April 15, 2026

Sometimes, our guides give us information about the country, costs, trends, etc. One of our guides shared that she is charged about 52 euros a month for her health insurance. Hard for us to even imagine!

Another told us when we were in Normandy that one family lost 4 sons in the war. After that a law was passed to limit enrollment to 2 sons.

We also heard the story about photography being invented in France.

Generally they seem to be very proud of their country.

The stories of the French Revolution when the uprising against wealth, religion and corruption are both frightening and inspiring in their own way. Outside on the wall of Notre Dame there are 28 statues that people of the French Revolution thought were the French kings, so they took down the statues and cut off their heads, like what was done to Marie Antoinette. Later they found out those were the Kings of Judah not French monarchs. The heads were lost for 200 years until they were unexpectedly rediscovered in 1977 during a renovation. They were preserved and are on display in the Musee de Cluny in Paris and new statues had been reconstructed.

Our trip today took us for a walking tour of the twin villages of Tournon and Tain L’Hermitage.

Our guide was Elsa who came from the Tournon side of the river. She entertained us with stories of the rivalry between the two town. Mostly a friendly rivalry….

We walked from our ship in Tain L’Hermitage to Tournon across an old wooden bridge that is only for pedestrians. We could see the remains of castles and everywhere on the hills in the distance – many grapevines.

Here are some other sights in the town.

Valrhona chocolate has a whole complex back across the river but I wanted to buy from the small shop. Later I heard that it would have been twice as costly at Valrhona!

After some time to walk around the town, we crossed back over the bridge to go to a local wine shop where we heard all about this area of the Rhône Valley and the types of grapes that are grown here.

We tasted one white and two reds and paired them with cheese and baguette slices.

We walked back to the ship for lunch. We are sailing in the afternoon so there was an afternoon lecture on Vincent Van Gogh and a demonstration and tasting of Crepes Suzette. Delicious.

Norm went up to the top deck and had to duck down when the ship went under some low bridges…

Tonight we have evening entertainment with Chris the Crooner in the lounge. Kassima says he sounds like Michael Buble. We will see.

Tomorrow we will have a full day. In the morning we will be in Viviers where, in the morning we have Ardeches Villages Day with a variety of local experiences and in the afternoon – the one I have been most looking forward to – the truffle farm. Norm says the temperature will be 75!