AMS to IST: Back in the U.S.S.A.

Paris to Atlanta yesterday, then K.C. Jet lag not so bad coming this way, if you watch 4 movies and drink a lot (water, por supuesto) on the 9+-hour flight.

Airbus A330—it looked even bigger on the ground.

To catch up on the trip: we cast off in Lyon, then went down the Rhône to Vienne, Tournan, Viviers, Arles, and Avignon. (Where we inadvertently stayed an extra 2 nights, not to our chagrin.)

Here's a photo-dump of those stops, except for Avignon (still to come):

Vienne, an important town to the Romans, is chock-a-block with Roman Rubble and one of the prettiest stops on our itinerary:

Castle, intentionally dismantled on the orders of Cardinal Richelieu

Fortunately the scheisskopf left this Roman temple, smack in the middle of town, intact.

There are amazing ruins everywhere in Vienne.

Same, looking downhill

We hiked to a lookout which has a Catholic Church (surprise!), and tower/statue to the Virgin of La Salette, an apparition in France in 1846.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_La_Salette]

As one of the (Catholic) hikers remarked, "It's funny how She only appeared to Catholics."

The Virgin is black - carved from local volcanic rock

From there we could look down on Vienne and see our barge in the middle of the river:

Excessive

That afternoon there was an optional bus to the Cluny Abbey, which is famous—and bogus. The guide failed to mention that only about 5% of the original abbey is extant, thanks to the Calvinists, Popes, and French Revolution, so it was a waste of time (and our guide was a blithering eejit). Long bus ride to see a souvenir shop (everything else in Cluny was closed on Sunday).

Advice: skip this and go to the Cluny Museum in Paris.

Next, we moseyed down the Rhône to Tournan, which was the jumping-off point to a small-gauge steam railroad up into the mountains.

Have to admit, it was pretty cool.

At the top, the engine had to be turned around and put at the other end of the train.

Strangers on a Train—our lovely travel companions, Karen (our cousin) and Jenny (our good friend), who literally met the day we boarded the Viking Buri.

Travelers

Underage Train Driver

End of the Line. Hotel de Voyageurs, near the station

Rhône River sunset

The Buri stopped at sunset in the town of Viviers. The "Viking Daily," which was placed in our cabin every night to inform us of the next day's activities, had this to say about Viviers:

"Viviers Old Town is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in southern France... It is situated on a hill overlooking the river, and features a warren of narrow, winding cobblestone streets that climb from the [river] to the upper town... Near St. Vincent Cathedral, in the upper town, you will find panoramic views of rooftops and the Rhône Valley beyond."

Unfortunately, in their infinite wisdom Viking determined that we should see Viviers at 9:30 pm (PM!), but it was still a compelling walk. No captions, since I have no fkg clue what I was looking at:

I did, however, come across a tortie kitty on our tour named Josephine (the guide said she is a regular), who followed us for much of our walk. (Those photos didn't come out...)

The trip got a bit confusing on the last 2 days, as we woke up in Avignon for a day, sailed to Arles that night, then back to Avignon for the final stop. We had a fab walking tour of Avignon the first morning, which deserves a separate posting. (Especially given post-barge events.)

We took another optional trip to see Pont du Gard, an intact Roman aqueduct 1/2 hour away. The junket was spoiled by an ill-advised detour through a lame "Roman" museum at the beginning and a 1.5-hour wait for the bus at end, with little to do but spend pesos on trinkets. However, the aqueduct itself was amazing:

50 KM Nimes Aqueduct System:

If you're curious, this will explain what they accomplished here:

http://www.romanaqueducts.info/aquasite/nimes1/index.html

Old olive tree

Photos from the ludicrous museum:

It will cost you 5 Euros to pose here.

There were ersatz exhibits of the construction of the aqueduct, with a video of slaves toting huge blocks of stone on their shoulders like bales of hay—it was borrowed from Ben Hur or Spartacus. Really.

Selfie, after 45 minutes there.

Fortunately, I ran into a friendly stray cat at the top of the aqueduct. We did a real selfie:

Don't mind those teeth.

Endless ride back

On to Arles the next day—we docked a half-hour away in Tarascon, a nice little town. Walked around searching for an ATM—then, another bus ride!

Not again?!?

But we did see some interesting stuff on the way:

Tarascon castle

Some chrysanthemums

Perfect basketball court, doubles as a soccer field

It was raining and everything was closed in Arles. It's a grubby little town, really—if Van Gogh had not gone there I'm not sure anyone else would. (Travel is a subjective experience.)

A flamboyant Arabic (maybe) wedding emerged from the Hotel de Ville (City Hall) as we walked by:

She's not sure.

Well... okay!

The Romanesque façade of the main church in Arles is famous.

Close-up of Cheshire cat

Ancient Citroën truck outside the Coliseum— Jenny used to own one of these!

Door

Friendly poodle belonging to a dog-portrait shop

Dogs drool, cats rule.

[More to come from the Female side!]

FEMALE: Not much to add, partly because I skipped a lot of these sights, sick of getting up early to follow a paddle around towns. With the barge blissfully empty, the Internet was speedy and I could recharge my drained socialization batteries. I must contradict Paul about Arles. Even in the rain, with most places closed (this was a common theme on our trip: one must avoid France on Sundays and Mondays and mid-day any day), it had great charm. I also really loved Vienne: a totally livable small town a quick train ride from the large city of Lyon. Here are some photos from my point of view: