SS Catherine, Lyon to Avignon 3/22/15 - Live

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Arles on our own, continued:

 

We hurried back to the Roman Amphitheatre to take a look inside. It was reasonably well-preserved and it's still in use today, though they have erected scaffolding and metal seating over the original stone seats. They still have the “bullfights” here, as I've mentioned previously.

 

 

The structure was built from limestone; this piece has a fossil embedded in it. This rock was already ancient when the Amphitheatre was built in 90 AD...

 

 

Note that the square towers visible on either end of the Amphitheatre were not part of the original structure. The four towers were added later, during the 5th and 6th Centuries, when the Amphitheatre was used for defensive purposes. Houses were built inside, and the Amphitheatre became a fortress during the Middle Ages. Three of the four towers survive today, after restoration in the 1800s.

 

 

I like the symmetry of the supporting arches as they arc around the outside of the structure.

 

 

From the top of one of the watchtowers, we could see the Rhone to the north of us. The church that appears in this picture (left side) is Église St-Julien, built in the early 12th century. It was looted during the French Revolution, and destroyed in WWII, but rebuilt. It's no longer used as a church, but they have concerts and special events there.

 

 

We didn't spend too much time here as we had to get back to the bus by noon for the trip back to the ship. There was a second shuttle bus at 3PM had we wanted to stay longer – but we also wanted to see Tarascon. So we figured we'd do as much as we could until noon, then get back to the bus for the early ride home.

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Arles on our own, continued:

 

Next stop was the Ancient Theatre, which was not in as good shape as some we had seen last year in Turkey. Here is an overview shot from the seats:

 

 

And another, showing the remnants of the columns that used to be behind the stage. The bell tower visible in the city beyond is that of St-Trophime, another 12th-Century church that we won't have time to visit today.

 

 

You can walk around behind the seating gallery, and take the enclosed stairs up to the concourse. The view exiting the stairs is nice, but it must have been spectacular when the Theatre was in its glory, with a complete set of columns forming the backdrop to the stage.

 

 

Here are a few lonely columns, and another view of the St-Trophime bell tower:

 

 

It's getting close to our departure time... 11:40 now, and maybe we should start heading back to the bus. Or is there more to see?

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Arles on our own, finishing up:

 

We took the long way back to our bus, detouring for a photo stop at L'église Notre-Dame-la-Major. In English, it seems to be called the Church of the Purification of Mary – which doesn't translate for me.

 

 

We were distracted by a scenic viewpoint and had to stop for another picture. Here in the distance, you can see Mont Ventoux, a landmark from many points in Provence.

 

 

And a closeup of the Abbey of Montmajour:

 

 

One last pretty little street to walk down before heading back to the bus home.

 

 

We arrived at the pickup spot right on time, but Philippe wasn't there yet. He showed up a few minutes later with the group and we all reassembled. There was a much longer delay than anticipated before we left; later, we found out that this was due to an issue with one of the tour buses. There were four buses from Tarascon to Arles; three were going back to the ship, and one was to continue on with the group that had signed up for the optional tour of Les Baux.

 

We heard later that the bus to Les Baux had a broken window, so the optional excursion group had to switch to one of the other buses – but first, they had to get all of their items from their original bus, then the group whose bus was commandeered by the optional excursion had to split up among the remaining buses. It was a bit of musical chairs, but everyone was accommodated, and we were back at the ship with plenty of time for lunch. Our walking tour of Tarascon leaves at 2:00.

[jpalbny]

Saturday 3/28, Arles and Tarascon:

 

A few maps to orient you. Here's Arles, with the dropoff point marked - note two stars near the top of the map. One, at the traffic circle, is just outside the city gates and that's where the first few tour buses dropped their passengers off. This is the traffic circle with Van Gogh's yellow house, and the fountain, in my pictures a few posts back.

 

We didn't get dropped off there, as the other buses were blocking our access to the spot... So we went by the train station then down along the river to a spot near the river boat docks and the lion gate - so that's the second star, nearer the top of the map:

 

 

And Tarascon, with our docking point, all the way up at the top of the map. It was an easy 5-minute walk to the Chateau de Tarascon from here. Note: there's a steep hill once you disembark - you have to climb up to get to the main road. Once you're on the main road, there are a few hilly parts but nothing too bad. The town itself is quite level.

 

 

Lastly, here's the walking route we followed in Arles. We stayed with the tour until they reached the former hospital (bottom, left-most extent of the red path), then we went off on our own to see the rest of the Roman ruins.

 

 

Back to Tarascon for some more touring next.

Edited April 24, 2015 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Tarascon Walking Tour:

 

Note: the front desk had prepaid tickets to the Chateau de Tarascon available for those who wanted to visit on their own. A nice touch, so you didn't have to purchase them yourselves if you wanted to go without a large group. We picked some up before lunch and kept them for later.

 

We gathered at the pier for our 2PM walk, and met our guide. It is a little bit of a climb to get to street level from here, but easy enough. As we walked into town, some nice views awaited us. It's a beautiful Springtime here in Provence!

 

 

We stopped at the Chateau de Tarascon for a minute, and our guide had a few more tickets if anyone hadn't picked them up from the front desk. We already had ours... Looks like a cool castle!

 

 

These two pictures tell a story. On the left is the Collegiate Church of St. Martha. She was the sister of Lazarus and a friend of Jesus who is mentioned in the New Testament. On the right is the Tarascon monster (named "Tarasque"), a river-dwelling amphibious beast who terrorized the area, devouring townspeople and animals.

 

These two are linked by a legend from the first century AD, which tells that Martha and Lazarus left Palestine to settle in Provence after the events of the New Testament. When Martha heard about the town's plight, she used Holy Water and the sign of the cross to calm the marauding beast. She was then able to tie a leash around the monster and thus, the town was spared.

 

 

Here's another example of local humor. The first sign talks about this being a place where justice was served for over two centuries. The second sign proudly proclaims an important event which happened here on April 17, 1897... Absolutely nothing!

 

 

The friends of Old Tarascon have a sense of humor! Onward, to hear about other local lore and legends!

Edited April 24, 2015 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Tarascon Walking Tour, continued:

 

We headed deeper into town along Rue des Halles, where there were a series of shops along the arcades lining both sides of the street. Here is another representation of the Tarascon monster. This is brought out every year for parades where they celebrate St. Martha's victory over the monster. I like the electric lightbulbs in the eyes, and the crazy hair!

 

 

This statue is of another local legend – this one entirely fictional. The novelist Daudet (represented by the bust on the lower part of the statue) wrote three books in the late 1800s whose central character was Tartarin of Tarascon. He is a well-meaning character who boasts and exaggerates a lot, which puts him into funny situations when he has to actually do what he says he will...

 

The townspeople elect one of their own to be “Tartarin” and he marches in the parade every year. This statue is dedicated to the character. He's shown here standing on a lion skin which he's hunted – of course, it wasn't much of a hunt, but he sure told a heck of a story about it!

 

 

I found a brief synopsis of the first book here, which I have quoted:

 

Tartarin dreamt of adventure from a very young age, read travel books and loved hunting. A chatty, boastful, skilful liar and believer of his lies, he gained a reputation in the town as a great hunter. Unfortunately though, game was rare in the hills around Tarascon so one day, Tartarin decided to tackle a worthy adversary…a lion. This marked his departure for Africa where dangerous but glorious adventures were waiting for him. When he got back from his African adventure, he triumphantly spoke of his imaginary extraordinary exploits and was adored by the townsfolk who were proud of their hero. From then on Tartarin could bask in glory…

 

Alphonse Daudet may exaggerate the Mediterranean temperament in this tale but he has succeeded in combining all the facets of the people of Tarascon to produce his boastful but friendly character. Although the work was badly received by the people of Provence when it came out, Daudet’s work has made the town famous. All in all, Tartarin makes the Tarascon townsfolk laugh and, in turn, they have given him a place in the Tarasque parade.

 

Tartarin is so well-known that his name has become a verb to describe his character – the word “tartariner” means “fanfaronner” – to boast and exaggerate openly about ones character or accomplishments.

 

 

After this, we stuck with the group a little longer, but the next stop was a tour of the cotton factory. We decided that we'd had enough group touring for one day, so we took our leave and decided to head back to the Chateau de Tarascon for our own tour. Along the way, we walked past the Hotel de Ville; the square was pretty empty now and we were able to get a better angle for a picture. If you notice two folks sitting at a table in the lower right, sipping beer, those are two folks from our boat, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, and having a good time too.

 

 

Along the way, we passed by a few other nice arches.

 

 

Back to the Chateau before the group tour ends and everyone else rushes it!

Edited April 24, 2015 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Chateau de Tarascon:

 

We made it back to the castle in short order and spent a few minutes enjoying the gardens. They were on the ground level, just within the walls.

 

 

From the ground level, you enter into a courtyard that is several stories high and open to the sky above. The circuit tour takes you up one side of the castle through a series of rooms, including a view of the chapel from a balcony above the ground level.

 

 

There is a fair amount of climbing, but finally you get to the roof where you can enjoy a spectacular view of the castle and the surrounding area. The sun and blue sky were spectacular today. Here is the Chateau de Beaucaire, in the town across the Rhone from us. No time to visit this today, I'm afraid.

 

 

And another view of St-Martha's Church.

 

 

I really liked the gargoyles that were hanging off the side of the building. You could see them clearly from our perspective up on the roof. They are all a little different - each a work of art.

 

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Chateau de Tarascon, continued:

 

We stayed up on the roof for a while, enjoying the sunshine and views. Tomorrow, we know we'll be coming home to much less pleasant weather...

 

 

The roof surrounded the central courtyard where we first entered the castle. From this perspective, it was ridiculously high up. It was pretty vertiginous to look over the edge, and there wasn't much of a railing! The people walking on the floor below look tiny.

 

 

Here's SS Catherine, docked a little bit up the Rhone, waiting for us to return.

 

 

And another view of the ubiquitous Mont Ventoux. The steeple in the foreground belongs to the Monastery of the Visitation. We had thought about visiting, but ran out of time.

 

 

Time to leave the beautiful vistas on the roof, and head down the other side of the castle. The sunshine was wonderful and it was hard to tear ourselves away from it.

 

They had some interesting exhibits on this side, about all the different ways that castles had been portrayed in movies, literature, and art over the years. It was all in French, so I had a good time trying to translate it for Chris...

[jklc123]

JP. Thanks so much for your wonderful travelogue! We're almost packed and ready to go. We also like to follow along with the so informative local guides, who point out things we would have missed otherwise, but also like to strike out on our own when we can. Your posts will be very helpful as we do so on the Rhone. We'll look for Philippe!

[jpalbny]

jklc123,

 

Have a great trip! Are you doing this trip in the opposite direction than we did?

 

Please feel free to add any details to this log that I've forgotten. I wish I had written down more about the meals - they were so good. And the wines... I'd also love to hear about any differences between the tours going in the opposite direction.

 

If you remember, give our regards to Ulf and Rowena. They probably won't remember our names, but they might remember the couple on the first cruise of the season who danced in the lounge a lot.

 

Safe travels, and I hope you enjoy this trip as much as we did. :)

Edited April 25, 2015 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Saturday, 3/28 – Chateau de Tarascon, finishing up:

 

One of the rooms in the Chateau was used as a prison. The prisoners left behind some great graffiti. A ship,

 

 

And a castle.

 

 

That was about all there was here, so back to the boat to prepare ourselves for the last night on board... Here's a map of our walk this afternoon.

 

 

Time to head back to the boat for our dinnertime sailaway back to Avignon.

 

**

 

Back on the boat, we packed most of our things before dinner, which was the usual fun affair with our group of six. Afterward, more time in the lounge with Ulf and Rowena. We met up with Ingrid after dinner as well to sign up for another cruise. We initially signed up for China in March 2016 – but since we've returned home, they canceled the March sailings and we would have had to move to May 2016, and a long trip didn't work for us that month. So we transferred the booking to an April 2016 one week sailing on the Danube.

 

Tonight, Daylight Savings Time began in Europe which made it doubly painful, as we had to move the clocks an hour ahead. We had a somewhat civilized 7:30 transfer to the Marseilles Airport, but that made it feel like 6:30... So, we didn't stay up too late tonight, and had our bags packed and ready to go before we went to bed.

 

**

 

Sunday 3/29, Homeward Bound from Avignon / Marseilles / Paris / Atlanta:

 

The transfer to Marseilles was six of us in a regular taxi-van. It was not quite an hour drive there, and the weather was gorgeous again. Blue sky, bright sun... Here's Avignon one last time as we left.

 

 

Marseilles airport was fairly small but the security lines were a little slow. They have WiFi which we were able to access for free using Boingo – one of the first times that's ever worked internationally. Our flight to Paris was on time and we moved through De Gaulle efficiently enough to have some time in the lounge before the Atlanta flight.

 

That flight left 30 minutes late, and we flew further south than the original flight plan to avoid turbulence. It was a long flight, and we arrived in Atlanta almost an hour late, so our relaxing two hour layover had evaporated. We have Global Entry, so customs was faster than it could have been, and luckily security was very quick as well. Nonetheless, we arrived at the gate for our Albany flight as they were halfway through boarding, so very little time to spare. We pushed back maybe 20 minutes after we boarded; amazingly, both of our bags made the connection!

 

**

 

So it was a great trip with beautiful stops, great crew, and delicious food and wine. Lots to see, and not nearly enough time to do it all. Looking forward to our next trip with Uniworld!

[Host Jazzbeau]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise! This was the best review I've ever seen -- and perfectly timed as a preview of our upcoming trip in September. I have PDFd all your posts to share with the others in our party.

[jklc123]

jklc123,

 

Have a great trip! Are you doing this trip in the opposite direction than we did?

 

Please feel free to add any details to this log that I've forgotten. I wish I had written down more about the meals - they were so good. And the wines... I'd also love to hear about any differences between the tours going in the opposite direction.

 

If you remember, give our regards to Ulf and Rowena. They probably won't remember our names, but they might remember the couple on the first cruise of the season who danced in the lounge a lot.

 

Safe travels, and I hope you enjoy this trip as much as we did. :)

 

We are also doing Lyon to Avignon, taking the train from Paris to Lyon after the Normandy portion of our trip. We recently added two nights in Paris on the way home from Marseilles. Just couldn't do with the brief time we have with Uniworld there. Sunday we hope to walk from the Uniworld dock to the Eiffel Tower before all aboard time. Should work if the flight and airport transfer are on time.

 

I'll post some comments after we return and recover from jet lag!

[dbncsuvet]

Thanks so much for your review JP! It will really help when we go on our trip (although it is still more than a year away, boo!). The maps of the towns were especially helpful, as we also like to travel out on our own a bit. I thought we were going the opposite direction but we are doing Lyon to Avignon as well, so your descriptions of the tours were very helpful. I think we will definitely do the optional Pont du Gard tour but that may be it for the extra ones. We are going to fly to Paris a few days early, then take the TGV to Lyon on embarkation day. After the cruise, I think we are going to stay a day extra to visit Les Baux since it is pretty close to Avignon.

 

I also enjoyed your comments about being able to read the French signs and speak French to some of the locals. It is good motivation to keep up my French studies! Je veux parler Francais!

 

I am glad to hear your trip was so wonderful! Merci beaucoup!

[mimmy52]

Thanks for your great trip report. Every time I read one from you it adds more to my list of trips I'd like to take.

[jpalbny]

We are also doing Lyon to Avignon, taking the train from Paris to Lyon after the Normandy portion of our trip. We recently added two nights in Paris on the way home from Marseilles. Just couldn't do with the brief time we have with Uniworld there. Sunday we hope to walk from the Uniworld dock to the Eiffel Tower before all aboard time. Should work if the flight and airport transfer are on time.

 

I'll post some comments after we return and recover from jet lag!

 

Great - can't wait to hear about your trip. The weather should be nicer and I bet trees and flowers will be blooming beautifully. I hope you post some pictures so we can see the difference, and I especially hope your weather in Tain l'Hermitage is better!

 

I assumed you were starting on Sunday, and I know the ship is in Avignon then because it's exactly 4 weeks tomorrow since the end of our cruise. But I forgot that you're doing the double cruise and you have the Normandy half first. The four people we hung out with at dinner every night had all done the 2-week cruise as well, and they spoke highly of it.

 

If the lines aren't too long, it's not that bad a climb up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, and it's only €5. And it's a good way to get the blood pumping again after a long plane ride! That's what we did Christmas afternoon, after we landed.

[jpalbny]

Thanks so much for your review JP! It will really help when we go on our trip (although it is still more than a year away, boo!). The maps of the towns were especially helpful, as we also like to travel out on our own a bit. I thought we were going the opposite direction but we are doing Lyon to Avignon as well, so your descriptions of the tours were very helpful. I think we will definitely do the optional Pont du Gard tour but that may be it for the extra ones. We are going to fly to Paris a few days early, then take the TGV to Lyon on embarkation day. After the cruise, I think we are going to stay a day extra to visit Les Baux since it is pretty close to Avignon.

 

I also enjoyed your comments about being able to read the French signs and speak French to some of the locals. It is good motivation to keep up my French studies! Je veux parler Francais!

 

I am glad to hear your trip was so wonderful! Merci beaucoup!

 

Waiting that long is tough! But, it gives you more time to plan... :)

 

Glad you're taking the TGV to Lyon. It's so simple, and an easy walk or tram from the station to the boat. Great idea to spend the extra day or so in Provence to visit places that you can't get to from the boat. We didn't have time for that this trip, but we've been looking to do a ground-based trip to Provence for some time, and now we are extra motivated.

 

And definitely keep up with the French studying! It makes the trip so much more enjoyable. Even with my limited ability to speak with all of the fun people we met, it made for some funny conversations and great memories. Funny thing, at the end of the trip while we were heading for our gate in De Gaulle, an older woman came up to me and asked for directions in French. While I'm under no illusion that I could pass for a local, it made me feel like a little more than just another tourist.

[jpalbny]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise! This was the best review I've ever seen -- and perfectly timed as a preview of our upcoming trip in September. I have PDFd all your posts to share with the others in our party.

 

Thanks Jazzbeau. I hope your cruise is great too!

 

Thanks for your great trip report. Every time I read one from you it adds more to my list of trips I'd like to take.

 

Thanks mimmy52. The problem with traveling is that you meet so many other travelers and swap stories. We have been to a lot of great places, but we keep hearing about so many others. It could be a full-time job!

[jklc123]

Great - can't wait to hear about your trip. The weather should be nicer and I bet trees and flowers will be blooming beautifully. I hope you post some pictures so we can see the difference, and I especially hope your weather in Tain l'Hermitage is better!

 

I assumed you were starting on Sunday, and I know the ship is in Avignon then because it's exactly 4 weeks tomorrow since the end of our cruise. But I forgot that you're doing the double cruise and you have the Normandy half first. The four people we hung out with at dinner every night had all done the 2-week cruise as well, and they spoke highly of it.

 

If the lines aren't too long, it's not that bad a climb up the stairs of the Eiffel Tower, and it's only €5. And it's a good way to get the blood pumping again after a long plane ride! That's what we did Christmas afternoon, after we landed.

 

We are now on the River Baroness and just left the dock for the next port. We did walk to the Eiffel Tower this afternoon, but unfortunately in light to moderate rain. We're not as young as you and Chris so we didn't climb the tower! On the way we did walk through the island with the Statue of Liberty, which was pleasant. Only 78 passengers on board and a full complement of staff so service should be even more super than usual, if that's possible.

[ewizabeff]

We just booked this itinerary on Emerald Waterways, on the new Emerald Liberté (Debuting 2017) for a July 1, 2017 sailing. Although we adore Uniworld, some friends of our had gathered a group and negotiated a rate that was too good to turn down. I look forward to re-reading your trip report (and Jazz's from AMA) as I get into planning.

 

It's getting tough to juggle all of our trips now, which is a great problem to have! 4 overseas trips (UK, Netherlands/Germany, Japan, France) in the next 14 months, and three of them are independent tours. Woohoo!

[jpalbny]

We just booked this itinerary on Emerald Waterways, on the new Emerald Liberté (Debuting 2017) for a July 1, 2017 sailing. Although we adore Uniworld, some friends of our had gathered a group and negotiated a rate that was too good to turn down. I look forward to re-reading your trip report (and Jazz's from AMA) as I get into planning.

 

It's getting tough to juggle all of our trips now, which is a great problem to have! 4 overseas trips (UK, Netherlands/Germany, Japan, France) in the next 14 months, and three of them are independent tours. Woohoo!

 

Have a great time...have to admit to being a little envious of you, going back to the Rhone. Chris and I were just talking today about revisiting the south of France to hit all the places that we missed on this trip. Probably no time for that for another few years, though. Too many other places to go.

 

It can be a challenge to juggle multiple trips, but it's a great problem to have. We only have two future trips booked, so we are a little antsy now, feeling like we're falling down on the job! We are looking at a bunch of different options for next year. One consideration is India with Uniworld, early 2017, another possibility is a South America cruise late in 2017 on Silver Explorer. In between, we would love to do another European delivery trip but first, we have to figure out which car we'd like...

 

I use TripIt to keep track of multiple itineraries at once. The free version works well enough for me. Otherwise they just become a big jumble. And my greatest fear is that I'll book something for the wrong day - with the itineraries organized in TripIt, that shouldn't happen. :cool:

Edited May 16, 2016 by jpalbny

[ewizabeff]

I use Tripit too! I love seeing the count of how many days there are until my next trip.

 

I'm glad my husband doesn't read this forum - he'd be very anxious to start buying Audis and taking delivery in Europe...... I've managed to hold him off for now.