By Georgeanne Brennan
Some of the world's most iconic wines are produced from vineyards along the Rhone River, and the Viking Cruise Lines itinerary "Provence to Lyon" offers multiple opportunities to savor them as well as the wines of neighboring Camargue and Beaujolais. The ship's shore excursions take passengers into vineyards and tasting rooms, the wines of the Rhone are served shipboard, and ports are replete with wine bars and restaurants featuring regional wines as well as wine shops for purchasing your own.
On a recent Rhone River cruise on Viking's ship Heimdal, I decided that in addition to enjoying the meals and wines shipboard and taking in the Roman ruins, medieval villages, Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance residences, I would seek out special places to lunch on local food and wine whenever possible.
Arles is a quintessential Provencal village with red-tiled roofs, the buildings ochre, rose and yellow, the wooden shutters green, blue or brick red. No wonder Vincent van Gogh painted more than 100 canvases during his stay there.
An indelible aspect of Arles is its Roman arena, considered one of the most well preserved in Europe, which is still used today for concerts and the popular French-style bullfights, where the bull is not killed but instead has ribbons or tassels around its horns that the "matador" must seize.
Arles is also the gateway to the Camargue, and although the ship offered an excursion there, I opted to stay in Arles for the afternoon to explore the town. There my friend and I discovered Gaudina, a restaurant specializing in local food that included a terrine of bull from the Camargue smoked over hay and served with arugula. It was a good match with a vin de sable, a white wine from vines grown in the Camargue's sandy soil.
Avignon, the famous city of the popes just upriver from Arles, was the next port of call. The Papal Palace, the largest Gothic building in Europe, dominates the city, and I could see its spires from my stateroom balcony. Like the Arles arena, the Papal Palace is a must-see. The rooms have towering ceilings, some still with bits of original fresco, and with a good guide, which I had, it is easy to imagine the comings and goings of the princes of the church during the nearly 70 years of the papal presence in the city.
When the tour of the palace ended it was time for lunch, and I had reserved a table at La Mirande, once a cardinal's mansion just across the narrow street from the papal palace, which is now a five-star hotel and restaurant. Lunch was served on the leafy stone terrace, where I feasted on grilled steak with early summer vegetables accompanied by the famous Southern Rhone wine, Chateauneuf du Pape, this one from Chateau la Nerthe, whose vineyards were just a half-hour away.
Cherries were in high season, so I chose the cherry clafouti with cherry sorbet. The long, leisurely lunch caused me to miss the optional afternoon excursion to Chateauneuf du Pape, but I contented myself with buying two bottles at the excellent wine shop, Suivez Moi, just a few steps from La Mirande. That evening our ship sailed by the ruins of the chateau itself.
We stopped at the village of Viviers in the Ardeche, where we walked the cobbled streets of the small village to reach its beautiful medieval cathedral, the smallest in France and standing high above the Rhone. Then we sailed on to the northern Rhone towns of Tournon and Tain-l'Hermitage, linked by bridges. Here the vineyards are terraced on the steep slopes of the river valley. On the left bank, two of the most famous wineries have their names on huge signs standing in the midst of their vineyards on Hermitage Hill — M. Chapoutier and Paul Jaboulet Aine.
One group from the ship hiked through the vineyards to Chapoutier's hilltop tasting room. Others, like me, chose to go to the winery's tasting room in the village of Tain-l'Hermitage. A particular favorite is the relatively rare Hermitage Blanc, a voluptuous blend of marsanne and Roussanne grapes. Only 25% of the wine produced in the appellation is white. The rest is red, almost exclusively syrah. I was also able to taste one of the famous St. Joseph wines, made from vines on the Tournon slopes of the right bank. A further advantage of being in the village was the proximity of the Valrhona chocolate headquarters, where I couldn't resist buying a bag of baking chocolate, but my friend bought a kilo.
Lyon, France's second largest city, founded by Romans at the confluence of the Rhone and Soane rivers, is considered to be the gastronomy capital of France. As the saying goes, three rivers flow into Lyon: the Rhone, the Soane and Beaujolais wine. Not surprisingly, Lyon is dotted with wine bars, wine shops and restaurants offering the fine wines of Beaujolais.
The first morning, after a panoramic morning tour of Lyon with a Viking guide, I walked across the Passerelle du Palais-de-Justice, crossing the pedestrian walkway over the Soane to the Presquile, "the almost island," for lunch at Monsieur P., a Michelin one-star restaurant on the elegant Place des Celestins, which is popular with locals. The food was magical. Who could imagine a "Black Heirloom Tomato" could become an entire dish, transformed into a carrier for so many flavors without losing its character? Paired with a wine from Beaujolais, it was an eclectic beginning to the meal.
The next day took me to Vieux Lyon, the Renaissance heart of the old city, this time to Le Comptoire, the bistro associated with the Michelin star Les Loges, for my final lunch of the trip. And what a lunch — roasted guinea fowl with a plethora of local vegetables, a rich sauce and a glass of Beaujolais, all savored on the restaurant's terrace, tucked into a cobbled corner of the vibrant city.
WHEN YOU GO
Viking Cruises: vikingcruises.com
Georgeanne Brennan is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
The imposing papal palace in Avignon, France, was home to church leaders for 70 years beginning in 1309. Photo courtesy of Georgeanne Brennan.
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