OK, as most of you are aware, Mrs J put together a wine cruise a few weeks ago that sponsored the winemaker from Untamed Wine Estates, a winery near our old hometown of Fredericksburg (TX for those who didn't know). The river boat could hold about 140 guests, 50 or so of which were from our area of Texas. The wine tastings were very well attended with our group and a growing group of other passengers. The first session a few non-Texans came in and asked if they could join. The winemaker said "of course". Word got around pretty quick and the room filled up. Lots of fun and meeting new folks from around the world. But when not tasting wine, we spent a lot of time in various French small towns.
We got on board the boat at Lyon France, sailed down the Rhone to Arles, France, got on a bus to Marseille and flew home. Sounds boring doesn't it. Well, yes, the flight over and back were boring.
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However....As an amateur historian at heart, I was looking forward to seeing the historical sites. Suffice it to say there was an awful lot of history to be seen on the Rhone river. Our ship was the AmaWaterways AmaKristina, a very nice comfortable ride with but few guests on board (~140, the boat's limit).
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The views were awesome!
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| This was a typical view of the hillsides along the Rhone River. Lots of castles like this one. The vineyard is a lot (LOT, LOT) steeper than my phone could capture. |
Below is a picture of the entry to a bridge across the Rhone near Lyon France. If I recall correctly, and that's a big IF, this was build in the 12-1300's. Impressive even now.
The picture below was of a battlement that guarded the gates to one of the early towns we stopped in. Probably Viviers. Notice the skinny gate below the towers. Not many invaders could come through at any one time.
This was the other side of that gate. Notice it's a fairly long, skinny passageway. Again, invaders would have a hard time getting through. That would be Mrs. J in the photo. If she'd have spread her arms, she'd be very close to touching both walls at once.
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| My wife reminded me that this was a bath house! |
The guide also showed us this site. If you notice in the center of the shot, there are some parallel lines. According to the guide, those were likely caused by chariots, back in the day as it was at the same level as the lower levels above.
Peace out, y'all!
Flying was never my pleasure but it's great to see other countries without a Mc Dees or such right there.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, great story. Maybe somehow, I can convince my beloved to fly over for a river cruise.
Michael,
DeleteWell "Flying" was a pleasure (especially in an F-15) But, you and I are in complete agreement about Airline flying. It was a fabulous cruise. Highly recommended. All 3 have been very relaxing and well done. Amawaterways remains on our "to do" list.
juvat
Quite the visuals, thanks for the recap juvat.....as usual high ground dominates back in the day and that trebuchet has some good sized pieces of timber. Looks to be a well designed ship there......can't even say hundreds of fellow passengers, no crowding.....very nice.
ReplyDeleteNylon.
DeleteMy pleasure. You are exactly correct on the high ground comment. I didn't see anything that mentioned who won or who was defeated, but I'm betting on the Castle. The attackers would have been pretty tired when they got to the top. All the armor, weapons and spears, as well as dragging that trebuchet would have taken a toll on them. I'll have to ask Sarge if the strategy of a siege might have come about because the troops needed an extended R&R after that climb.
juvat
Wow Juvat! Thanks for the pictures.
ReplyDeleteI think we often forget that France has a very long history (going back to Greeks settling at Massalia (Marseilles) in 600 B.C. and the walking tour of one Julius Caesar in Gaul (58-50 B.C.). For at least 1500 years it was often a split state between the royal house, local nobility, and the occasional out of towner (like the Plantagenet Empire). Grateful you got to see a little of that history.
THBB, Yeah, you can read a lot about History, but walking the walk answers a lot of questions about how things were done back in the day. Highly recommend that cruise to anyone interested in history...and wine ;-).
Deletejuvat
"I had no ideer!" Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteJB
JB,
DeleteMy pleasure!
juvat
Great pics, the history of France is long and colorful.
ReplyDeleteYeah it is! Very Long and colorful!
Deletejuvat
Daily excursion part of the cruise?
ReplyDeleteYeah, on a river cruise there isn't that much distance so it's about 1 docking per day. We like it much better than the big cruise ships. Smaller# of Pax, one stop per day. We like them a very lot.
Deletejuvat
Glad y'all made it back, and that is an interesting part of France.
ReplyDeleteYea it is, being that close to the front there's a lot of history to see and explore
Deletejuvat
We once had a camping holiday in Normandy. One day we walked out of the camp site into the nearest hamlet. There we came across a small memorial for a tiny, specialist branch of the RAF who'd been there in '44. So what? That tiny branch included my father-in-law.
ReplyDeleteDearieme,
DeleteAs a retired fighter pilot, I've lost a few friends. I've also been to Normandy and seen the cemeteries. Every one of those markers identifies a hero in my mind. All of the above were doing their damnedest to keep us free.
juvat