Cruising the Rhône before a visit to Chateau de Tournon

What a treat it was this morning to have nothing scheduled onshore this morning, so everyone could sleep in. After a late breakfast, we began the day with our cruise director Sylvie giving Part 2 of the Cruise Overview, where she outlined the Freechoice options for the coming days and we selected accordingly.
After this we headed up to top deck to take in the sights and appreciate the glorious sunshine that has finally arrived. We moved through a few locks - always an interesting experience and passed through some stunning villages with beautiful churches and statues, and observed some very steeply sloped vineyards grazing the hillsides along the river.

 

 

Following a late lunch in the dining room, we again moved upstairs as we waited to dock in the town of Tournon. It took a while before we were suitably moored, and by this stage the dockside markets were mostly packed up. Just a few stalls remained with some fascinating bric-a-brac including lots of vintage items, 2nd hand clothes, records and some cookware. Jules was desperate for some of the copper cookware, but alas even though 28 euro was an amazing price for the huge bowl, the weight of it (considering the rest of our trip and the flight home) prohibited us from purchasing.

As we approached the end of the day’s sunshine, most of the ship’s passengers headed up to the top of the castle (Chateau de Tournon).

Along cobble stoned streets and up lots of stairs an amazing view of Tournon greeted us. (Photo is courtesy of Liam - a young travel agent from Townsville)

Whilst taking in the views we were treated to drinks and canapés - a perfect way to put ourselves in the mood for dinner, on our return to ship.