French rivers have beckoned visitors for centuries. Today, however, travelers take comfortable riverboats and posh hotel barges to see the countryside. For six nights and seven, sunny days, my husband, Gene, and I traveled aboard the Chardonnay, which cruised more than 100 miles along the Saone River in the eastern provinces of Burgundy and Beaujolais between Lyon and Dijon.
When we weren’t gliding along looking at farms, vineyards and small towns or going through a lock or two, we were on shore on day excursions. We stopped at Tournus to explore its ancient abbey and Chalon sur Saone where many passengers found the best wine shopping, including a Canadian wine lover who bought 14 bottles of the same vintage of Pinot Noir.
The Chardonnay accommodates 50 passengers with roomy cabins, appealing public rooms and fresh, country cuisine. Dining is open seating at all meals. Drinks and daily tours were part of the price, including numerous inexpensive, but tasty, local wines from nearby vineyards.
A typical lunch on the Chardonnay, as prepared by its three chefs, included an entree of meat or fish, three salads, three cheeses, with wines and chocolate. The combinations varied each day. Here’s a midweek sample: salmon baked in a crust with three salads of rice with peppers, endive and walnuts and avocado with shrimp. The white wine for this particular lunch was Entre Deux Mers and the red, a fruity Anjou Rouge.
Vineyards in Beaujolais produce a distinctively light, fruity, red wine in a 9-by-30 mile area north of Lyon. The vineyard we visited was the Chateau D’Envaux in Julienas, a small village outside of Macon. Much of the annual crop is devoted to the Gamay grape that is used to create the Beaujolais Nouveau. This sweet French wine is made from handpicked grapes and is released around the world every year on the third Thursday of November. When we tasted the new crop, it had been in the barrel only two or three weeks, some six weeks before it would be bottled and shipped. It was perfection to me, but many a wine drinker is not fond of that delightful sweet taste.
The French also hold the standard for mustard. Though this condiment is a household item around the world, perhaps the most well known brand in the Western world was invented more than 150 years ago in Dijon. This mustard’s particular flavor comes from the use of the sour juice from unripe Beaujolais grapes instead of the usual vinegar. To taste the real thing, we visited the original Grey Poupon store, which opened in 1777 and still stands today in downtown Dijon.
Dijon was also home to the four great dukes of Burgundy (Philippe le Hardi, Jean sans Peur, Philippe le Bon and Charles le Temeraire) who ruled this province for more than 100 years. They were powerbrokers in the 14th and 15th centuries, back in the days of the Hundred Years’ War. The heroine of this war was the 17-year-old Joan of Arc who led the French to victory not far from Dijon. Many of the treasures in this area today are from the era of this ruling family. Among these is the movingly beautiful Hospices de Baune, a hospital for the poor built in 1443 by one of the dukes. It operated continuously well into the 20th century and can be seen today, fully preserved. Another treasure is the Musee des Beaux Arts located in the Palais des Ducs.
Chocolate and fashion
Some say Paris sets the standard for cities. It has long been known as the City of Light, in part because of all the museums, statues and buildings that are lit up at night. The glowing Eiffel Tower gleaming in the dark certainly adds to this image. Millions of lights sparkle each hour beginning at dusk for about 10 minutes until one or two in the morning. This tower, a Paris landmark since 1889, was constructed for a World’s Fair and has been a symbol of this city ever since. One of the places from which we watched this magical display was from our balcony window at the Intercontinental Paris Hotel. This hotel, located only minutes from the Louvre and the Champs-Elysees, was the site of a Capuchin monastery for many centuries. Today, it’s the setting of frequent fashion shows for many famous designers.
Executive Chef Patrick Juhel and his large staff are often called upon to present unusual, yet exquisite and delicious presentations for fashion shows. Among them have been numerous hors d’oeuvres in colors that match a particular fashion theme — once it was a very challenging black and gray. For a top-level computer staff meeting, a true size, chocolate laptop with company logo in marzipan was waiting in the room for each person. A food company requested a particular dessert in a certain color to be made in the dining room during the meal. Kitchen staff donned masks, gloves and protective clothing and created apricot sherbet by hand to the praise of everyone in attendance.
Diana and Gene Korte are food and travel writers in Boulder, Colo. You can contact them at culinarytravelers@yahoo.com.
…
Getting there
British Airways, www.ba.com, 800-403-0882. Rated among the world’s finest international airlines by travel magazine readers, British Airways is also one of the world’s oldest and largest airlines.
Eurostar Train, www.raileurope.com, USA 877-257-2887 or Canada 800-361-RAIL (7245). In addition to Eurostar tickets, Rail Europe sells Eurail passes for train travel in up to 17 countries through the extensive 100,000-mile rail system of Europe.
River cruiser
Abercrombie & Kent Inc., www.abercrombiekent.com, e-mail, info@abercrombiekent.com, 1520 Kensington Rd., Suite 212, Oak Brook, Ill. 60523; 800-323-7308. A&K, recently chosen as “World’s Best Tour Operator” by a travel agent’s magazine, is a worldwide luxury travel company with private and escorted tours to 100 countries. We booked the Chardonnay and air and ground transportation with A&K who recently introduced “Concierge Rail” in Europe. This service provides rail passengers with an escort that accompanies you to your seat on the train. On arrival at your destination, another escort will meet you at the door, present you with an A&K Travel bag and then escort you to your hotel.
Paris
French Government Tourist Office, www.francetourism.com, e-mail: info.us@franceguide.com, 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10022, 212-838-7800, Fax: 212-838-7855.
Intercontinental Paris, www.paris.interconti.com, e-mail: paris@interconti.com, 3, Rue de Castiglione, 75001 Paris, 33 1 44-77-11-11, or USA 800-327-0200, Fax: +33 1-44-77-14-60.
