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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. )
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.
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
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.
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.
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.