Labor Day in France

Monday – Labor Day in the US, just another day in France. The morning started with a walking tour of Viviers, population 3,700. It is a quaint old city, with steep narrow streets and a tiny town square with a fountain. Many of the old buildings are being restored, and our guide said that housing prices are increasing rapidly. Obviously an up-and-coming place to be.

From the high point in town, there was a great view of the town and valley below. That point also had a tower fortification (all that was left of a larger fortification) that was constructed during the 100 Years War. We stopped for an espresso/cappuccino at a café in the town square, swapping “Bonjour” with local residents.

There was a bocce ball playing area on the way back to the ship, and several passengers gave it a try. (Of course, the French have given the game a different name, but I don’t remember it.) The ship headed to Tournon around 11:00 a.m. At 11:15, there was a lecture about life on the ship, including training, working hours, mechanical information, history of the ship, etc. One interesting fact: France gets none of its electricity through burning of fossil fuels – 80% is generated by 59 nuclear power plants, and the remaining 20% is hydroelectric and wind power. (We have seen many modern windmills along the river.)

The afternoon activities included the movie “Chocolat,” which we skipped since we’ve seen it before, and a cooking lesson (crěpes suzettes) by our on-board French chef. For dinner tonight, we split into groups to enjoy in-home hospitality with local residents of Tournon. The four of us (the Diamonds and the Steinbergs) were royally entertained at the home of Karl and Odile Simpson, who live in the Hamlet of Bobon, in the town of Vion, outside Tournon.

We were picked up at the ship around 7:00 p.m. by Odile, who informed us that her husband wouldn’t be able to join us, as he had to go to London on business. Her English (fortunately) was quite good, as she had attended school in the US, and her husband and his family were British. She drove all of us to their home, which was located waaaay up in the mountains outside of Tournon, with access via a narrow switchback road. The views going up were pretty incredible.

Their home is 200+ years old, and has been extensively renovated. They have two cats, which was fun. (Haven’t seen many this trip.) Their children are all grown and gone, some in college and some in the working world.

Odile described the meal as typical French: Aperitifs before dinner, appetizers of round toasts with duck pate and pork sausage, salad with goat cheese, tomato pie (OK, we would probably call it a really great pizza) (the tomatoes were from her garden), a selection of cheeses, French bread (no butter – only for breakfast in France) and wine. We didn’t leave hungry!

Odile’s husband, Karl, is a consultant in the bio-science industry, and Odile works for a company that is the middle-man between manufacturers in Asia and retailers in Europe. He is probably going to take a position with a firm in London, which would require them to move there, although they intend to keep their house in France for vacations.

Odile drove us back to the ship after dinner. We exchanged e-mail addresses, and will try to keep in contact with her. This evening was a trip highlight!