Relaxing on the Rhone - a river cruise virgin's trip report.
 

Cruising, let alone river cruising, was never on my agenda until a couple of months ago when an old friend asked me to join her for 8 days on the Rhone, cruising between Lyon and Avignon. The original plan had been for my friend and her DH to go with an old university friend of his and his DW but her DH's chronic illness meant that he was too unwell to travel, so rather than cancel the whole trip she decided to invite me instead. Of course I had to think it over very carefully and 30 minutes after receiving her e-mail I was on the phone saying "yes"!

It took a couple of weeks to sort out the name change and other formalities with Riviera, [the tour company organising the cruise] but after that the only thing to do was to sit back and wait for the date to arrive, which it duly did, and the morning of May 16th saw me on the early flight from Newquay [in Cornwall] to Gatwick. There I picked up the train to St Pancras where we were going to meet before joining the Eurostar to Lille where we would change onto the TGV. My GF and I managed to spot each other through the crowds waiting to check in, and all was plain sailing until our travelling companions turned up or rather, the wife, C, did. She was very upset because the husband, V, had left his laptop bag on the tube train they had been on, and they had not discovered this until they got to St Pancras, so he had had to go back to Bakerloo to try to find it. And his passport and mobile were in it, so she wouldn't even know if he'd been able to find it until he turned up - or not!

After a rather tense 30 minutes, V arrived complete with laptop case, passport, and mobile. Luckily the staff at Bakerloo had found his bag so the trip was back on track as were we as we boarded the 12.59 Eurostar which turned out to be very full. At Lille we were met on the platform by the Riviera tour director, A, who shepherded us and his other charges onto the equally full TGV to Avignon, warning us that we'd have to be quick to get off at Lyon so to be ready with our luggage nice and early. The first problem however was where to put our luggage as this double-decker TGV was not well-appointed with luggage areas, and quite a lot downstairs had been taken by those who did not want to lug their bags up to the top level. However we managed it in the end and settled back for the 3 ½ hour journey to Lyon where we would join the boat.

Next up - the first of many, many meals and an unexpected chance to practice my Bulgarian.

Oh, I'm along for the ride! Looking forward to reading all about your adventures.

Ready to board!

Looking forward to more. I always enjoy your trip reports.

This is so timely -- I am thinking of a canal or river cruise this Fall. Looking forward to your TR.

This is going to be a fun read. River cruising is my favorite travel mode as of three years ago when I very hesitatingly signed on for a Paris/Provence ten day trip with Tauck. It turned out to be such a good fit (solo senior widow) I've done two more since then. Only wish I had discovered them sooner. I do hope your experiemce is as fulfilling as mine have been. Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

Just amazing the guy got his stuff from the tube people !!

I'm also on for the ride. I've been trying to get MDH on a river cruise for quite a few years but he's not buying it. Trying to talk a gal pal into it but unfortunately friends my age either have a lot of medical problems or, if healthy, don't have the funds to do so.

That said, I'll travel along with you. Let's go!!!!

Yay! I have been hoping you would post this Annhig. I took a river cruise with my cousin in December and now want to take another with Mr. Wonderful. The Rhone is high on my list.

Please report on the cabin, bathroom, bed, etc. I had some issues with AmaWaterways and have to find more comfort for Mr. W to go along.

What a good omen to start the trip with the return of your friend's laptop and documents!

That is truly a miracle the lap top was recovered! I'm looking forward to the continuation of your report. I've never done a river cruise, but have been interested.

I'm along for the ride too, thank you!

With my similar disinterest in a cruise, I am interested to hear your experience. And an annoying report is always good.

And an annoying report is always good.>>

well I hope I'm not going to be too annoying, ellenem!

thank you all for your interest. We were also relieved about the recovery of the laptop etc not least because the atmosphere between V&C might have been somewhat strained had they been lost. The fact that they had to change at Bakerloo because the train stopped there contributed both to the problem and to its solution, IMO - I think that it was the stress of having to change trains that caused the problem, but it enabled the to be found by the staff much more easily.

And it gave us something to tease V about every time we left the boat!

<<Please report on the cabin, bathroom, bed, etc. I had some issues with AmaWaterways and have to find more comfort for Mr. W to go along.>>

scootoir - please remind me to do this if I forget. In fact I can probably do better than describe it, I can post a link to the boat which was the MS Swiss Corona; this is the best picture of the sort of cabin that we were in that I can find:

http://www.iglucruise.com/ms-swiss-c...st-2015_c90077

for more pics of the boat, see here:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ms...TtQKbisoE7M%3A

Our cabin was on Ruby [the middle] deck [I think they get more luxurious the higher up you get] and though it was by no means spacious, it was fine for the two of us, with plenty of wardrobe and cupboard space, a small but well-designed bathroom with a quadrant shower so no corners to bang into and a useful under-basin cupboard in which to store toilet bags. we also had a small table and chairs, a mini-bar [with free water every day] as well as a shelf for the kettle, tea and coffee and information book. We also had a picture window which could be opened [called a french balcony I think] but no balcony as such, but that was ok with us as we were happy going up on deck if we wanted to sit outside.

A potential problem for those travelling with a friend as opposed to a partner is that although the bed was made up as two twins, there was in fact no space between them. GF and i have known each other for about 30 years and have shared a room before so we were fine with that but it's something to watch if that might not be the case for you.

ok - back to the cruise.

The train arrived on time at Lyon TGV station, and once we'd all managed to leap out before the train left [not all that easy with all the people trying to get on but you just have to be as ruthless as they are!] and been gathered together by the ever patient Alex [who turned out to be the cruise director] he led us outside to the coach park where we were told we would have a short wait for our bus to take us to the boat, which had had to moor further upstream than usual due to the high water level in the river preventing the captain getting it closer to Lyon.

10 minutes came and went however, and it was well over half an hour before the coach arrived, held up by Lyon's notorious "bouchons" or corks, Bouchon de Lyon meaning not only a restaurant but also a traffic jam! Once the coach arrived we were quickly loaded and about 30 minutes later we were alighting and making our way to the boat.

A quick note about luggage - from the time we boarded the coach at Lyon to when we left the coach at Avignon TGV station at the end of the trip the luggage was dealt with for us, but before and after that we were on our own. So if you are travelling by train, you need to be able to carry it on and off the carriages, and to manoeuvre it into or onto the luggage racks, which is not always very easy as there simply aren't enough, especially on the TGV. My case weighed only 12kgs on the way out, and about 16kgs on the way back, and that was quite enough for me to manage. We also had to walk quite long distances along platforms and round the stations with our luggage and if you were travelling with someone with restricted mobility that might also cause problems. OTOH you don't want to arrive at dinner on board every night wearing the same clothes so packing for a cruise, even a relaxed one like this, takes a little bit of thought. Luckily there was a laundry service on board but it wasn't cheap, so we used it as little as possible but if weight [luggage not you!] were a real problem it's something to consider.

Overall if there were concerns about this I would suggest flying not going by train; the decision, which suited me fine as I'd never used the TGV before and was keen to try it, had been made long before I came on board with the trip, but IME generally there would be far less lugging around of bags if you fly than if you go by train especially if you check it in, and if there is someone with mobility problems, you can always book special assistance.

Sorry - I keep getting sidetracked - now back to the boat!

A couple of days before the trip I'd come across a kindle book on amazon all about river cruising so I'd been reading it avidly and finished it just before we arrived. So I was prepared for the first thing to happen that I might not otherwise have expected which was the requirement to use the hand sanitiser dispenser that greets one as one gets on board, even before the first welcome drink! Duly sanitised and greeted with sparkling wine, we were invited to obtain our keys from reception, [GF and I had one to start off with but they happily supplied us with another when we asked] and make our way to our cabin where our bags quickly joined us.

Dinner was already being served so after a quick pit stop, we repaired to the dining room for our first meal on board. a hand sanitiser is provided at the entrance to the dining room and I noted that people were generally very good at using it, both going in and going out. My memory does not stretch to recalling what we were offered on our first night [or any night come to that, except the last, for which I still have the menu] but most evening meals took the same format - a starter [usually fish], soup, main course [often a choice and of course always something for vegetarians] cheese and/or dessert, followed by coffee or tea. Portions were not mean but were not so generous that I felt stuffed at the end of the meal and of course you could always miss a course if you liked. Unlike on some boats alcohol had to be paid for, but personally I prefer that as there is less risk of people over-indulging and I'm not paying for other people to drink! And with one exception [not bad for a whole week's meals] all the food was of a consistently high quality, and some of it was very good indeed.

After dinner we went up to the lounge and enjoyed a post-prandial brandy before getting an early night - the coach to take us back to Lyon for our tour of the city was due to depart at 8.45 so we would need to get an early start.

Tomorrow - food, food everywhere, but not a spot to eat!

Yikes! I was my autocorrect on my tablet replaced annhig with annoying! Definitely untrue!

I'd guessed as much, ellenem. but it gave me a laugh.

Thanks for all the info on the cabin. Was the mattress similar to a hotel bed? Sorry to stick on this topic but AmaWaterways had thin mattresses covered in vinyl that were worse than my college dorm.

Thanks for this report which is, as usual, both interesting and informative.

Our one river cruise (with Viking) was wonderful but we planned it so we would not have the "low water" issues (on the Rhine in our case) that have caused so many complaints about that particular company in the past.

Thanks for all the info on the cabin. Was the mattress similar to a hotel bed? Sorry to stick on this topic but AmaWaterways had thin mattresses covered in vinyl that were worse than my college dorm.>>

Scootoir, I'm not familiar with the AmaWaterways beds but these were normal in every respect - proper comfortable sprung mattresses, proper sheets over the mattresses, and duvets with duvet covers.

Dukey - as you will have guessed by now I had no hand in the planning of this trip, but our captain did a superb job in avoiding as many problems as the high water would permit. The main effects on our itinerary were in Lyon - other than that, I think it made little difference.

I wonder if the Viking boats are bigger and therefore less flexible?

Interested to follow along. I'm not a cruise person, although I enjoyed a few days with Hurtigruten last year, but have considered river cruising at some point. However, singles usually get penalized financially, or stuck in the worst cabins, so I was interested to see that this boat has single cabins with full windows.

However, singles usually get penalized financially, or stuck in the worst cabins, so I was interested to see that this boat has single cabins with full windows.>>

thursdaysd - while we were waiting for the delayed TGV at Avignon, I was talking to a woman who had been on our boat, travelling as a single, and she had had to book 18 months in advance to get one of the 4 single cabins because she didn't want to travel in cattle class or pay double. In the event she said that she had a small double and was very happy, though it was on the bottom row of cabins so I'm not sure that she did in fact have a full window. But we spent very little time in our cabin save when we were sleeping so I can't honestly say that the lack of a full window would have worried me.

Because we were moored further upstream than planned, our coach trip to the city took longer than it should and what with the traffic we didn't get there until gone 10 am. At some point the night before [or was it the following morning?] we had a brief meeting in which we were told about the itinerary for the trip to Lyon and asked to pick an excursion group [1,2, or 3] in which we would stay for the rest of the trip. All we had to do then was to board the coach bearing our number [we were in group 2] and follow the guide holding that no, and we were set. We also had audio receivers which we were instructed to turn to channel 21, 22, or 23 in order to hear the guides, on the basis that other groups' guides were likely to use 1,2, and 3, or even 11,12, and 13.

Once we picked up our guide, we did a brief coach tour of the city during which she imparted a lot of interesting information about the history of Lyon from the Romans to WW2, and then were dropped off at the Cathedral on the hill overlooking the town. The guide had quite a lot to say about this too but I got bored and on the pretext of needing the loo sneaked off to the souvenir shop hoping to find a birthday card for GF who had let slip that it was her birthday the following day. Success! they had a nice range of cards and even sold some in English, though I chose one in French which seemed more appropriate somehow.

After some free time to look round the cathedral we got back on the coach and were transported down to Lyon where after a short walking tour, including an explanation about the "traboules" or hidden passages between the buildings which were used amongst other things to hide resistance fighters from the Gestapo, we had some more free time, which C & I used to buy some small presents for GF, while V took her for a cup of coffee. I did some other shopping too, finding some great Asterix books in a book shop, which I knew that DS and DH would love. My only complaint was that having been reminded by the guide that Lyon sees itself as the culinary capital of France, and being walked past all those lovely restaurants, there was no time in the itinerary for us to have a meal there - it was very frustrating! OTOH I saw enough of Lyon to know that I want to go back and spend more time there - and not just for the food either.

So there was nothing to be done except get back on the coach and watch Lyon fade away behind us as we were driven back to the boat for lunch and a sail up the Saone river to Challons where we would moor for the next stage of our trip - a tour of the Burgundy vineyards and Beaune itself.

The "water level" issue seemed to be that the levels in some waterways at some times of the year were too low and the boat could not navigate. Busses were substituted, reportedly for days at a time since the company felt this was a comparable way to travel and refused to consider a cancellation or refunds.

The Viking "long ships" are just that: long and I have no idea what their draft dimensions are.

In the past, singles have always been at a disadvantage on most cruise lines since they either paid the price of two fares or they didn't cruise. These days, several of the ocean-going companies have added so-called "studio" cabins meant specifically for single occupancy.

I simply do not agree that singles have been "stuck with the worst cabins" unless one considers the cheapest cabins to be the "worst." And the fact remains that generally speaking, the cheapest and also the most expensive cabins on most ships are the first to sell out so there were either a lot of people in the "worst" cabins or somebody is mistaken and uninformed.

Lots of people have figured out that, for the most part, the cheapest cabins continue to have access to most, if not all, of a ship's many amenities so cabin position becomes of secondary importance.

The "water level" issue seemed to be that the levels in some waterways at some times of the year were too low and the boat could not navigate. Busses were substituted, reportedly for days at a time since the company felt this was a comparable way to travel and refused to consider a cancellation or refunds.>>

Dukey - the same applies if the water level is too high as the boats cannot get under some of the bridges. There had been torrential rain in the centre of France in the days before we arrived leading to a rise in the rivers which threatened to lead to the same for us; this is a frustrating but real possibility when river cruising but I don't know what the boat companies can really do about it.

Anyway, back on the boat we were welcomed with glasses of chilled juice, and then settled down to lunch while we made our way up towards Beaune. Lunches too had a general pattern - there was always the option of a soup and dessert, and the rest was a buffet, with a appetiser, hot and cold main courses, and lots of varied salads, breads, cheese, etc. followed by tea and coffee. There was also a "light lunch" available in the stern lounge area but we never took advantage of that, as the normal lunch could be as big or small as you wanted.

The days tend to merge into one, but after lunch I think we had a presentation on the next day's trip, followed by dinner, followed [or perhaps preceded, I forget!] by the presentation of the Captain and crew to the passengers, which they made into a nice little ceremony accompanied by some sparkling wine.

annhig, one of my questions about European river cruises is whether you dock right in the city so one can opt to tour on one's own. Clearly that wouldn't have worked in Lyon, but if you can highlight any cities where you could have done that, I'd appreciate it.

If you were up on the hill, you were clearly at the basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière and not at the cathedral which is down in the <i>vieille ville</i>. Maybe you shyould have listened to the guide instead of sneaking off. ;-)

<<The Viking "long ships" are just that: long and I have no idea what their draft dimensions are.>>

I don't know what draft dimensions are (know absolutely zero about cruise ships at all), but when we were in Bordeaux last month we were absolutely stupefied at the size of a Viking cruise ship casually sitting in the river Gironde by the tram stop for the Bourse. It looked like it had about a dozen "floors." We couldn't begin to imagine how a ship that size had come down river and ended up in central Bordeaux. It was monstrous; it took up the whole skyline. How?

I guess it's good business for Bordeaux, though, because every crappy café and bistro on the Place du Parlement, a short walk up from "the dock" (though it wasn't even apparently a dock, was overflowing with clients at lunchtime.

Enjoying your report, annhig, though I don't think I'm ready for a cruise quite yet.

I won't [unless you really want me to] describe every day in such detail as you'll have got the idea by now - breakfast was followed by an excursion, then lunch while the boat motored onto our next port of call followed by dinner. On the Wednesday [GF's birthday] and the Friday when we went to the Pont du Gard I think that it may have been the other way round, in that we did the sailing in the morning with an early lunch and the excursion in the afternoon, and when we were in Avignon we had the whole day there, which we took advantage of by having lunch in the town which made a nice change.

I will however describe the excursions to give those who are interested an idea of what to expect starting with the tour of Burgundy and Beaune.

We set off early in the morning [9am?] and were taken along the Route des Vins through several very pretty villages and past a lot of vineyards many of which are named in large letters so we could spot them from the coach. I learnt quite a lot, including that the best wines generally come from vines between 30-50 years old - viniculture is not for the impatient. After a short and pretty pointless photo-opportunity, we drove on to Beaune for a short walking tour, and a wine tasting where we were taught to sample the first and second "nose" of a wine before tasting it, and how swallowing ruins the palate for tasting [as well as getting you drunk if you have too much of course!]. Then we had free time for some wine sampling of our own, and a bit of retail therapy at the market, where on the advice of the guide I bought some olive oil flavoured with truffle [which is great with scrambled eggs and omelettes apparently] and "moutarde de bourgogne" which is locally made, as opposed to "moutarde de Dijon" which is made in China! There were also some lovely chocolate shops and stalls selling herbs, table linens, cheese, and even knives.

Again we lacked the time for more than a cup of coffee or glass of wine [or two] before we had to get back on the bus and return to the boat, as it was time for the boat to turn and try to get under the bridges of Lyon so that we could head south to Provence.

Anyone who was following me on FB will have seen parts of this afternoon, which considering all we were doing was sitting on the boat going down a river was quite exciting, as the captain successfully negotiated the low bridges in Lyon, shot some rapids [which we were able to do because of the height of the water] and took us through a succession of ever deeper locks. At one point we even gave a lift to a logging barge which had lost its engine and was stranded, lashing it to us and taking it downstream so it could moor up where there was access to the shore. GF, who had cruised before on the Rhine and the Danube said that the other rivers were more interesting than the Rhone, but I certainly found that afternoon very interesting.

The evening was spent celebrating GF's birthday - we had booked a table for dinner in the aft lounge where it's possible to have a special meal; it cost no more but had to be booked in advance and was limited to 20 or so people per night. The food was extra-specially nice, we gave GF her cards and presents [chocolates from me, a scarf from V&C] and there was a very nice atmosphere.

After dinner we moved to the lounge where we capped the night by winning the weekly general knowledge quiz and were rewarded by a bottle of bubbly which finished off the evening very nicely.

[oh dear, I seem to have done exactly what I said I wouldn't do - I will have to try harder!]

Annhig:
Really enjoying following along thus far on your TR and reading the various postings.Too bad you didn't get to have lunch in Lyon. Next time, with a jaunt through Les Halle's de Bocuse, reasons to go back, for sure.

Regarding cabins on the river cruise ships, my experience has been:

Tauck Paris/Provence - no single supplement with good sized cabins, very comfortable queen bed, on lower level, two set windows high up which, if standing, allowed a view at just above the water line. Pricey but most hands on from expert Tauck personnel, all excursions included, as well as wines at dinner, lots of nice extras.

Avalon - called them directly to request notifying when single supplement was dropped for Tulip Time Cruise date of my choice, whereupon I booked a double cabin on the mid level of the ship with a sliding door Juliet balcony for just a bit more than the SS charge would have been. Cabin size same as above, again very comfortable bed. Least hands on from aloof Avalon personnel, afternoon tea, wines at dinner included and a pesky charge for each of the several optional excursions I chose.

Uniworld - made same call for Bordeaux, Chateaux & Vineyards cruise, with like result of mid level cabin, floor to ceiling set window this time, once again comfortable bed. This cruise experience was my favorite, marvelous tour director, included all excursions except cooking class at Le Grand Bordeaux Hotel, wine at both lunch and dinner, afternoon tea, with gratis drinks of choice in the lounge at all times.

For those who think river cruising isn't for them, with a bit of "tweeking" here and there for the right fit, it might be worth a try.

Staying on board for more��

Oops - imoji not working - should have been :)

annhig, one of my questions about European river cruises is whether you dock right in the city so one can opt to tour on one's own. Clearly that wouldn't have worked in Lyon, but if you can highlight any cities where you could have done that, I'd appreciate it.>>

Kathie - had water levels allowed, we would have moored in Lyon I think, but one would have had to forgo the guided tour [to which I clearly paid insufficient attention as kerouac points out though in my own defence a basilica is a cathedral of sorts is it not?]

We did stop in the centre of Arles, and in Avignon, but only in Avignon did we have long enough to spend a whole day there. Looking now at the information supplied prior to the cruise starting, it's possible to work out where theoretically speaking you could do your own tour but because of the varying water levels, this can't be relied on.

St C - I think that what you saw was an ocean cruise ship not a river one because I can't see how they could get any further up stream due to the bridges. I've seen the same monstrosities in Venice and like many others worry about the damage being done by their wakes. We didn't see one in Bordeaux but I assume that the river must be pretty deep there for them to be certain of getting in and out again as being ocean going, they must have a much deeper draft than a river boat.

Enjoying your TR! Thanks!

@travelchat - thanks for the info. I've seen photos of the Tauck single cabins, and am not impressed.

@dukey1 - "unless one considers the cheapest cabins to be the "worst."" Obviously the cruise company thinks they are the "worst", that is why they are the cheapest... Most if not all of the single cabins on ocean going ships I have read about are interior.

Ocean-going cruise lines make little if any profit on the cabin fares. They make money on all the extras which they hope to sell you (excursions, gambling, alcohol etc.) and obviously if there is only one of you there will be at best half as many extras.

Hi travelchat - thanks for joining in and for your valuable comparisons of the different companies. I should have added that we had afternoon tea and cake every afternoon [though frankly we hardly needed it] and that all the excursions were free.

As you have mentioned the staff on your cruise boats, this is perhaps a good place for me to talk about ours who were almost without exception quite excellent. I suppose that they can be divided into 3 - the Captain and crew with whom we had little to do but on whose professionalism and skills we were entirely reliant, the "hotel" staff who fed, watered, and cleaned up after us, and the two Riviera staff, cruise director Alex and manager Mario, who organised the tours and transport. Of course I have nothing to compare the latter to, but I felt that they hit exactly the right level of involvement with their charges, and if there were any emergencies or serious logistical problems due to the high water we were certainly not aware of them.

Naturally the crew we had most to do with were the waiting and bar staff, and the receptionists, virtually all of whom were either Bulgarian or Romanian. My GF, whose DD is married to a Bulgarian gave one or two of them rather a shock by answering them in Bulgarian of which she knows a few words but their english was very good so sign language was not required. Nor was any French as barely any of the crew, save the Captain and First officer spoke any, apart from the Riviera staff. The standards of all the staff we had contact with were very high and I can find very little to fault them, in fact, nothing at all. They were polite, friendly but not overly familiar, and put on a very funny entertainment one night which was well judged for its audience.

Apart from that and the two quizzes there was no evening entertainment other than a pianist who played every afternoon and night. During the week I learnt that on other boats local entertainers come on board to do folkloric dancing and the like, which may appeal to some but not particularly to me.

Joannyc - thanks!

Thanks so much, annhig for the information. I'm enjoying your trip!

Thursdays, you might be interested to know that Pandaw has eliminated their single supplements on many (not all) sailings. And on most of the boats all of the regular staterooms are the same size, so no "worst" cabins for singles.

thanks, Kathie - glad to be of help.

I think that I am going to revert to the "daily diary" style as it makes it easier to remember what we did - lazily I made no notes at all and although this was only a week or so ago, the details are soon lost.

Thursday - the gorgeous gorges of the Ardeche.

GF, who is not fond of windy roads and precipitous heights, was dubious about doing this excursion, but on the whole I think that she was pleased that she did. We had time for a bit of a lie in this morning, a leisurely breakfast, and then the morning was more or less our own while we motored to the place from which we would be taken to the Ardeche. I recall that we had a presentation about the Gorges, and that at some point we had a safely talk, but that may have been the day before.

After an early lunch we were loaded onto the buses and taken off firstly to a lavender farm which was nice but as it was too early for the lavender itself lacked a little impact. Then we drove along the gorge, passing many beautiful spots, but stopping only twice, once at the Pont D'Arc, again at another vantage point to admire the wonderful views and finally at a tourist centre where it was possible to visit some underground caves, or would have been were they not closing 5 minutes later. I've seen loads of caves so I wasn't bothered but one or two mutterings could be heard that this should have been prioritised over the lavender farm which I could well understand. We also passed but did not stop at a relatively new attraction, the Chauvet cave, where as with Lascaux II they have made a life-size reproduction reproduction:

http://www.experienceardeche.com/pag...hauvet-cave/56

We were told that it has received huge numbers of visitors so anyone thinking of going, especially in high season, should really book ahead. This is something that I should have loved to see but I suppose that it is too difficult to fit these sorts of visits into the itinerary so I'll just have to go back.

As for the scenery it was definitely worth seeing and the roads really weren't too bad; GF sat on the inside seat and didn't shut her eyes too often!! The Pont D'Arc was gorgeous but even in May the river and the roads were very busy - July and August must be hell.

Back on the boat we dined and enjoyed a presentation about the Pont du Gard - which was to be the next day's excursion - whilst the boat sailed down through more locks towards Arles where we would moor the next day.

Oops - imoji not working - should have been...

I don't know, travel chat - i liked the ?? - they were very enigmatic!