Wednesday, September 9

Wednesday morning included an on-board silk painting presentation (Rita and Penny went, Ivan and I opted out), which included many nice scarves and ties for sale. (The silk company makes many of these items for museum shops.) After that, Rita and Penny relaxed, and Ivan and I went exploring. Ivan went to Place Bellecour (Belcour Square) – a shopping area -- with our tour director, then headed to the Musée de Beaux Arts (the Lyon art museum, which is supposed to be one of the best outside Paris). I went to the Centre d’Histoire de la Résistance et de la Déportation, aka The Resistance and Deportation Museum.

After lunch on board the ship, we hopped on a bus for a tour through the Beaujolais wine region. Our first stop was at an old village, Oingt that has been “gentrified” as an artist colony. (The name is pronounced “Wah.”) It was a beautiful city, with buildings from the 1300s as well as the current century, narrow street, and a plaza with great views of the valley below the city.

We were then off to visit a Beaujolais winery, Domaine des Averlys, and proprietors Mirielle and Etienne Blanc. Their winery produces around 45,000 bottles annually, primarily rosé and red Beaujolais, but also a small quantity of white Beaujolais. We had a tasting in their wine cave, which dates to the 18th century, of white, rose, red (regular) and red aged in oak casks. We also had hors d’oeuvres prepared (made) by Mirielle, including sausage, goat cheese, and other goodies.

We then headed to the winery itself for a tasting of what is called “paradise.” It is “new Beaujolais” before its final stage – in transition as they called it, and won’t be ready for final consumption until November. This was supposed to be a real treat, as it is only good to consume like this for a brief number of days during its maturation process. It was unfiltered, and pretty good.

During our afternoon tour, we saw many old castles, vineyards, narrow roads (we couldn’t believe the bus made it through all of them), and beautiful scenery.

Dinner was the Captain’s farewell dinner, held on Wednesday rather than Thursday, as we will be busy packing on Thursday. The crew was introduced again, and lots of photos were taken of fellow passengers and the crew.

We sailed after dinner, going from the Rhône River to the Saône River after dark, and passing by the old city of Lyon. Lots of lights, and a great view of Notre-Dame de Fourvière and the Eiffel Tower (yes, there’s one in Lyon – just a smaller version) next to it.
We stopped for the night as some nondescript place – just a place to turn off the engines so everyone could sleep!