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Take to the Boats - France
by Frank Scragg

In 2002 Pam and I took the train to various European cities, which I wrote about in earlier issues of VISA. In 2003 we decided on river cruising. We booked two cruises, of which the first was a holiday in March on the Rhone to celebrate my ‘three score years and ten’, with ‘Viking’ through ‘Noble Caledonia’.

In March we drove up to Gatwick from Somerset, or at least to a B&B nearby for an overnight stay and a lift to the airport in the morning. The arrangement was that we got a taxi to Gatwick from the B&B and our host picked us up on the way back and looked after our car while we were away. It worked very well and we had one of the best breakfasts we have ever had at an English B&B. (If you are interested you can find ‘April Cottage’ on the Internet, it wasn’t quite so easy to find on the ground, as we didn’t approach from the right direction, being anxious to avoid the M25 in the rush hour!)

The hearty breakfast stood us in good stead as the flight to Montpellier was delayed! We spent a total of four hours at the airport, and we had been worried that we might be late through consuming our large breakfast! There was a special check-in for Noble Caledonia travellers and no difficulty there. Other travellers flew from Stansted and were very much delayed, arriving after we had sat down to dinner. They flew into Nice and lost one of their number in the airport there thus delaying the departure of the coach for Avignon where the boat, the Viking Rhone, was berthed.

Our cabin was small though quite adequate. There were two beds, one folded away and the other was a settee during the day. Cabin staff did the conversions while we were out and restored the beds in the evening. There was a small wardrobe, which contained a little safe and a small bathroom with a shower. (The bathroom was separate not in the wardrobe!) We had a picture window, which was very nice when we were moving but showed only stonewalls or close-ups of other boats when we were in port!

Sunday morning was spent looking around Avignon and visiting the famous bridge. Apparently folk used to dance under it rather than on it. I wasn’t dancing anywhere as I was suffering from gout! I don’t know what I had done to deserve that, the high-living theory is a myth, or so I am told. Fortunately my big toe became less painful as the week progressed and it didn’t stop me doing anything or going anywhere.

In the afternoon I sat on deck reading while Pam painted the plane trees growing in the car park across the road from the wharf. Pam is a watercolourist not someone who seeks to change the environment!

Monday saw us sailing along the Rhone. We passed through a lock, a very interesting manoeuvre, and saw lots of birds, although no examples we could not have seen at home. We explored Arles, visiting the amphitheatre and the ordinary theatre, saw the Egyptian obelisk and the Thermes de Constantine, baths possibly built by the eponymous emperor, not literally, I doubt whether he got his hands dirty, baths or not! We were back aboard to sit in the sunshine on deck at five o’clock, reading and sketching.

The next day it was up early to wait for our guide on the coach, she arrived and after twenty minutes we set off for Nimes. Our first visit was to the natural springs that bubble up in a large semicircle of rushing water. They had been decorated with lots of marble balustrades and statues including a number of rather obese putti. Then we visited the Amphitheatre, not as impressive as the one at Arles but with a bubble top so that it could be used in bad weather. We saw the brand new library designed by Norman Foster standing across the square from the ancient Maison Carrée, which had served various functions since Roman times. We returned to the boat and sailed southwards to reach the open sea near Marseilles.

Wednesday saw us on the coach again, this time heading for Aix-en-Provence, a lovely town all cream and gold, and where Cézanne had lived. We went into a church where there were more organ pipes than tourists! It was a puzzle to guess where the sound was coming from! (We did spot the organist on his little balcony) It was very pleasant to have a musical accompaniment to wandering! We passed through the market on our way back to the coach, such large and colourful fruit and veg!

Back to the boat for lunch, then off again to the Camargue. We saw lots of birds, most of which (egrets, buzzards, avocets etc.) we could have seen in England but also an osprey and, of course, lots of flamingos. Then there were white horses, some with brown offspring. Apparently they don’t turn white until they are a few years old. We wandered around a little seaside town, which could have been almost anywhere, then coached back to the boat. We would have liked a bit more time in the ‘wilds’ to see the birds and animals.

It was lovely to wake up and have a view this morning, instead of a stone wall or another boat. We were in Arles. After a look around we had an early lunch and went by coach to Orange to see, among other things, the 1st century theatre which still has some of the original statues. We were told why this particular theatre had been spared the damage of some of the other nearby theatres, but I am afraid I was beginning to suffer from information overload and I can’t remember! Due to some road closures and a new driver we drove three times around Orange! The driver was going to Milan the following day; I hope she got there all right! Next stop was Chateauneuf du Pape. We drove over an invisible line between identical looking vines, on one side the grapes would produce wines bearing the name Chateauneuf du Pape and those on the other side would be forbidden to use the name! We had a tour around a vineyard and winery and had several medal winning wines to try and had them explained to us. It was interesting to taste wines which were rather more expensive that those we usually buy. I am afraid I didn’t care for them very much! As we said goodbye to our guide for the day, I kissed her on each cheek in what I thought was the French way. “No, no,” she said, “In Provence we do it three time”, so I got another kiss!

Friday was our last day and we spent the morning looking around Avignon, visiting ‘Les Halles’, the covered market. Its stalls covered in mouth-watering goodies, cheese, olives, meats, fish and confectionery. We walked along the street which once housed the dyers where there were waterwheels at the side of the buildings some still in working order. We passed the baths built by the Emperor Constantine, and we emerged on the riverside and walked back to the boat for lunch; we thought it might be pleasant to walk along the promenade in the lamplight after dinner, then we noticed the vast amount of dog mess and decided against it!

After lunch we visited the Palais des Papes, home of the Popes when they lived in Avignon, not a dancehall! The views from the roof and from the gardens across the river and down on the famous, if impractical bridge, were wonderful. The duty free at Montpellier airport was rather disappointing - it was little more than a kiosk. So it did not matter that our time there was cut short because an unaccompanied case had been discovered, so they got the plane away before it exploded: the case I mean! We never heard if it did or not. Flying near Paris the second pilot told us we were passing over his mother-in-law’s house but we did not see anything falling!

All in all a very enjoyable winter break and we were very lucky with the weather.

First published in VISA issue 63 (Oct 2005)