Cruising the Rhone River

This Amadeus Waterways cruise was new in 2008. We were on the first sailing. The full tour(cruise plus land) started with three days in Paris, then we took the TGV high speed train to Lyon to board the Swiss Pearl for a seven day cruise on the Saone and Rhone Rivers to Arles where we went by bus to Barcelona for three nights via Carcassone(two hour stop for sightseeing and lunch). Ports and included tours were Lyon with a bus tour of the city; Trevoux and a bus trip through the Beaujolais region with a wine tasting; Vienne and a walking tour through the city; the stop at Tournon was supposed to include a trip on an old steam train, but the train went bankrupt and shut down. Instead, the ship continued to Vievers for a bus trip to Grignon; next we docked pretty much in the countryside for a bus trip to the town of Chateauneuf du Pape and a wine tasting at a nearby vineyard. Arriving next morning in Avignon, we sailed past the famous partly collapsed bridge, docked, and took a walking tour of the town including a visit to the Palace of the Popes; early the next morning we sailed to Arles for a morning walking tour of the city and and afternoon bus trip to Les Baux, the nut house where van Gough was hospitalized, and the nearby town of St Remey. Early the next morning, we departed by bus for Barcelona with a two hour lunch stop in Carcassone. On the morning of our first full day in Barcelona, we had a bus tour of the city, then a free afternoon. Next morning, we took an optional bus tour of the works of Antonio Gaudi, one of the highlights of the trip. Other optional trips included a Flamenco show in Barcelona and, in Paris, a boat trip on the Seine and a Paris by night bus trip.

Prices: Amadeus conveniently offers three ways to take the trip: cruise only, Lyon to Arles for - per person; cruise plus land extensions to Paris and Barcelona for -3499; or cruise plus land plus air and transfers for -4549. Cabin upgrades extra. Cruise prices included three meals a day, snacks, unlimited wine with meals, white or red at lunch ad dinner, champaign at breakfast; coffee; tea; and 1-2 bus or guided walking tours a day. The land addition included hotels, transfers to/from the ship to hotel, one half day bus tour in Paris and Barcelona, but no meals in Carcassone, Paris, or Barcelona.

Quick Tips:

We opted to make our own air arraignments as we have found that we have always been able to find better fares on the internet than those offered by cruise packages. If you make your own air, you must also arrange transportation from the airport to where the tour starts. Amadeus offered transfers for per person at both ends of the trip. We arraigned our own Paris transfer on Expedia for for two and took a taxi in Barcelona for .

Lunch and breakfast were served buffet style on the Swiss Pearl. Dinners were sit down with waiters, and very slow. On our other cruses, we found dinners typically took 1½ -2 hours, but dinner on the Swiss Pearl ran 2-3 hours. This got irritating.

The best view of the passing scenery is from the sun deck. Bring Sunblock. Although there were shade tents on the sundeck, they were down more often than up so the boat would fit under the bridges(this is common on European river cruises). Att one particularly low bridge, everyone on the sun deck had to lie down on the deck to squeeze under the bridge. It is often breezy on the sun deck, but shorts are also often in order. We never sailed after dark, so there were opportunies to sightsee from the sun deck. The Soanne trip was especially scenic, as were some spots on the Rhone.

Always expect rain in Europe. Celebrate when it is sunny, which is why the natives sit in all those outdoor cafes.

There is much hand wringing about the decline in the value of the dollar Bush's economic blunders caused, but compared to major US cites, it may not be so bad. A carnet, 10 rides on metro, cost about , and get you all over the city. We spent -80 for dinner for two with wine. We did blow on lunch at the restaurant in the Musee d'Orsay-- two pastries and two ice teas-- for the delightful Baroque setting. Bush's “Cowboy Diplomacy” has also made it increasing difficult to exchange currency, even travelers checks in Europe. Everybody used to want dollars, but no more. Use credit cards as much as possible.

Best Way To Get Around:

Metro is the way to travel in Paris. There are single ride tickets for 1.5 Euros, a 10 ticket package for 11 Euros, and 1-3 day unlimited travel tourist passes which also includes discounts at many attractions, restaurants, and shops. It takes some planning to figure out what is best for your plans. We got through three days in Paris on two carnets (20 tickets). Remember that a ticket, once validated is good for 1½ hours. Google “Metro Paris” for full details.

Metro tickets are also good fro buses and the RER, the suburban railroad. Avoid the RER if you can reach you destination Metro. RER trains trains are infrequent compared to Metro. On Metro, we never had to wait more than four minutes for a train. We had a 20 minute wait for RER, and the station operations are incomprehensible.

When you exit the Metro, look around the street for a brown sign pointing to your destination. How to get to sights is well marked by these signs. Look around at every intersection you come to. If there is no sign directing a turn, keep going straight. Once we figured that out, we stopped using our map.

On the cruise, travel was by boat, bus, and foot. The bigger towns had taxis, which were generally banned form the touristic center. Some tours and sights required considerable climbing up cobblestone streets.

The included hotel in Barcelona was inconveniently located if you wanted to visit the Mediaeval City or Las Rambles, the main street. The closest Metro stop was at least a 20 minute walk, not the 10 minutes the tour staff claimed. Taxis were abundant and supposedly relatively inexpensive for European cities, but we never got to traveling downtown so we had no personal experience with either Metro or taxis. Instead, we spent our free time after two half day bus tours, walking around the Modernista Quarter which started only 3-4 blocks from the hotel. We had a look at the Mediaeval City when the bust tour stopped there for an hour and at Las Rambles when the bus drove past. The Art Nouveau buildings of the Modernista Quarter were much more interesting.

No doubt tour companies flock to the the Pullman because it's location near the edge of the city makes it less expensive comparable than central lodgings. Our room was very nice, with all the conveniences, including two decent chairs to sit in and a desk.

The Pullman flaws were minor. A car alarm that went off one night at 4:00 am in the parking lot outside the front door, four floors below our room, was easily heard in our room, but aside from that, all was quiet, not even plumbing noises. Our room had floor to ceiling windows on 2½ sides with curtains that almost kept out the light. Our request to replace the comforter on our bed with a sheet and blankets worked for one of three nights.

The Pullman's rooms are on both sides of long hall, forming a rectangle. If the two long walls of the rectangle are lines A-B and C-D, short side A-C faces a busy street. C-D faces an unbusy street. B-D faces the driveway into the hotel. A-B has another building between it and the parallel street. We were in a most quiet location, the B corner.

Some reviews of the Pullman (Sofitel) complain about its remote location, far from the center of town. These comments must have been written before the Meteor Metro line opened (Metro line 14). The Meteor is a fast express with the Chatelet metro station, the key tourist area station, only three stops away. Madeline metro station, one block off the Champs Elyesee is four stops. We found it very fast and convenient.

To get to the metro station: turn left on leaving the hotel. Cross the street. Go through the arch, turn right on the cobblestone pedestrian street, Cour St Emillion, that runs through the middle of the mall. There are two passageways through the long row of buildings on the left. Go left at the second one. The metro stop is right across the street.

If you go through the first passageway on the left, you are right across the street from a nice park.

Rates start at $265 (May, 2008). The Pullman has a good location, but it is not cheap. Check out the nearby Ibis, the lowest priced chain of the Accor family (Pullman is their luxury brand).

There is a good selection restaurants on the nearby Cour St Emillion.

Rue de Libourne is a very obscure street (I found it on my 82 page Paris street map). It is easy to locate by looking for Bercy Village, a shopping mall, or the Cour St Emillion, which is both a street and a nearby metro stop.

L'Europeen is a rather large place for a brasserie. We saw four dinning rooms. It was obvious from the seafood stand L'Europeen operated out front that seafood was the speciality, but we had chicken and Choucroute Garni. The dinning room we were in was richly decorated with dark red wallpaper, dark wood, red leather chairs, and bright chandeliers. The Maitre de wore the traditional black tuxedo. In keeping with tradition, there was a separate Maitre de for each dinning room. A proper French Maitre de has a different job than one in America. In addition to taking us to our table and handing us a menu in English after asking, in English, “Would you like the English menu?”, he dished up our food and supervised the waiters serving the room. For example, when the choucrute garni got overly hot, he directed our waiter to turn off one of the burners under the platter. The 2-3 waiters serving our room wore white shirts, black bow ties, red vests, black pants, with a white apron. L'Europeen is a good example of the classic traditional French restaurant scene.

It shows good manners in any country, especially in France, to make an effort to show the natives you are trying to do things their way. I do not ask for an English menu, but if offered, I accept. Anybody can translate a French menu with a good phrase book, and the staff will help. Apparently my French is slipping because the Maitre immediately offered us an English menu (years ago, I seem to have spoken French with a German accent. I once asked a concierge who kept insisting I was German, not American, why he thought that. He replied, “Americans cannot speak French as well as you do.” See what fun it is to try to do things their way?). I got back in the game when the waiter came to take the order by ordering in French from the English menu. I screwed up one word. The waiter corrected it. I repeated what he said. He smiled and replied, “Bon” (That's good). Now look at how our meal has started. Before we even finished ordering, we had a happy smiling French waiter, not the surly stereotype. You get what you ask for.

The waiter asked if I was familiar with the dish I ordered. I replied, “I've never had it in France, but it is sauerkraut with pork and sausages.” He was happy with that, and once you understand French waiters, you will understand that if I had answered, “no”, he would have explained the whole meal in detail.

A proper French dinner is a pageant. After placing our order, the waiter brought an ice bucket and a stand for it to the table and placed a white hand towel over it, to wrap around the bottle so water from the melted ice does not drip when the wine is poured. Meanwhile, the Maitre was at a sideboard filling a carafe from a bottle of wine. When he was done, the waiter brought the wine for the tasting ceremony, and then poured us each a glass.

Next he brought to the table a double burner chaffing dish stand and lit the burners with a Bic lighter. While the Maitre was dishing up her chicken at the sideboard, the waiter placed my choucrute garni on the chaffing dish stand, a platter as big as two plates heaped 3-4 inches high with sauerkraut and boiled potatoes and on top of the mountain of sauerkraut, was a large pice of ham, a slab of bacon, and four different sausages. Then the Maitre took a fork and spoon and dished up a load of kraut on my plate. He topped off the kraut with the bacon and one sausage. While he was doing that, the waiter disappeared and returned with a jar of “moutarde”, which he placed beside my plate just as the Maitre finished serving-- note the timing, everything in its place at the right time, part of the pageant. Only once have I ever had a bigger meal, a four course Italian dinner that took three hours to eat, including intermissions.

Choucroute garni (literally, decorated sauerkraut) is the classic regional dish of Alsace, which is, along with Paris and Lyon, one of the three great centers of French cuisine. Specifically, the restaurant served Choucroute Garni de Severne, sauerkraut and pork in the style of Severne, the town that more or less marks the northern end of the Route de Vin Alsace (see Journal on). Choucroute garni is often found in brasseries in Paris as the original meaning of brasserie was brewery, and most brasserie owners came from Alsace, the beer center of France. Beer is big in Alsace due to Alsace frequently changing hands between France and Germany over centuries of warfare. By the way, French beer is very good.

The most interesting thing about choucrute garni is how nicely each of the meats goes with sauerkraut and mustard. Choucroute garni is a decent example of one of the great characteristics of French cuisine-- putting things together such that the sum of the ingredients is different from and greater than the parts. Think of French onion soup. It is onions, water, and beef, yet properly combined, it is none of those, but something unique and greater than onion, water, and beef. To fully appreciate choucroute garni, it must be eaten so that your are chewing meat, kraut, and mustard at the same time. This combines the three into that mysterious sum that is greater than the parts. Cut a small bite of meat. Put some mustard on your fork. Scope up some kraut, spear the piece of meat, and put it all in your mouth.

What to drink with choucroute garni? I've never yet gotten around to trying it, but, considering its origins, beer has to be good (in the USA, go for a micro brew). We fix choucroute garni at home several times a year, and we found that the best wine to drink is a California Gewurtztraminer, which is sweeter than one from Alsace. In France, any white wine from Alsace will work. Start with a Gewurtztraminer, then try a Riesling. Any and all of these would also have been an excellent pairing with her chicken, so we ordered Rose because we were on a Rose kick this trip. Every chance we had, we drank Rose to explore an unfamiliar area of wine. Rose is not a great pairing with choucroute garni. On the other hand, it was a very nice Rose, and at $14 for a liter(a bottle of wine is ¾ liter), a good price.

If you grew up hating the common stinking American version of sauerkraut, be prepared for a pleasant surprise. European sauerkraut is a totally different experience (I like the taste of the German, Austrian, and Hungarian versions better than French because of the seasonings used). I'm glad I had a good, authentic choucrute garni once, but I don't think I'd order it again, except to maybe split it with somebody else.

Her Chicken Tarragon was excellent. A smallish half a chicken surrounded by excellent sauce was served on a diner plate. Unlike American chicken, this chicken had some flavor to the meat. To avoid cross contamination of flavors, the rather large accompanying serving of excellent mashed potatoes-- as good as I've ever encountered-- were served on the side, in bowl. Had his not been our last night in Paris, I would have gone back to L'Europeen and ordered it for myself the next night.

Including tax and tip, and a liter(a bottle of wine is ¾ liter) of the house wine, served in a carafe, dinner for two cost
$81, which seems comparable to USA big city prices, if not a better buy. And this at a time when the exchange rate was the worst ever. By the way, menu prices in France as in most of Europe, are inclusive-- tax and tip is included in the shown price. Tax and tip added up to 27% of the total (the bill broke it out for our information).

The bottom line is that L'Europeen provides the opportunity to fully experience why France is the world's best place to eat- great food served with great service in an attractive setting at a reasonable price.

Understanding how French restaurants work, especially French waiters, is the key to enjoying eating in France. The food is always good, but your meal may not be because you don't understand how the system works. I will eventually post an “Experiences” review in this journal on how that works. Wait until you see how I got free deserts.

We had been walking around the Modernista Quarter for a couple hours and weer starting to think about taking a break for lunch when, just as we were passing, the Chicago Pizza through open its doors. As that must have been a Sign from Above, in we went. The décor was reminiscent of Fuddruker's but limited to a Chicago theme-- Division St. street signs, poster for the Cubs, photos of downtown Chicago. No doubt this was exotic to Europeans, but we found it wildly out place and hilariously tacky. This is what Globalization does for you.

Otherwise, the restaurant was large, with four interconnected dining rooms staggering around the ground floor of a century old building. Most walls were exposed brick with dark timbers here and there. It would have been a most attractive setting with the Chicago bric-a-brac removed.

Needless to say, pizza was stressed on the menu. Two lists of pizzas were offered, Chicago style deep dish or thin crust (Italian). As it difficult to find anything resembling Italian pizza where we lived, she ordered that, the classic Pizza Marguerite (mozzarella cheese, basil, tomato). Although the pizza wasn't quite up to what we had in Rome, it was fine.

I had what the menu described as “pizza prosciutto”, only it wasn't. The ham was not any sort of cured country ham, just diced bland boiled ham, and too much of it at that. It smothered the pizza. It was OK, but a mistake to order. I should have had pizza Marguerite.

We also had a nice bottle of wine.

Service was friendly, prompt, and efficient.

The bill, including tax & tip, came to $23. Since you can't even get a bottle of wine in restaurant for as little as $23 where we live (Utah), it counts as bargain, despite the record bad exchange rate.

In keeping with the tacky Chicago theme, the rest rooms (very nice) are identified as “Elton John” and “Olivia Newton John”.

Bercy Village, a mall in the revitalized old wine warehouses of Paris strolling the pedestrian street Cour St Emillion, was a half block from our hotel (Pullman Bercy) has a good selection restaurants including Zagat Guide recommended Chai 33, where we never ate because the menu did not appeal-- too much like typical California Yuppie food. Our first night in Paris, we set out to find some traditional French food, which wasn't easy. Only one of the restaurants in Bercy Village offered a menu of mainly French classics.

We had Beef Burgundy and Veal Blanquette, both were good examples of the genre, European style. There are two differences between what you get in the USA or in Europe when you order this dish. First, European beef is very different it texture-- more stringy and chewy-- and a somewhat different in taste. Second, getting high quality veal is close to impossible in the USA. The beef was classic European beef, and well cooked, accompanied by pearl onions and mushrooms. Nicely flavored in a red wine sauce.

The veal was incredible, easily the best we ever encountered anywhere. It was as tender as mashed potatoes! The sauce was creamy smooth and rich.

Now for the bad news, and this was really bad compared to what French food used to be. Both dishes were accompanied by a salad of iceberg lettuce. We have been traveling in Europe for 35 years, and this is the first time we ever encountered that culinary abomination. Before, all our salads in Europe were of a superb butter lettuce. The already applied house dressing was, as in most American restaurants, loaded with an excessive amount of vinegar relative to the oil, and, making bad even worse, it was not well mixed into the salad and there wasn't enough room on the plate to try to stir it around with out salad falling on the table.

Also, the salad came with the main course, unlike a classic French meal where salad follows the entree, far an away the best sequence for salad. We started having salad last or just before desert after our first trip to France 30 some years ago, and we are still are doing it. It is the right way to eat. Give it a try.

A small basket of bread was decent, but no baguette (see review) and it was included, no extra charge.


Total cost (food, wine, tip, tax): $60

Like most restaurants in France, the menu was posted outside, along the street, so the diner can see what they are will be getting without going inside. There were more tables outside under a canvas than inside. In both places, tables were small and really jammed together. Had anyone been sitting when beside us when we finished diner, eight people would have had to get up and move so we could get out.

Service was efficient but more like a Denny's than a traditional French restaurant.

Breakfast and lunch were buffets. Dinners were sit down, multiple course meals that took a long time, 2-3 hours. Unlimited wine was included in the tour price-- champagne at breakfast, and a choice of red(or rose when we were in the rose region of southern France) or white at lunch and dinner. The wines changed daily, sometimes also changing between lunch and dinner. We particularly liked the rose served when we in that region. Rose was the one of the lunch and dinner offerings one day. The next day, it was not listed, but we asked the waiter if they still had any. He came up with a couple bottles.

The breakfast buffet offered scrambled eggs, bacon, a rotating meat, a rotating hot vegetable, a selection of cold cuts, cheeses, and fruits, and something for syrup, either waffles, pancakes, French toast, or polenta. Eggs fixed to order could be ordered from the waiter.

Lunch started with a choice of soups, then off to the buffet where there were the hot entrees included a meat dish, such as coq au vin and a vegetarian dish, often pasta. There was also a daily special ordered from the waiter. Soup of the day also was ordered from the waiter.

A typical dinner menu:
AMUSE: Ham mousse with red cabbage and apple salad
SOUP: potato with parsley or tomato consume with vegetables
SALAD: Nicsoise or salad melange(mixed greens)
MAIN COURSE: braised duck or grilled salmon with lemon dill butter and potato and broccoli or fennel filled rice croquette with lemon sauce
DESERT or CHEESE AND FRUIT: coffee Amaretto parfait or your choice of a selection of cheeses or of three kinds of ice cream at the buffet.

We thought the food, while good, was not quite up to the quality of what we encountered on other cruises. There are two possible explanations for this. First, it was not as good. Second, we spent three days in Paris before starting the cruise and eating in Paris raises your level of expectation for food.

Dinner was indeterminable. Dinner took 1½- 2 hours on other cruises, but the Swiss Pearl took 2-3 hours. For 20 minutes of eating you get a couple hours of chitchat with strangers, unless you take friends along. I would rather be on deck watching the scenery and se would rather be reading, so we did not like this dinner schedule.

The major cruise companies generally organize European river cruises by language, so all the passengers spoke English, including the lady from Venezuela. We generally find that it the most fun to sit and chat with Canadians in the dinning room, mostly I think because Canadians can talk politics at an intellectual level and don't get as emotional about it as do Americans. At one meal, we joined four Canadians, and after introductions, one of them asked, “So what do Americans think of Canadians?” I answered, “They don't,” and we were off on a fun two hours of chatting about politics and hockey.

The dinning room seats everyone at one time, and it is crowded. Dinning rooms are typically either in the front or back of the ship, with three walls of windows so passengers can look at the view as they travel. This is nice. The best designed ships, like the Swiss Pearl, have few tables that are not window tables. Diner tends toward formal, jackets , evening dresses, and even ties are not out of place, but casual dressy is always in order..

Rivers are very smooth, hardly any waves. The boat will not bounce your wine into your lap.

In this part of France, cassoulet is the classic regional dish, so when we ate lunch (the main meal in France) at La Marquiere, we ordered the “cassoulet formula”-- main dish and desert: cassoulet and crème brulee. With taxes, tip, and a nice bottle of wine, it came to $61 for two. That was in May, 2008, the time of the worst exchange rate ever thanks to GW Bush's economic mistakes.

La Marquiere gets two crossed knives and forks in the Michelin Red Guide. This is good news. Michelin says two knives and forks means “a comfortable restaurant”, supposedly an attractive place to eat (ambiance), but we have found it also means good food at reasonable prices. While not as good as a stared restaurant, it doesn't cost anywhere near as much. In short, knives and forks signifies a very good, but not great, place to eat, price, quality, and ambiance considered. Keep in mind that this a rating system of French restaurants. Two knives and forks is way beyond the average American restaurant in quality. McDonald's and the other fast food joints don't even get on the map.

We expected a nice setting and we got it-- white walls decorated with assorted countryside mementoes and a dark wood timbered ceiling, a very pleasant setting for a meal. Service was excellent, but more informal than we encountered in Paris at L'Europeen (see review). We had to get back to our bus in 50 minutes from when we ordered, so I told the manager (owner?) that , and he assured us there would be no problem, and there was no problem.

The legend of cassoulet is that a city in this region-- a claim to fame asserted by several cities-- was, at a time long ago, under siege by some enemy. Food supplies were running short, and on the brink starvation, the Lord of the city ordered everyone to produce all the food they had left and it was thrown into a communal pot for a last supper. What was available was mostly dried beans, some duck, some pork, tomatoes, and some sausage. All this was thrown into a pot over a fire. When the aromas of the cooking food wafted out to the army laying siege, the enemy concluded that the siege was futile since the defenders of the city had to be well supplied with food to have cooked up anything that smelled so good. Believe it if you want, but whatever the truth, the truth is that cassoulet is a classic French dish.

The serving was enormous. I'm a big eater, and I walked away from a pile of beans still in the pot. Cassoulet is long simmered on the stove in a big pot. Then individual servings are dished up into a large crockery bowl, topped with bread crumbs and stuff, and blasted under the broiler. The waiter will warn you-- do not touch the bowl.

The cassoulet was perfectly prepared, with minimal seasoning. The duck and sausage was terrific. I'm not all that fond of dried of dried beans. These were OK, but lordy there were a lot of them, more than either of us could eat. Having once had authentic cassoulet, I doubt I'll ever order it again, but that is a consequence of my general dislike of dried beans. On the other hand, if you have never had authentic cassoulet in France, do into pass up the chance to try it.

The creme brulees, one of our favorite deserts, were the best we have ever eaten. The glazed sugar topping was as think as a piece of window glass. It was served in a small bowl with a larger surface area they is typical in USA restaurants, which resulted in mare caramelized sugar over the butter cream below. The caramelizing was the most even and closest to perfectly done we have encountered-- a small blow torch is passed over a layer of sugar put on top of the butter cream to caramelize it. Great care is needed to get an evenly colored glaze. Our favorite crème brulee in the USA is at a five star restaurant in Park City. They rarely get it right, but La Marquiere.

Next time we are Carcassone, we will head for La Marquiere, order crème brulee, maybe a couple each, and then figure out what else to eat.

We also had a pleasant bottle of some local wine from the lower price range of the wine list.

The décor of the dinning room on the second floor was very attractive. The dinning area was divided into four small rooms, creating an intimate atmosphere. Whitewashed walls are decorated with, well, stuff. It's nice stuff. The while ceiling is broken by dark wood timbers running from wall to wall. We sat near a fireplace (decorative as there was no soot in sight) we a big copper pot hanging inside, like an old farm kitchen.

Service was, as is typical in restaurants in France, exceptional, although far more informal than at L'Europeen. Once ready, the food was rushed to our table so piping hot than the waiter had to get a thick towel to use to hold the bowls of cassoulet to keep from burning his figures.

A note on understanding French menus (the language here is going to get confusing, so words in capitals are English terms for the lower case French words): La carte is the MENU. La carte used to have two parts(menu and carte). Now it has three, the menu, the carte, and the formula. The carte is the common American MENU, offering you a choice of a variety of dishes of different sorts-- APPETIZERS, ENTREES, SIDES, AND DESERTS. Ordering A LA CARTE means ordering “from the carte” side of the MENU, in French, from the carte side of la carte. The menu is a small selection of FIXED PRICE multi-course meals with limited choices for each course. The formula offers a choice of 2-3 two course meals, all chosen by the customer from the carte, consisting of a plate (ENTREE) plus an entree (APPETIZER/SOUP) or a plate plus a desert for a fixed price, a couple dollar less than ordering the same items from the carte.

$61, tip, tax, and wine included

We spent a weeks in Paris 30-35 years ago, and counting two subsequent visits to Versailles and this trip, we have spent 13 days in Paris. Our original impression from 35 years ago remains unchanged-- skip it. There are so many better places to spend time in Europe that is a shame to waste time and money going to Paris. But you won't listen, will you? So here are some highlights of Paris, things you should see even if there are more famous sights.

First, there is one very good reason to go to Paris-- it is the closest airport to Versailles. Plan 1-3 days. You can search Versailles from the city via the RER.

There are some grand cityscapes for the quais opposite the Louvre to the Ile de la Cite and the views of the Eiffel Tower from L'Ecocle Militaire and Trocadero.

Our favorite spots are the two great museums of Impressionist art, Muse Orsay and Marmottan (metro: La Muette), La Defense at the La Defense exit of Metro Line 1, and the ancient Place de Vosges, strangely out of place in Paris.

The Hotel de Ville (City Hall) is the most interesting of the old buildings. The only church worth a visit is the St Chappell on a sunny day to see the stained glass windows. Notre Dame is typical Gothic pile with a long line to enter. St Germain de Pres is notable for its unusal amount of original decorations (times change in church decoration. Originally, Romanesque and Gothic churches were brightly painted on every available space. Then they went austere, with few examples of the original paint jobs remaining.)

The Champs Elysees and Etoile (the Arc de Triumph) are a total waste of time, except for the view from the Pl. de Concorde.

Paris has a wealth of very expensive, very famous restaurants. So do all big cities. It is more interesting to eat in local joints (check the menu outside and pick places without an English version) which is where you best appreciate what all the fuss over food in France is about. I don't know how many days we have spent in France, but we have driven over 30,000 miles around the countryside and I'm convinced there are no bad, not even a mediocre restaurant in France expect McDonalds. These people know how to eat, rivaled only by Italy.

There is much hand wringing about the decline in the value of the dollar Bush's economic blunders caused, but compared to major US cites, it may not be so bad. A carnet, 10 rides on metro, cost about $17, and get you all over the city. We spent $40-80 for dinner for two with wine. We did blow $39 on lunch at the restaurant in the Musee d'Orsay-- two pastries and two ice teas-- for the delightful Baroque setting.

And lastly, forget Paris. Go to Prague.

Une Baguette (one baguette) is not actually a restaurant, but it is the one absolutely essential eating experience in France. A baguette is one of the greatest creations of French cuisine, the perfect loaf of bread. The baguette's shape is geometrically correct for maximizing the surface area of a solid of a given volumes, and it is the surface the really sells this loaf of plain white bread. A proper baguette comes with a thin crust that is as crunchy as a fresh potato chip. There is nothing like it in the bread world.

Here is the best way to experience a baguette We were walking down the street in Chateau Neuf de Pape one Sunday morning when we passed the open door of bakery (the French would never consider going without a fresh baked baguette on any day of the week, so baguette bakers work everyday). Looking inside, the baker was just taking a tray of fresh baked baguettes out of the oven. I popped in, and ordered “une baguette”, a few bites of paradise for $1.20. As we strolled on through the village on our way to the castle of the Popes on top of the hill, we tore pieces of the hot fresh bread off the loaf and munched perfection. Had it been later than 9:30 am, I would have also bought a bottle of wine, but that was a little to early in the day, especially as our next stop was a wine tasting.

While the crust is the glory of the baguette, also pay attention to the bread inside, filled with holes like Swiss cheese, tender but chewy, it is plain white bread with character. Wonder Bread wouldn't be flirting with bankruptcy if they could prepare a baguette

For a great picnic lunch, build it around a baguette In town, you will have visit several shops to put it together, but that's fun. When we are are on a driving trip, we simplify shopping by stopping at a Geant or Super Marche, large supermarkets something like Wal-Mart except the food is top quality. Picnic lunch is a baguette, some smoked salmon or ham, a piece of cheese, and a bottle of wine or Evian water for the driver. Maybe an orange or apple too. Maybe a pastry for desert. Yum yum. Sometimes she gets a pate. I can't stand that stuff.

Wherever you are in France, there is a baguette not far away. Do not miss having one, or a dozen. Well, maybe three.

A typical day on the Swiss Pearl:

6:00-7:00 am Coffee and pastries in the lounge for early risers
7:00-9:00 am Buffet breakfast in the dinning room.
9:00-11:00 Guided tour of Vienne
11:00-12:00 free time in Vienne
12:15pm Return to ship
12:30 sail for Viviers
1:00-2:30 lunch buffet in the main dining room
Free time on board. It was nice weather, so many passengers were sightseeing, sleeping, reading, or drinking and conversing on the Sun Deck
4:00 tea (coffee or tea, pastries and cakes) in the lounge
5:00 arrive
5:45 wine tasting in the lounge (Cote de Rhone)
6:45 briefing on next day's events in the lounge
7:00-9:00 diner
9:00-10:00 French accordion player in the lounge
9:00 Movie: Much Ado About Nothing shown on cabin TVs.

Half the days on the cruise followed this schedule: half day sight seeing, half day cruising. The other days were more like all day sightseeing and cruising only in the early morning or early evening or not at all, such as in Arles, where we arrived about 8:00 am with a walking tour from 9:00-12:00 (including about an hour free time at the end), lunch from 12:00-1:00, and then an afternoon bus tour. There were no optional tours during the cruise, as all tours were included in the price (except tips for the tour guide and bus driver).

When we returned from shore tours, the crew had a cold drink-- it changed daily, including ice tea, lemonade, punch, or a bottle of water. Some cookies, coffee, and tea were usually available in the lounge. The afternoon tea added cakes/pastries to the choices.

There was a not overly hot jacuzzi on the sun deck and a jacuzzi/exercise room on the lower deck.

Breakfast and lunch were buffets. Dinners were sit down, multiple course meals that took a long time, 2-3 hours. Unlimited wine with meals was included in the tour price:

Several entertainments were presented after dinner in the lounge. I recall a chanteuse, a local accordion player, a string combo, a viola and double bass duo (not nearly as bad as you think), and the on board keyboardist.

Of the six cruise ships we've been on, the Swiss Pearl had by far the most comfortable chairs in the lounge but the sun deck chairs, while spiffy new, had room for improvement.

Some river cruises travel mostly at night, being little more than a floating hotel. If you want to watch the scenery go by, you don't see much. This cruise sailed only in the daylight, often in the early morning or evening hours.

The staff was excellent, but some spoke very limited English.

The cabin safe was a challenge. After several tries, we got it to work. The instructions were minimal, and there are some things the instructions do not tell you--- if you make a mistake, the safe freezes for a while. Wait and try it again. If you leave the door open too long, it freezes. I can't recall for sure, but this may mean having to start the programing sequence all over.