Both Kendra and I were confused
when we woke up this morning – we were in Tournon again. The difference is that this town is Tournon
sur Rhone, not Tournon sur Saune. Kind
of a difference.
We had a late day to get off the
ship so we had a nice sit down breakfast after mom and I went for a walk around
town. It was a really cute little town
with an amazing castle that is built into the rock around it. And it was connected to another town called
l’Hermitage. Interestingly enough, the
one town, Tournon is in one of the poorest districts in France, called Ardeche
and l’Hermitage is one of the is one of the richest. They are only separated by a bridge, but
because of the wine vineyards and the ancient salt taxes in l’Hermitage, the
two cities are very different and the wealth in each place is also so
different.
We visited vineyards on both sides
of the valley. The Hermitage vineyards
are organic and the wines are made from the Syrah grape. It was great to climb the hill through the
vineyard. Beautiful views and perfect
temperature. We were pretty lucky with
the weather.
We had an early day back on the
boat because of the distance we needed to cover before tomorrow. However, it was a great afternoon. We sat on the upper deck and laid in the sun. We had a nice, light lunch in the sun with
the most amazing mojito’s ever. I also
had a spectacular fall off the back of my lawn cot – it was pretty epic.
We had a late day to get off the
ship so we had a nice sit down breakfast after mom and I went for a walk around
town. It was a really cute little town
with an amazing castle that is built into the rock around it. And it was connected to another town called
l’Hermitage. Interestingly enough, the
one town, Tournon is in one of the poorest districts in France, called Ardeche
and l’Hermitage is one of the is one of the richest. They are only separated by a bridge, but
because of the wine vineyards and the ancient salt taxes in l’Hermitage, the
two cities are very different and the wealth in each place is also so
different.We visited vineyards on both sides
of the valley. The Hermitage vineyards
are organic and the wines are made from the Syrah grape. It was great to climb the hill through the
vineyard. Beautiful views and perfect
temperature. We were pretty lucky with
the weather.
On the other side of the valley,
above Tournon, are the Saint Joseph Vineyards.
We climbed up a bit here to visit, but stopped at the ramparts to take
looks out over the city and to have a wine tasting. It was great because we got to have an
open-air winetasting of the local wine.
The tour guide actually works in a lab where she specializes in the
chemistry of wine. How cool is that?
Definitely not a job that you hear of in Canada all that often!
After our walking tour was over,
mom, Kendra and I headed back over to l’Hermitage to go to Valrhona chocolate
shop. I was reluctant to go because I
have not had a lot of luck with “free samples” at these chocolate places. This one was awesome. The chocolate was so amazing and there were
so many samples that I was almost feeling sick by the time we left the
shop. Definitely worth the walk over to
see the shop!
We were walking back to the boat
and Kendra and mom had a bit of a panic attack – the boat was in the middle of
the river!! We all knew that the boat
wasn’t leaving and that it must have just been moving away from the shore to
let another boat leave, but it was slightly disconcerting to see the boat in
the middle of the river!
We had an early day back on the
boat because of the distance we needed to cover before tomorrow. However, it was a great afternoon. We sat on the upper deck and laid in the sun. We had a nice, light lunch in the sun with
the most amazing mojito’s ever. I also
had a spectacular fall off the back of my lawn cot – it was pretty epic.
Dinner was awesome as well - like it always is! I am becoming quite the drinker. Lol.
We skipped the music and drinks
after dinner because it was cold. Funny
how cold is everywhere, even when it’s warm out! I dislike AC sometimes.
Night, -Allison
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