Viene on thé Rhone


Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny in Viene with the promise of a great morning hike up the slope of Mount Pipet (say “pip-PAY”) for a great view of this small city. 

But let me return to Saturday evening.

As we prepared to leave Lyon and head south on the Rhone to Viene, I spent some time in the pool with some of the new friends I’ve made on board. Everybody is having a good time, and having a drink and a few laughs in the pool goes right along with that. 


Then, after a nap and cleanup, our group got to spend a special evening having dinner at the “Chef’s Table,” a small private room at the stern of the ship, where everyone aboard gets to spend one special dinner. This is haute cuisine at its finest. I’ve never experienced a dinner with so many extraordinary courses and so much fine wine.  Don’t get me wrong; dinner in the “regular” restaurant is really nice. But this is a special experience for all. Here are a couple of shots from our table:






There’s something else I wanted to share about our ship and the process of sailing down the Rhone, where there are quite a few very old towns and some very old, and particularly LOW bridges. Our boat has four levels, including the “sun deck” on the very top. This is where the pool is, of course, but there are also deck chairs and umbrellas, railings, and the pilot house. 

In order to head downriver under some of the low bridges, everything on the sun deck has to come down, literally, so that the boat can clear without anything, or anyone, for that matter, being struck while passing under the bridge. If it’s REALLY a low bridge, passengers are not allowed on the sun deck, and the crew needs to break everything down as flat as possible. Here’s what the deck looks like:

With Stuff up



With Stuff down


With Stuff up again


So, back to Sunday morning. We gathered with the group going all the way to the top of the mountain, so we could get a view of the city from above. I made it, and there were even some photogenic sights along the way.









From the top






Back on the boat for a noon-time sailing. 

Life is good. 

NEXT:  Wine and Chocolate along the Rhone

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