France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 10

Saturday, August 9, 2014

After our last delicious breakfast, we packed and prepared for catching our trains (Kyle to Paris to catch his plane back to Boston, and the rest of us to Zurich). The trains were departing within about 20 minutes of each other around 2:00pm. Jim drove us to the train station in time to have lunch in a Dijon cafe.  He was so sweet to join us for lunch and stay with us until we were safely aboard the train.

We said a tearful farewell to Kyle and Jim and boarded our train. I so enjoyed getting to know Kyle and am so grateful for the opportunity to spend extended time with him. What a great guy! Here is a photo of Susan and him from a few days ago.





It took about 2.5 hours to get to Zurich on the fast train. It was pretty warm on the train

and I was really relieved to get off. It was fun to be greeted by this lady whom I met last time we were here!

This is our third stay at the Sonne. It is an incredibly lovely place on the shore of the Zurichsee in the town of Kusnacht. Parts of the hotel date back to 1641. After checking in we had dinner in the self-serve restaurant right on the lake. We enjoyed an amazing sunset while watching the people around us and the boats cruising the lake.

The evening was heavenly.

Vacationing is getting exhausting for me though. All this fun, relaxation, and good company is making me lazy! I was the first to go back to the room and get ready for bed

France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 9

Friday, August 8, 2014

Today is our last day of cruising. We spent the morning and early afternoon making our way to

Dijon. Susan and Rick walked for several locks. Kyle did his usual run. Werner and I admired the countryside. It was bittersweet knowing that our journey was coming to an end. I found it difficult to stay in the moment but was still able to take-in the beauty that surrounded us.

We arrived at our final mooring spot outside of Dijon at around 2:00pm. 

Jim drove Rick and I into the old city and gave us a great, quick tour.

 I love the timbered buildings mixed in with the stone ones. Jim shared

the history of Burgundy and then took us into a museum to see the tombs of two of the kings. He also showed us how during the revolution, the citizens chiseled the religious markings off the facade of the churches.

The city is very touristy and after wandering into a couple of churches and a mustard store, we headed back. One thing he pointed out were some markings where the original Roman town had be on the site of Dijon now.

There are other barges parked where we are. The one next two us is a bit bigger, perhaps 20 passengers. They came out to enjoy the evening on their deck. We were much relieved that we weren’t them! They were in formalwear for dinner and had to listen to a pretty crappy singer who barred the exit so they were stuck. We were kind of stuck too, since they were right next door.

Of course we had to have a last game of Petanque. This photo is of

Cedric and Jim. We also took a group picture in front of the barge.

So sorry Abi and Finley weren't there to join in the picture. They were down preparing our last dinner. And what a dinner it was! We started with a poached egg in wine, followed by beef tenderloin and veggies, and then a citron tart.

Following dinner we had drinks with our crew, Cedric, Jim, Abi, and Finley. What fun it was to relax, learn more about each person, and laugh with them.

France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 8

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August 7, 2014 (Actually posting from Zurich because of poor internet connection on the barge.)

Our field trip today was driving along the ‘Route des Grandes Crus’ and through the vineyards of

the Côte du Nuits. These vineyards are incredibly old. This marker is from 1723.

We stopped at the Château of Clos de Vougeot, which was the perfect setting to learn about the importance that wine played in Burgundy’s history. Clos de Vougeot is a wine farm established in the 12^th century by monks. In the 16^th century a chateau was built. It is not a working vineyard now but it now is a museum with the original wine-making equipment.

 We then went to experience a wine tasting at the Domaine Rion Bernard. It was really

interesting to taste the different classes of wine Burgundy produces.

 When we returned we were served a lovely lunch and the spent the afternoon on the deck cruising until dinner. (I will post a page of photos of our meals when we get home and have better internet. They were a gorgeous as the pictures of nature!) What a life!

Among the beautiful trees and meadows we observed, we were curious about trees we have

seen along the way. They seem to have ball-shaped growths. I don’t know the name of the trees they grown on or if they are not picky about what trees but Jim told us that they are Mistletoe and are parasitic on the trees. I always thought Mistletoe was cultivated. Go figure!

Dinner was another adventure in dining for me. We started with salad niceoise with scallops and black pudding. The black pudding actually was little black disks that were delicious. I totally ignored the fact that when we asked what they were made from we were told it was blood sausage. I thought they were made from quinoa, which I really am not fond of, so I ignored what they were!

The salad was followed by duck prepared two ways; one shredded and deep fried to a crunchy texture and the other sliced with a sweet and sour sauce. This course was followed by a sticky toffee pudding in a butterscotch sauce. We listened to Segovia while dining. Very civilized!

France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 7

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

After breakfast, Jim took us to Beaune. What a great field trip! We started with wandering

around the Wednesday outdoor market. Then toured the Hospices de Beaune, a medieval charity hospital that was established in 1443. It operated until 1971 and was supported by annual wine auctions and the wine produced in a multitude of vineyards the hospices acquired from the wealthy patients it also served.

We then enjoyed a two-hour lunch in the outdoor dining room of an old hotel. Having a white and red wine at both lunch and

dinner is becoming a habit. For an entree (appetizer) I had eggs poached in wine. It was amazing and a dish I'm going to try to replicate when I get home.

Our barge was finally repaired and we drove through beautiful vineyards to rendezvous with it several locks south of where we spent the night. I was pretty sleepy when we returned so Rick and I decided to read in our cabin while the others stayed on deck as we continued our voyage.

We awoke two hours later! We are “parked” in a little village. Jim pointed out the home of Steve Smith, co-author of Rick Steves’ books about France. Apparently, he and Cedric are good friends. I pumped Cedric about the time Rick Steves was on the Papillion. He said they both Rick Steves and Steve Smith are really nice and seemed to really be able to relax while they were filming their segment on board.

I had another taste adventure at dinner. Finley had prepared lamb. I remember having lamb when I was younger and hating it. I’ve never tried it since. So in my new adventurous spirit, I tried it. Happily, it wasn’t like I remembered. It was pretty rare which is not much to my liking but I plan to try again when we get home.

Van Morrison was our dinner music. We have an early start in the morning for our tour of some vineyards and a wine tasting, so we are making it an early evening.

France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 6

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

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The canal seems to have a lock every few hundred feet so far. Until yesterday, we were heading up so when they closed the lock, we would float up. Today we started the journey down so now when we get closed in a lock, they empty the water and we sink down to the level of the canal.

After breakfast we spent some time on deck and then Jim met us with the van and he took

us off to a chateau and small village, Chateauneuf. We could see it up on the hill for quite a while. We were able to spend about 30 minutes wandering around. Jim, kindly supplied

a wheelchair he borrowed from his neighbor so that Werner could be more comfortable as we explored the village.

We returned in time for another fantastic lunch. We noticed at lunch that we weren’t going anywhere and we asked what was going on. Apparently, the water pump in the engine had broken and they were working on getting a part and someone to repair it. We read and relaxed on deck and soon Cedric came up to tell us that we couldn’t continue our voyage until it was fixed and that would not be until the next afternoon. We are so laid back that it really doesn’t seem much of an inconvenience to us. I’m sure it is stressing the crew. We will still be able to do everything that is on are itinerary. The only unfortunate thing is that we are stopped by a highway so we have some traffic noise, no biggie.

Around 3:30, Jim collected Rick and Werner to take them for a narrow gauge train excursion ending at a train museum. Susan and Kyle planned another bike ride. In the adventurous spirit that I find myself in, I decided to join them.

OMG, I haven’t been on a bike since 1986. What was I thinking? I especially started panicking when Cedric brought my bike around. It was a bit humiliating when I got on and he ran along behind me holding on to the bike, like I was a 6 year old. After a few tries I really wanted to quit but Kyle and Susan encouraged me and I couldn’t back down.

So holding on to the brakes for dear life and not even trying to figure out the gears, I white

knuckled it for about a mile to a café. I had enough of biking, so after a cold drink Susan and Kyle insisted on riding me back. They then took off for a real ride and I spent the rest of the afternoon reading a fun book about Burgundy, The Grape Escape.

When everyone returned to the boat, they had another game of Petanque. I begged off because my knees were killing me (wonder why?) So while they played I had another Kir and enjoyed my book.

Dinner was served at 7:45 and was the best yet! Still no internet so I can’t post this but we are enjoying the evening listening to Keb’Mo on the stereo, talking with Jim and Cedric, and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 5

Monday, August 4, 2014

We haven't had any internet to speak of all week so I've been writing everyday but saving to a word document:

It's starting to get hard writing what's happening each day because I don't want to take the time to stop and write for fear I will miss something! I try to write in the evening but I find I’m too tired so I wait until the morning and then I’m afraid I’ll forget something. I don’t want to spend more time documenting than experiencing but then I know how wonderful it is to have the journal of our travels to relish in the future. Oh, the dilemmas of the very fortunate. Oy vey!

So day 5: The activity for the morning was visiting an Abbey. At the last minute, I decided to stay on the barge with Susan and Werner. That left Rick and Kyle to explore with Jim, our guide. Learning of Werner’s interest in tools, on the way back to the barge, they checked out what can only be described as the French version of the places visited on American Pickers.

When they returned, Susan, Werner, and I joined Rick to go “tool shopping.” We drove through

amazing fields of sunflowers to our destination. It was an amazing collection of ancient barns filled to the brim with every kind of stuff. Clothing, household items, old photos and cameras, newish and oldish furniture, farm implements, garage sale-like toys, and every kind of tool imaginable. After much deliberation, Werner chose 7 or 8 items that made him very happy.

When we returned to the barge, we were served a delightful lunch of quiche and salads. At each moment, it feels like things can’t get better!

The rest of the afternoon was spent sitting on the deck watching the bucolic scene passing by, taking lots of pictures, dozing, and in Susan and Kyle’s case, taking a

bike ride on the tow path. A 50 minute ride through a tunnel broke up the views of the countryside and provided a “much needed break from the beauty.” Ha!

In the late afternoon, Abby served us drinks. I had a Kir which I’ve enjoyed in the past in the U.S. but somehow it tasted better floating on a barge in Burgundy which the drink had its origin!

The barge was parked for the night around in a lovely little inlet. Cedric and Jim invited us to play the French version of Bocce called Petanque. I have the worst hand-eye coordination ever but decided to be a good sport and try. Cedric and I were a team facing Jim and Rick. I sucked but we made a come from behind victory. Kyle and Susan returned just as we were finishing so we played another round with Susan and I as a team against Rick and Jim.  Susan must have been really good because we won again!

Dinner was served at 7:30. It was unbelievable! The starter was crawfish risotto and miracle upon miracles, I tried it and loved it! We spent time on deck in the twilight before retiring to our cabins. What a life!

France and Switzerland 2014 - Day 4

I'm writing this after 3 glasses of champagne and 2 glasses of wine. Those of you who know me realize that I have no business trying to do this but I'm going to try.

Today we left Paris at 1pm. We were picked up by Jim from the Papillion Barge. We discovered this barge trip a few years ago when we saw it on a Rick Steves PBS TV show. Werner wasn't up for the trip then. When we realized that he could possibly travel again, Susan jumped on booking our 6 day cruise.

The drive to where the barge is moored is about three hours. Jim broke-up the trip with a stop at the Vaux le Vicomte, a chateau and gardens from the 1600's built by the architects of Versailles. I'm reading a book about Madame Tussaud and the French Revolution. I think it skewed my enjoyment of such an excessive display of conspicuous consumption. It was pretty impressive though.

I was more impressed with myself though when I climbed up to the dome on the top of the

chateau. I met Rick and Kyle up there and took this photo of Werner and Susan below. You can see a green speck in the middle of the picture which is Susan's shirt.

I dozed off and on for the rest of the trip to the barge but woke to see this beautiful
rainbow.

I don't know if I can adequately describe our arrival to our beautiful barge. It was as if we were living a dream: the peaceful canal, the fairy tale-like boat, the lovely crew who greeted us with glasses of champagne, the baa'ing of the sheep in the distance, the incredible light of the lowering sun. So very perfect!

Have I mentioned we are the only five guests on the barge? What a luxury. The crew consists of Cedric, the pilot (don't know if that's his exact title), Jim, the van driver and tour guide, Finley, the chef, and Abby who seems to do everything to help us. They totally made us feel at home and relaxed.

Those of you who know me, know I'm the pickiest eater ever (a fact I'm not proud of but resigned to). I made a pact with myself 
that I would not make an issue of this on the barge so I gave no instructions to the chef of what I would or wouldn't eat and that I would try things I normally wouldn't touch. (The heaviest thing in my suitcase was the bag of protein bars just in case I couldn't follow through on my pact!) I also decided that I was going to experiment with the wine. Hell, we're in the ultimate of wine countries! So...dinner tonight was amazing and even more amazing, I ate fish! I also loved the white wine, and tried the red.

So it's now Monday morning and I'm trying to upload some photos on this blog and it's not working and it's stupid for me to spend the time doing it and not enjoying the moment. I'll try later.