Day 36 - Tuesday 17th October - Cruise

This was the first day of the cruise that we didnt wake up to a beautiful sunny day but we had a lovely relaxing morning routine because our excursion wasn't leaving til 9.30am. All passengers were being taken by bus to wineries in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which is one of the most prestigious and famous wine growing areas in France, for some wine tasting. So we would have to drink wine first thing in the morning again. Life's tough at the moment. We drove through very interesting countryside. The vineyards are planted in the VERY rocky soil. The rocks came from the mountains thousands of years ago when the Rhône River flowed through that area and formed the riverbed. At some point the river changed its path and the land was left covered with rocks. And it is indeed covered with rocks. The vines are completely surrounded by rocks rather than soil. In France it's illegal to water vines and to use any chemicals at all on them. Our bus went to a winery called Botte where again we were instructed in the art of wine tasting. Again we failed and just smelt wine. That's not exactly true, we could tell the wines tasted different, just couldn't really identify what we could smell. They were all delicious though. The was a wine museum inside which we walked through which was just a little bit interesting. We bought a beautiful sommelier's bottle opening tool which John is very excited about. Then we were back on the bus and on our way to see the old ruins of the Pope's summer palace dating back to the 14thC. Wandered around, took photos but because of the thick fog we weren't able appreciate what would have been the beautiful views over to the Alps from the scenic terrace which once would have formed part of the palace. So we piled back on the bus and got back to the ship in time for lunch and during lunch we set sail did or next port,  Avignon, which was the headquarters of the french Popes for about 50 years in the 14thC. After lunch our cruise director, Nicholas, gave a presentation on the World of Fragrance. He had worked in the perfume industry years ago. Part way through the talk I started to get a headache which just got worse so I left John to take notes  (haha) and took myself of to bed with lots of drugs because it was showing all signs of turning into a migraine. Luckily I was able to sleep and when I woke we were at Avignon. Headache was better so we went up on the deck for a Pont d'Avignon party and photo stop. We sailed right up to the bridge, which is actually only half a bridge, then sailed past it,  then back again, all the time with the song Sur Le Pont d'Avignon blaring away and everyone singing along and entertaining the tourists on the bridge. The fresh air really cleared my head and we sang, drank champagne, took photos and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The Pope's Palace was resplendent up above the city which made a perfect background for selfies. What a fabulous way to arrive in a new place. Shortly after our arrival we were taken in groups into the city of Avignon to visit the Pope's Palace. We went with a gorgeous young Frenchman, with beret and all, called Emmanuel. His accent was beautiful and he was a great guide.  Avignon was again, another beautiful old city with lots of history, gorgeous buildings and was so clean. Not too many cobblestones but enough to kill my poor feet. Emmanuel told us the history of the place as we walked through the streets and eventually we got to the magnificent buildings of the Pope's Palace. We walked through several rooms, including what was the Pope's bedroom, the private banquet hall and up many stairs to the next level where we looked down into the huge courtyard from the fancy windows where the Pope used to stand to do his hand waving stuff I guess. Then we went into what was the chapel. There was a group of Asian tourists there and one of the group was singing in a beautiful voice, which showed off the acoustics of the building. We all clapped when he finished and then Emmanuel, our guide,  told us we'd now hear some real singing. Well he sang in the most beautiful counter tenor voice which made the other voice sound a little ordinary. It was just so beautiful. Then the group behind us, also from our ship, came in and their guide asked Emmanuel if he'd sing another song and he sang a french song which was equally beautiful. We felt extremely lucky. Someone asked if he'd been taught to sing and he told us he'd had private lessons for 7 years. From here we went through the last rooms and then out of the palace and back to the ship. By the time we got back to the ship it was 6.30pm and we had a reservation at the fancy restaurant on board, L'Amour, at 7.15pm so we didnt even have time for a drink at the bar but went straight to our room to get our fancy clothes on. We wanted to book for the 18th so we could celebrate Sophie's birthday but the 17th was the last night available,  so we toasted her birthday early.   We had said we were happy to share a table with others and when we went in we found ourselves sharing our table with the fellow that was the size of the side of a house. His name was Steve, a Jewish boy from Brooklyn, now living in San Francisco. He was in the film industry but had retired 4 years ago at 53 and was now spending a lot of time travelling. We had a lovely evening and he was a lovely fellow but just so enormously fat. From some of the things he said about things he'd done in the past, sounded like he hasn't always been this size. Everything he did seemed very laboured, walking, sitting, getting up. We're not sure how many excursions he did because he wouldn't have been able to go up or down steps or keep up with a group. Sad really. Anyway our 6 course dinner paired with wine was absolutely lipsmackingky delicious and after we sat in the lounge for a couple more drinks and a few dances and went to bed very late.