Europe - 2016

Day 19: Avignon to Viviers (and visit to Grignan) Mon Jul 25, 2016

We travelled overnight from Avignon to Viviers arriving early in the morning. Viviers is an old village set on the hillside. Unfortunately is was too far to walk and we had no scheduled visit. Photos from a distance was the best we could do. Instead, we boarded coaches for a visit to a local lavender farm. Luckily, the last field was yet to be harvested so we could enjoy the ripening field. After listening to the production process and tasting lavender-laced cookies, we headed back to the ship. After lunch we again boarded the coaches for a trip out to Grignan. In Grignan we bussed up the hill to Grignan Castle enjoying a tour of the castle including a cocktail reception, champagne anda concert of live baroque music.


L'essentiel de Lavande	Gate to lavender farm, L'essentiel de Lavande	Farm fields	Old farm implement	Rear of the farmhouse	Lavender overlooking a nuclear power plant	Lavender field

Grapevine	Front of the farmhouse	Lavender field	Grapevine	Grapevine	Lavender field	Debbie in the lavender field

Mal in lavender field	Window box	Farmhouse garden wall	Farmhouse road	Statue of the Virgin Mary, Clansayes	Viviers	Viviers panorama

MS Amacello	Cross at the entrance to Grignan Castle	Valley below Grignan Castle	Grignan village	Entrance foyer of Grignan Castle	Houses below Grignan Castle	Villa below Grignan Castle

Castle garden	Mal on Grignan Castle terrace	Debbie on Grignan Castle terrace	Grignan cemetery	View over Grignan village	Baroque music at the reception	Window reflecting the sky

Mal on the ship	Rhone riverside	Queen of the world	MS Amacello ship bell	The village of Andance	Debbie steering the ship	Entering a lock

The captain and Debbie	Grapevines on the steep valley walls