Beaujolais Vineyards

Another early start today as we left the ship in Macon to travel by coach to the Beaujolais region for some wine tasting and a tour of the castle by the Countess herself.

 

The Chateau de Montmelas in Montmelas-Saint-Sorlin was originally built as a fortress and housed soldiers, perched high on the top of a hillside in the stunning Beaujolais region. It has a long history having been handed down through generations of the same family for over 400 years! It was interesting to learn that traditionally property was passed from mother to daughter, not from Father to son, as we have become accustomed in Australia. We were not able to photograph inside but the grounds were spectacular.

   

  

After the castle tour we met a different guide who taught us about how this winery produces all their wine from the Gammay grape. Harvesting is done by hand on the steep slopes and this is where the girl who led the wine tasting usually spends her days working. Not a job for anyone with balance problems I would suggest.  The wine is made according to the traditional Beaujolais method, under strict government controls. We sampled three wines - a Rose, a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir and even bought a bottle of both the Rose and the Chardonnay to bring back to the ship - at 7 euro a bottle, they were pretty reasonable and very easy drinking wines.

Retuning to Macon we were greeted again by the spectacular floral roundabouts, where the tulips are in full bloom. The city is very proud to be the only city in France to have twice been awarded 4 out of 4 - the gold award for floral decorations.

The winding bus trip home put me in a sleepy mood, so after a light lunch I lay on my bed for an afternoon nap as we set sail for the city of Lyon.

 

It was a delightful way to spend the afternoon - so relaxing, and then we were able to enjoy the evening without being overtired. The wait staff were kind enough to move three tables together so that we had a table of eight for dinner, as usually six is the maximum. Dinner tonight didn’t exceed expectations as it usually does - all a bit mediocre (except for the raspberry sorbet for dessert which was delicious), but the company was good which made up for it.

 

Once dinner was over we were able to appreciate the beauty of Lyon at night as we just managed to squeeze under the very low bridges through Lyon. Top deck was closed to all but the sailors, who needed to bend down low to pass under safely. The wheelhouse had already been lowered and the top deck cleared for this journey into port.