One nice thing about barge cruising in France is learning about the local traditions. Since Christmas is coming up soon, it made me think of santons.

During the French Revolution, when the churches were closed and not allowed to have Nativity scenes, an artisan from Marseilles started the tradition of making santons (”little saints”) for ordinary people to  have  Nativity scenes at home. 

These small figurines represent not only the traditional figures of Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, etc. but also various personnages typical in a French village.  For example, we have one of a woman carrying lavender and another of a man playing pétanque (a form of boules similar to bocce ball). Some of the figurines have the costumes painted on them, while others are dressed in clothes like dolls.

A santon fair was started in Marseilles in 1803, and now there are fairs and festivals all over Provence in November and December. Although this isn’t cruising season, if you get a chance to go to Provence at that time of year, be sure to check out these fairs. (You can buy santons all year round in gift shops.)

“The largest Nativity Scene in the World” (Guinness Book of World Records) is in Grignan. It covers more than 10,000 square feet and contains more than 80 houses, built of traditional materials (stone, wood, cement) and covered with 60,000 handmade tiles. Many expert santon-makers have contributed more than 1,000 santons of animals and people.

To read more about santons and see pictures of some of them, go to   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santon_(figurine)

One of the main stops on any cruise on the Rhone River in southern France is Avignon. Here, the riverboats dock right at the foot of history. A flourishing city in Roman times, Avignon is now best known for its high medieval walls, its Palace of the Popes and its broken bridge.

During the 14th century, the seat of the Roman Catholic papacy was moved from Rome to Avignon, and seven popes resided there during a period of almost 70 years. In 1348, Pope Clement VI bought the city from the Duchess of Provence, and Avignon remained a papal property until the French Revolution.

The thick walls built by the popes still encircle the city (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), and the narrow streets, while fine for pedestrians, are best left to local drivers unless you have a very small rental car and a very good navigator!

If you’ve ever studied French, you may have learned the song “Sur le pont d’Avignon” which describes dancing “on the bridge of Avignon.” The Saint Bénézet bridge used to span the Rhône River from Avignon to Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, crossing over the Île de Barthelasse. It is on this island that people probably danced under (not on) the bridge

The bridge was built in the late 12th century at the urging of Saint Bénézet, a local shepherd boy who, according to tradition, was commanded by angels to build a bridge across the river. It originally had 22 arches and was nearly 3000 feet long. However, over the centuries, most of the bridge was destroyed by floods, and today only 4 arches remain

Avignon also has a large indoor market, where you can buy anything from cheese and sausages to regional candy specialties like calissons d’Aix (my personal favorite).

No visit to Burgundy is complete with a stop in Beaune, in the heart of the famous wine region. From the renowned Clos de Vougeot to the equally famous Montrachet vineyards, the Côte d’Or (”Golden Hillside”) is a must-see for any serious wine afficionado.

Besides the vineyards, Beaune is famous for its Hôtel-Dieu (Hospices de Beaune), a hospital founded in 1443 by Nicolas Rolin. This building, with its beautiful multi-colored tile roof, is now a museum. The interior has been restored and gives a fascinating glimpse of how sick people were cared for, in one large room, with rows of curtained beds - each holding two patients! - along the sides. There is also a pharmacy, with old bottles labeled with the names of various herbs and other substances used as medicines. In the kitchen, with its massive fireplaces and cooking pots, you can see figures of nuns working to feed all the sick people.

The charitable institution now cares for the sick in modern hospitals, but its work continues to be supported by the proceeds from the sale of wine from its vineyards. Every November, a large charity wine auction is held in Beaune’s covered market. In 2008, 544 barrels were sold, 450 of red wine and 94 of white wine. 

If you have a few days before or after your Burgundy cruise, you may want to check into the gorgeous Hotel le Cep and tour some wineries, indulge in the local wine and cuisine, and just stroll around the quaint old town of Beaune.

Most cruises in France include a visit to a local market. If you have never been to one of those marvelous collections of fresh produce, fresh flowers, fresh fish, freshly baked bread… Did I mention everything is fresh? Except the cheese and sausages, of course, which are aged to perfection.

There are all sorts of markets all over France, from small outdoor markets to large, permanent indoor installations called “Les Halles.” Don’t be confused by the ”Forum des Halles” in Paris, though. This ugly underground shopping center is on the site of the original wholesale market, but the market was moved in 1971 to Rungis, a suburb of Paris. The market in Rungis is huge, but you don’t have to go that far, as you can still find lots of great street markets in the central part of Paris.

Most towns and villages have markets at least once a week. Whether you want to buy food for a picnic or just a local specialty to take home, you’ll find an amazing assortment of produce and other edibles. (If you’re from the US, make sure you know what you’re allowed to bring back. Those cute little beagles at the airport are very good at what they are trained to do, which is to sniff out contraband food items.)

French markets are primarily for the local people, not tourists, as French people love fresh food and are willing to take the time to shop for it. Take cash (small bills and coins) and preferably a shopping bag for all your purchases. Just remember that prices are in euros and weights are in grams and kilograms. Take a calculator or plan to work on those math skills.

Even if you don’t need or want to buy food, it’s worth going to the market for the sights and smells, from juicy red tomatoes to enormous mushrooms and truffles to fresh spices sold in bulk. Lavender honey in Provence, fish and seafood in Normandy, even used books and paintings in Paris - going to a local market will help you understand and appreciate France like nothing else!

Among the most fascinating places in southwestern France is the medieval fortress of Carcassonne, a World Heritage Site. With over 50 towers and 2 miles of double walls surrounding the old town, the fortifications rise majestically from the surrounding countryside with its vineyards.

Inhabited as early as 3500 BC, Carcasonne became an important trading center in the 6th century BC. Fortified by the Romans, the Visigoths, and later by Simon de Montfort during the Albigensian Crusade in the 13th century, Carcassonne was an important military citadel until the 17th century. By the mid-19th century, it had fallen into such disrepair that it was threatened with demolition. However, the fortress was eventually restored under the direction of the famous architect Viollet-le-Duc and is the most complete medieval fortified city in existence today.

According to legend, during an attempted siege of Carcassonne by Charlemagne in the 9th century, the city was saved by a trick of a certain townswoman. When she was told that all that was left in the way of food was a little grain and a pig, Madame Carcas fed the grain to the pig and threw it down from the highest tower in front of the invaders. Charlemagne assumed her action meant that the residents still had plenty of food, so he gave up the siege. As he and his men were leaving, Madame Carcas told the townspeople to ring all the church bells. One of Charlemagne’s men shouted “Carcas sonne” (Carcas is ringing), whence the name of the town.

If you like Impressionist art, a visit to Claude Monet’s house and garden at Giverny  in Normandy is a must. Most cruises on the Seine River north of Paris include this excursion, but if your cruise doesn’t take you there, you can easily do a day trip from Paris on the train.

Monet lived in Giverny from 1883 until his death in 1926. His property has been restored to the way it was when he lived there. There is a flower garden called Clos Normand in front of the house plus a Japanese-inspired water garden, which is  featured in Monet’s well-known water lily paintings. Inside the house, you can visit the kitchen done in blue and white and the dining room with a sunshine yellow theme. Unfortunately, you can’t take pictures inside the house, but here are some of the gardens and the outside of the house:

If you have time in Giverny, there is also a Museum of Impressionism. This was formerly called the Museum of American Art because it was founded by an American and focused primarily on the American artists who flocked to Giverny to study the new way of painting epitomized by Monet.  You can visit the hotel where many of these artists stayed, as well as the grave of Monet in the Giverny churchyard.

Back in Paris, don’t miss the Orsay Museum’s huge collection of Impressionist paintings and the Orangerie, which was specially redesigned to house Monet’s larger works, the Nymphéas.

Do you enjoy drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages?

Most cruise packages include water, tea and coffee, but beyond that, policies vary. If you don’t drink wine or other alcoholic beverages, you can usually save money on a cruise that doesn’t include these or only includes wine with dinner, for example.

The usual options, depending on the cruise, are:

1. Wine with dinner only, all other alcoholic drinks extra  (soft drinks may or may not be included with meals)
2. Wine with lunch and dinner, all other alcoholic drinks extra
3. Wine with lunch and dinner, plus open bar between meals

Most cruises include at least one or two wine tastings of local vintages, but if you’re really interested in wine, look for a wine theme cruise. Many of the smaller luxury barges offer these for group charters. We even offer a “Wine and Chocolate Cruise” in the Chablis region of Burgundy. This cruise is open to both individuals and groups in the spring and fall.

Do you want to do a lot of sightseeing or just relax?

Most cruises include at least one sightseeing excursion per day, and these are usually included in the price of the cruise. However, it’s a good idea to find out if any of the excursions are “optional,” i.e., you have to pay extra for them. In addition to wine tastings at local vineyards, excursions can range from visiting a village farmers market to touring nearby chateaus and cathedrals.

If you just want to relax, you can skip the excursions, of course. And with a barge charter, your group can decide to do things like additional wine tastings instead of sightseeing.

Do you have a special interest?

Besides wine cruises, you can take a cruise focused on a special interest, like garden cruises, golf cruises, bicycle cruises, etc. Most of these require putting together a group for a charter, but this can be arranged for groups as small as four people.

As you can see, there are a lot of choices available for cruising in France, from larger boats that cruise the Seine and Rhone Rivers to small luxury barge-hotels that travel the networks of canals and smaller rivers in Burgundy, Provence, Champagne, the Loire Valley and other regions. So, whatever your interests and budget, you’re sure to find the perfect cruise that will provide a lifetime of wonderful memories.

I had been to the Loire Valley several times before, but my last trip to this region was different. My main goal was to visit a barge that cruises on the river Cher, near Tours. (The Loire River’s waters are usually too irregular or too shallow for commercial navigation.) The boat is a small barge - it accommodates only six passengers. And, with such a small number of guests, the cruises it offers are of the luxury kind, naturally. That day, the captain/owner was working on installing a new heating and air-conditioning system (it was during the off season). I spent some fun time with him. We even had a glass of the local Bourgeuil red wine together. It was a rainy and chilly day, so drinking wine felt good and warmed me up. The next day, I proceeded with my investigation of the area. You might have guessed that this meant… chateaus, more chateaus and yet more chateaus. Not quite to the point of ”a dime a dozen,” but you can find them at just about every turn in that area.

I wouldn’t have missed Chambord (above left) for the world, of course. It is hugely impressive. And, to think that it was used as a lowly “hunting lodge” by King Francis I! It is also a very popular day-trip destination for tourists from Paris. The parking lots are big and there are lots of tour buses. But that’s OK. Remember… the castle is enormous. Ditto for Chenonceau (above right) - a large building and lots of people. But it is so well done architecturally, and it contains so much history. By the way, the river that runs underneath it is the Cher, so cruising under the Chateau of Chenonceau is a high point on the barge cruise I talked about before.

The three pictures below show Cheverny, Chaumont and Ussé from left to right. Unlike Chambord and Chenonceau, Cheverny doesn’t overwhelm you with its size. It is more like a cozy and pretty country retreat - but still in the exquisite and ornate Renaissance style. They raise beagles for fox hunting on the grounds of this castle. I have never seen so many dogs of the same breed in one spot. And the barks of those hounds were something to hear!

Chaumont, another large castle, is known for its International Garden Festival, the French counterpart to the Chelsea Garden Show in England. Exhibitors come from all over the world to demonstrate their horticultural skills at the Chaumont show. Finally, the flamboyant style of Ussé… this castle is the picture postcard for all Renaissance chateaus. It is known to have inspired the author of the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty.”

I must add Villandry to this list. The castle itself doesn’t compare in architectural sophistication to any of the others, but the gardens pictured below are wonderful: formal French boxwood designs for the “love” and “music garden,” a “jardin potager” (vegetable garden), an herb garden, a labyrinth,  and a peaceful water garden.

As I mentioned, there are many more, and I went on to see Blois, Langeais, Amboise, Chinon and Azay-le-Rideau. I found them all very fascinating! If you are interested in the Renaissance, the place to visit is Florence, of course. But the Loire Valley also played a role in that period’s newly discovered humanism. Leonardo da Vinci lived in the area for three years before his death. He is buried just outside Amboise at Clos de Lucé, where some of his ingenius creations are on display.

The colorful title of this post captures the essence of the Camargue region, a lesser known part of southern France tucked between the ancient city of Arles and the Mediterranean. La Camargue is a lowland area shaped by the Rhône River as it fans out into a large delta before reaching the sea. This tiny part of France has a different feel to it. It is totally unlike the pastoral French scenery we are used to in Normandy, Burgundy or Dordogne, for example. As a wetland, it has flora and fauna that are truly unique. With the right timing, you will indeed spot pink flamingos feeding on shrimp, white  horses galloping in the wild countryside and black cattle being herded by the local “cowboys” (more on this in a minute).

And, it is an ideal spot for barge cruising on the slow waters of Le Petit Rhône starting near Arles - where the big river veers off on its way to Saintes Maries de la Mer - or the Canal du Rhône à  Sète from Beaucaire to Aigues Mortes all the way down to Sète, farther south on the deep blue Mediterranean.

On this trip, I joined up with an 18-passenger barge moored in Aigues-Mortes. This laid back, sleepy little town has a lot of history in its background. This is where, in the 13th century, St Louis - king of France - set sail on his way to the 7th and 8th crusades in the Holy Land. Aigues-Mortes was then a thriving port on the Mediterranean. But it no longer is, due to the accumulation of  silt brought by the Rhône River over the centuries…. Hence the name Aigues Mortes, which translates literally into “Dead Waters.” It remains a delightful place to visit today and is well worth the detour.

One of the highlights of this trip was my visit to a local “manade,” the soul of Camargue.  A manade is a ranch where cattle is raised, Texas-style, complete with its own French version of cowboys called “gardians.”  (The two pictures above give a pretty good idea.) Many of these manades offer rides through their property to go see the cattle up close and personal and show the Camargue way of life. It is a lot of fun to ride in a flatbed trailer pulled by a tractor, sitting on bails of straw and shooting pictures of the cows, the horses (with an occasional egret here and there) and with luck, as I said, a flock of funny-faced, skinny-legged flamingos. True, it may not quite come to the level of a wild-life safari in Africa, but it could get close if you’d let it. Try teasing one of those bulls and you’ll find out - these creatures are very territorial! After all, they’re raised for the local bullfights - a bloodless version of the sport in which the objective is to snatch a rosette tied between the horns of the bull. Unlike other types of bullfighting, the bull is the star of the show.

Camargue really is a gem of a place… rural, wild and completely different from any other place I’ve seen. A wonderful place to commune with nature!

 

 

The Canal du Nivernais is a favorite for barge cruising in northern Burgundy. Among the many day-trip options in the area, Guédelon castle, near Auxerre, is one of the most unusual. (It is one of the most unusual tourist sites in the whole of France, if you ask me.) Normally, when thinking of castles in France, you picture medieval fortresses in ruin or elegant Renaissance chateaus beautifully preserved. Not in this case, however. Guédelon is a 13^th-century-style castle being built as we speak. That’s right! A medieval castle under construction before your eyes. Cool! The project started in 1997 and is scheduled to be completed around 2025 or so.  The pictures above show an artist’s rendering of the finished castle, one of the towers built about half way up and a drawing of the floor plan.

What makes this project so unique is the way it is being constructed. No power tools or equipment are used. Only techniques and materials used in the Middle Ages are allowed. Every stone is cut with hammer and cold chisel; every plank is milled by a sawyer (or two); the rope maker turns hemp and sisal into ropes; the blacksmith hammers red hot iron on his anvil; heavy materials are hoisted by humans in a giant wooden squirrel cage; etc… No machines. No diesel fumes. Everything is made by hand or drawn by horses!

And, to recreate more completely  the illusion of living in a distant world dating back some seven centuries, the workers dress in period costumes. Their clothes are woven by on-site weavers using the wool from sheep raised on the premises. The three photos above show the rope maker, the blacksmith and the stone mason hard at work. 

The construction site, located in the middle of a forest and a stone quarry–two convenient sources of construction materials–is open to the public for visits. What fascinated me the most about Guédelon is the fact that you can easily interact with the workers while they are going about their business. They actually welcome discussing their methods with you and demonstrating age-old ways of making and building things. Obviously, kids love this type interactive display, but this grownup found his visit absolutely captivating. More pictures I took at the site: the squirrel cage and its hoisting mechanism and a draft horse waiting for his next load.