snapshots abroad: France: Macon and Cruising

During breakfast the ship pushed off from Lyon and we went back to the confluence so that we could turn up the Saone, which is a much curvier river than the Rhone. There were still some beautiful sights as we left Lyon's metropolitan area. Maury and I spent some time relaxing in the panoramic sun room before the inevitable task of packing.

After lunch we went on a tour of Macon, so far the most urban small town we've visited. There were still some remnants of Macon's medieval past. The front vestige of Old St. Vincent's church (11th century) has been incorporated into a museum. An old convent building dating back to the 17th century still stands, along with its rotating barrel windows where unwed mothers would deposit their babies for the nuns to care for. There was also a New St. Vincent's church, which is only 200 years old.

Dominique pointed out that we've seen a lot of St. Vincent churches, maybe because St. Vincent is the patron saint of wine!

Before the Macon tour each cabin pair was given two Euros to buy an edible item that would be presented on the ship for a gourmet tasting. Maury later pointed out that Dominique was laying little "crumbs" during our tour: She told the group about grocery stores, a famous chicken shop, and she even ended the tour on a street lined with patisseries and boulangeries. Maury and I went back to the chicken shop and discovered two other passengers just leaving. We gave them our Euros in exchange for one of the three kinds of free-range chicken pate they'd bought.

The tasting back on the ship was fairly successful. People had bought a wonderful variety of meats, cheeses, baked goods, fruit, and sweets. There was one especially runny cheese that was delicious. Someone bought chocolate "bouchons" filled with cognac. There were also some rounded chocolates filled with the most vile liquor I've ever tasted.

Dinner, as usual, was wonderful but I found that I couldn't finish anything because of all the gourmet I'd eaten earlier.