand, then did a loop through the city. The tour group all gathered back on board for the Captain's farewell dinner. Our ship got under way in the wee hours, getting us the short distance to Arles by daybreak.

Arles

Arles is a town of 52K population just north of the Camargue, the great delta of the Rhône as it flows into the Mediterranean. Arles was important in antiquity for agricultural products, shipbuilding, and transport. It was a market place for Phoenician and Greek traders in the 6th century BCE. In the 4th century CE, it became the capital of the western Roman provinces of Spain, Gaul, and Britian.

We attended a guided walk through Arles in the morning. Roman architectural relics are the main attraction, including aqueducts, baths, ampitheater, and the 20K seat arena, two millennia old and still used (for bull fighting).

Arles - Named Attractions

Roman City Gates

Amédée-Pichot Fountain

Roman Arena

St. Charles Cloister Steeple

Ste. Trophime Church

Van Gogh lived awhile in Arles and painted some scenes of here, one of which was the garden at the mental hospital where he was treated.

Hospital Espace Van Gogh

Hospital At Arles, Van Gogh 1889

Van Gogh also painted one of his Starry Night scenes at Arles, from a vantage point looking down the river from near the current train station.

Starry Night over the Rhône, Van Gogh 1888

Arles - Random Street Scenes

Hôtel de Ville Clock Tower (background)

With Whisper; Roman Arena (background)

Debby and I left the city tour early to walk to the train station and catch a bus to the Camargue for some bird watching. We grabbed a fast-food lunch at the station. If you are interested in birds, see my post: Birds of the Camargue.

We bused back in time for our final dinner on our ship. The next morning after our final breakfast on the ship, we all boarded our bus, waved goodbye to the ship's crew, and hit the road.

There was one stop before the tour final destination of Nice.


Rhone American Cemetery and Memorial, Draguignan

In August of 1944, the American 7th Army, reinforced by other allied forces including those of the Free French Army, invaded southern France in Operation Dragoon, freeing Marseille and moving up the Rhone valley to join with the forces from Operation Overlord, the more famous landing in Normandy.

This cemetery commemorates those soldiers who died in this campaign; those fallen that were not repatriated remain interred there. The USA maintains the cemetery, and US military personnel volunteer to come here regularly to wash the grave markers.

Nice

Our bus took us to our hotel in Nice. There is a mirror image tour that starts in Nice and ends in Paris. This next group was waiting at the hotel for us to offload the bus so they could board and head back to the ship for their turn on the river. Very efficient operation.

After we checked into our hotel in Nice and checked out the street view and the room view, Debby and I went for lunch at a bistro around the corner, then took a bus to the Chagall Museum and spent part of the afternoon there.

We ate on our own that night and left for the airport the next morning at a civilized time. The tour arranged our transport to the airport and our flight arrangements. Our official tour having ended, we flew to Venice via Rome.

For the remainder of our trip coverage, see my post titled 'Venice'.