From a visit to the middle ages to a truffle hunt

Thursday morning, the Catherine docked at Viviers, a small and sleepy village that many visitors have called a place that time forgot. We had visited Viviers two years ago with Uniworld, and it seemed that little had changed.For more on Viviers, you can check my earlier blog. Yet one thing was new to us at least. As our ship glided into its docking space, we noticed a small marina on one side. I learned later that it held 18 boats and included a sailing school for dinghies.

If you look carefully, you can see a jaunty line of sailing dinghies following their leader.

Much to our surprise, in the afternoon, we saw a fleet of three tiny vessels, following their leader out on to the river. Yes, people do boat on the river, and some towns have much larger marinas, but there were not as many on the Rhone as we had seen on the Rhine or the Danube. Not sure I would want to sail a boat on the Rhone, especially if one of the fierce Mistral winds came up. More about the Mistral later on…

Although the area around the dock is flat, the village itself straggles along a road that winds its way up to St. Vincent’s cathedral at the top of a nearby hill.

Viviers from above. You can see the cathedral and St. Michael’s tower leading to the river below. All the houses look alike from this angle, tho there are variations, as they are built from the same limestone.

For most of the way, the road is lined by Plane trees, a relative of the sycamore, that, according to legend, were ordered planted by Napoleon to shade his troops on the march. Although this story isn’t very credible, there are certainly a lot of plane trees in Provence. All are pollarded which means they are consistently topped to keep them from growing too tall, and encouraging a wide, lush growth of leaves and shade.

Walking up to St. Vincent’s, St. Michael’s tower shows off its Romanesque style.

St. Vincent’s has the honor of being the smallest cathedral in France, and as a cathedral, is the seat of a bishop. Indeed, there is still a bishop of Viviers. That is not St. Vincent’s only claim to fame. It also has a marvelous, organ and great acoustics to go with it, along with some excellent Gobelin tapestries supposedly donated by Napoleon. They were stolen but later returned.

The famous tapestries surround the altar, one had been removed for cleaning.

Honestly, I am not a fan of tapestries but I do love organ music, so going on this tour was a no-brainer. The senior Rambler is not a fan of organ music or tapestries, so he stayed on board as this was our second visit to Viviers. The first time we walked up the hill, this time I rode in the van.

a close-up of the organ, hard to do as lighting in the cathedral was either too bright or too dark.

The cathedral is one of the oldest you will visit on most river cruises as it was originally built in the 11th century, along with St. Michael’s tower which stands next to it. Centuries ago, it suffered damage in a series of wars and was remodeled, if you will, in the then current flamboyant Gothic style. In the 17th century during the wars of religion, the cathedral suffered fire damage. Its wooden ceiling similar to that in St. Julians in Tournon, was burned to ashes. It was replaced by a vault made of stone in the 18th century. Now, on one side, St. Vincent’s shows its romanesque beginnings and on the other, it looks very Gothic.

In this picture you can see, the original Romanesque church of the left and its fancy flamboyant Gothic part of the right.

Today, we were not the only tour group in the cathedral, and so the local organist had a good audience. The music was wonderful, as before.

Afterwards I decided to hop into the Uniworld van for a ride down to the historic center of the town. We were all given options to visit either a town resident or one of the artisan shops in Viviers. I would have enjoyed visiting one of the residents, but my lot was again to visit one of the shops. I guess I could have asked to visit somewhere else but just decided to head back to the ship. However we can’t leave Viviers without a mention of its second most famous attraction, the House of the Knights.

This is a tall, four story building with an elaborately carved facade built in the 16th century by Noel Albert, a wealthy salt merchant. He sided with the Protestants during the Wars of Religion and prospered for a time. Albert was responsible for the destruction of St. Vincent’s wooden roof, and despite his early success, came to a bad end. Today the House of the Knights is in need of major repairs and restoration and fortunately it is scheduled as a work site for for one of France’s preservation groups. Volunteers who want to learn the stone mason’s trade and get a taste for historic restoration.

Currently looking a little shabby, with a boarded up window, but quite a contrast from the plain, no-nonsense medieval homes on the other side of the street. It is much taller than most of the other houses and must have been very impressive when it was built.

As I am not much of a shopper anymore, I headed back to the Catherine, and had lunch with the senior Rambler. We had just time enough before our scheduled visit to a truffle farm and the village of Grignan.

Grignan, as is often the case in Provence, was situated at the top of a steep hill. At the very top of the hill, was an interesting castle, but…it looked a hot and dusty walk so the Ramblers decided to hang out at the bottom, Fortunately there was an interesting cemetery not far from the bus parking spot and we decided to explore it instead. However, I won’t neglect Grignan as it is a picturesque spot.

This would have been a tough slog for the Ramblers. In season, Grignan is surrounded by fields of lavender but it had all been harvested by the time we visited.

In this photo you can see both the castle and the large chateau that was originally the home of the Grignan family. A daughter of the famous writer, Madame de Sevigny married into the family who owned the castle and chateau, and she visited Grignan several times.

This photo was taken not far from where our bus parked. For those who have never been to Provence, tour busses can rarely enter the historic centers of these old towns. Most streets are too narrow even for cars. Thus one must be prepared to walk or view from afar. In this case, the Ramblers decided to view from afar, our decision was helped by the existence of the town cemetery which surrounded an ancient chapel. The entrance was not far from where we were dropped off. We learned later that many streets of Grignan were paved with bumpy cobblestones, so we were very happy with our choice.

The chapel was faced by several centuries of grave site, some with well kept memorials and other that were neglected or crumbling. No doubt there was at least one layer of earlier graves under them, given that it was there in the 11th century.

The cemetery with its tiny chapel of St. Vincent was another story. As it turned out, this was the oldest monument in Grignan. The chapel dated from the early 11th century, and though it obviously had been much restored, it provided a welcome respite from the August sun. The doors were not locked so we walked inside to find a small bare room, with soft colored light coming from plain stained glass windows. It was furnished with pews so the Ramblers had a place to sit down when we got tired of wandering around the cemetery. It was left undecorated, I believe, to appeal to both Catholics and Protestants as it was completely bare of any religious symbols or statues. Yet it was a very peaceful and spiritual place. The cemetery also included both Protestant and Catholic graves; they slept together to await the last Judgment.

The interior was unadorned, although there was an altar and a plain cross. Catholic funeral masses and Protestant services are likely held here.

I found the name St. Vincent somewhat unusual here and in Vivers as such ancient buildings were probably not named for St. Vincent De Paul. Although Vincent De Paul is well known today, he lived in the 16th century, much too late for this chapel. I thought here must have been another St. Vincent who lived nearby in ancient times, and I was right. After some research, I found St. Vincent of Lerins, a holy monk who lived in Southern Gaul (France) in the 5th century. It is likely these ancient place honored him.

Our last destination was the Ayme Truffle farm, near Grignon. You can buy their products on line and I can testify that the truffles we tasted were very good.

As we waited for the rest of the group that had climbed to the castle, we were able to enjoy the air conditioning in the bus as we rested up for our final stop at a truffle farm. The south of France is famous for its truffles which fetch a high price in the local markets and elsewhere. At this point I must confess that I had never eaten a truffle, though I knew what they were. There are two main varieties, the black truffle found in fall and winter and the white truffle found in summer. The black one is more prized and therefore more expensive.

The truffle meister explained how they find truffles; they would be looking for white truffles which we would later taste.

One of the reasons truffles are so expensive is that the term, “truffle farm” is a misnomer. You don’t farm them, you find them underground with the aid of a dog trained to sniff them out. They don’t grow everywhere but for some reason, southern France with its warm summers and chilly winters provide an ideal climate for truffles. The truffle itself is a fungus that grows entirely underground near the roots of mainly oak trees. They have a powerful scent which can easily be detected by a trained dog, but not by humans. The dog will point to the spot where the truffle grows underground, and the truffle farmer then gently digs it up. Pigs can also locate truffles but they tend to eat the ones they find before the farmer can dig them up.

Finding and digging up summer truffles in the light soil of Provence. They could never do this in the hard and rocky soil we have at home.

The process does work as we soon saw. If the process seems like a lot of work for a fungus, I can only say that black truffles especially demand a high price. For example, in 2018 when we visited, 16 grams of whole black truffles sold for 17 Euro while the same amount of white ones sold for 4.20 Euro.

After watching the truffle hunt, we were invited to a truffle tasting at the Ayne farmhouse. As you might expect, the senior Rambler had absolutely no desire to taste truffles so he stayed outside while the rest of us enjoyed trying truffles fresh from the ground. I ate more truffles that afternoon than I am likely to eat in the rest of my life. Needless to say, I enjoyed them. They were served sliced thin on crusty bread with a drizzle of olive oil and they were tasty, but don’t ask me to describe the flavor. Obviously others must have enjoyed them because many bought Ayme products to take home.

I will admit that I ate quite a few of these tasty snacks, though I didn’t buy any to bring home. We ate the white truffles that had just been dug up and washed, of course.

Sated with truffles, we headed to the bus for the ride back to the Catherine which had sailed on to Avignon while we were touring.

Only 2 full days left of this cruise. Time has gone by very quickly.

The rambler becomes “Dame elsa” at the chateau de seigneurs de Tournon!

Our stop on Wednesday was the twin cities of Tain L’Hermitage and Tournon, two small but very interesting towns that face each other across the Rhone river. The Catherine arrived very early in the morning,, docking on the Tain L’Hermitage side. The first time we took this cruise, we also docked on the Tain L’Hermitage side and never crossed the Rhone over the bridge that links it to Tournon.

Both Tain L’Hermitage and Tournon are surrounded by vineyards bearing high quality grapes; this one is in Tain L’Hermitage. A Tiny Train will take you through through the very hilly vineyards.

Like many other small towns in the wine country of France, both are surrounded by vineyards and many high quality producers have tasting rooms here. Tain L’Hermitage is also home to the Valrhona Chocolate factory and tasting room. Yes, a tasting room for chocolate, and it was great fun. when I visited two years ago.

Literally chocolate for any occasion, and to match with any bottle of wine! All available for tasting.

Valrhona produces a high quality chocolate although it is not as well known in the US as some imported brands. This trip the Ramblers didn’t visit Valrhona because although it was not far, the temperature hovered near 90 F and the Rambler had already done her share of walking for the day.

The Chateau ( castle) Tournon, towered over the town. To get to it we would have to cross a pedestrian bridge over the Rhone, and walk up through the town to the Chateau. You can see the plane trees all leafed out, shading the promenade along the river. They are pollarded (the tops are cut off) so they fill out but don’t grow tall and spoil the view.

Although I am not a big fan of going inside castles, lots of stairs to climb… Emmanuelle, our cruise director, who the Ramblers knew well from an earlier cruise, convinced me that I should visit the castle in Tournon that morning. She told me that there would be a surprise waiting for me that I would enjoy. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, but I finally agreed to go on the tour since there would be a gentle walkers group. The senior Rambler decided to stay on board as it would be a fairly long walk in the hot sun.

The twin cities of Tournon and Tain L’Hermitage are a favorite stop on many cruises. Both date to Roman times and have been the center of vineyards for at least 2,000 years. On our last visit, we rode Le Petit Train des Vignes on the Tain L’Hermitage side, today we were going to Tournon. Besides the Castle, we would visit the ancient church of St. Julien. First we would have to cross the Rhone on a pedestrian cable suspension bridge. The first bridge of this type was actually built here in 1824 by its inventor Marc Seguin, who was from the area. The one we trod today was not the original but a close replica, and it seemed quite a long walk. The gentle walkers were soon left behind by the speedier folks, but we didn’t mind.

The attractive suspension bridge has a wooden deck for pedestrians and cyclists. It is quite a long walk across the Rhone. This bridge is not the original but was built in the 20th century. The 1824 bridge, located further downstream, was torn down in 1965 as it was deemed unsafe.

Today, our walking tour would take us into the hilly town of Tournon. It took a while to cross the bridge and walk uphill to our first stop, the Church of St. Julien. There the gentle walkers got a brief respite as we toured the church, which has a long and tumultuous history. The church of St. Julien was built in the 1300s on the site of an even earlier church. Although architectural historians says its style is flamboyant Gothic, to me, it looks closer to the Romanesque style of the early churches as it has relatively few windows. During the French Wars of Religion in the 16th century, St. Julien was briefly a Protestant church. In the the early years of the French Revolution(1789-90) it became a temple of the Supreme Being for the new state religion created by the Jacobin revolutionaries. Their new religion failed as the Jacobins lost power, but it did not improve the condition of St. Julien.

On the right, you can see that a house was built using the wall of the church.

St. Julien is also interesting because it is one of the few churches which have houses attached to them. The Rambler is not sure exactly why the townspeople used the existing church wall as part of their dwelling centuries ago, but there could be several reasons. It might be a way to provide a home for the priest, it would save money, or it might provide some protection for the homeowner. At any rate, these houses are still there and are occupied.

The interior was dark, and yet the church was welcoming and spiritual.

By this time, the gentle walkers were really behind which often happens when the slowpokes are going to the same destination as the speedy group. Unfortunately this meant that we had relatively little time to tour the church. Our guide told us we had to be at the castle in time for the program, and this would mean more uphill slogging. We did get to see its famed 14th century frescoes and found the acoustics of the ancient building were excellent. We briefly got to enjoy hearing a young man playing the mandolin before the altar. And then on to the castle.

The entrace to the Chateau, through that wooden door at the center, you can just see the blue capes of the Chevaliers…

As we found it the Chateau de Tournon is both beautiful and massive as it sits high above the Rhone. Newer than St. Julien, it was built between the 14th and 16th centuries. The building still shows the evolution of society and castle building during this period. The main floor houses an excellent museum but that was not our goal. As we found out, the Confrerie of the Jolie Treille of St. Joseph and Hermitage was waiting for us at the top of the first set of stairs. (Translated it means the Brotherhood of the Beautiful Trellis but the brotherhood does have many female members. )

The very welcoming Brotherhood of the Jolie Treille.

Wearing their traditional costumes, the Brotherhood welcomed us and then quickly shepherded us up yet another set of stairs, these were steep and worn with age. We eventually emerged into a courtyard where some sort of ceremony was to take place. Our group was then seated and learned that we were going to enjoy a meeting of one of the wine societies so popular in the area. What we didn’t know was that two of our number were to be inducted into the brotherhood.

Our group from the Catherine, assembled in the ancient courtyard for the ceremony.

In 2020, the Brotherhood of the Jolie Treille celebrated its 50th anniversary. The group is made of of wine professionals and wine lovers whose purpose is to promote the wine industry, both sales and production, and of course, to enjoy their excellent wines. Both the appellation of St. Joseph and Hermitage are known for their premier cru wines. Although the current wine societies, and there are many, each with their quaint medieval-style robes, date from the 20th century, the tradition is a very old one, which was restarted after WWII.

Much to my surprise, Emmanuelle had put my name forward as one suitable to become a member of the society. The other inductee was Brian from Australia. We had to come forward, swear an oath of loyalty to the brotherhood and then chug down a glass of St. Joseph wine, as the members chanted “drink,, drink, drink” or something like that in French. This was a relatively easy task for the Rambler, one of my hidden talents. LOL

Now I am officially “Lady Elsa’ at least in Tournon!

Immediately afterwards, I was dubbed a Dame of the Brotherhood and their absolutely gigantic medal was placed around my neck. (It set off the detector on the way home as I had placed it in my carry-on. I also received a certificate of membership confirming my elevation to Dame status! Afterwards, we all enjoyed a delightful reception on the top of the Chateau which has a beautiful view of the Rhone valley.

Then it was time to head back to the Catherine. Unfortunately there was no down elevator and the Rambler had to negotiate the same uneven, time-worn steps down to the street. Some of the chevaliers of the brotherhood noticed my discomfort and thankfully I had a strong arm to lean on until I got back to street level.

Wearing my medal. Wish I had known about the photo session, I would have worn black! My sponsor not only is wearing his medal but also a small tastevin.

After the Rambler made it safely down, 200 plus steps, it was time to head back to the Catherine. Fortunately it was mostly downhill, but cobblestones can be trickly no matter the angle.

Beautiful view from the top of the Chateau, overlooking the Rhone and in the distance, the vineyards of Tain L’Hermitage.

The senior Rambler was waiting for me as I slowly trudged back to the ship. There I got to tell him all about the ceremony. I do have some video taken by a friend of me being inducted, but decided to spare my readers.

At 3:30, the Catherine set sail for Viviers and another village adventure.