Continuing on our Rhone River cruise with Viking River cruises, we are heading to the Tournon Steam train as well as other excursions in the south of France. This area is so picturesque and beautiful and we really enjoyed the countryside and scenery of southern France. We did excursions every day we were on the cruise, twice a day everyday except one. That made for a lot of picture taking on my part. I just can’t take enough pictures when we are on a trip like this, but it will be one we will never forget. I hope you’re not bored, but enjoying this journey through the south of France. It sure was a memorable trip for us.
Full Disclosure: This trip was hosted by Viking Cruise lines and they comped our cruise (for Mark and me). We did, however, pay for our pre-excursion to Nice and also paid for Mark’s air fare, incidentals and the optional shore excursions. As a Media person, the excursions were offered at 1/2 price when we booked after we arrived on the ship. It was such a fantastic experience and I can’t recommend Viking enough. This cruise was highly anticipated by us and did not disappoint in any way. We were so fortunate to be offered this opportunity and we are grateful for it. One reason we like Viking and other group travel tours is because as seniors, we don’t want to have to figure out all the logistics of a European adventure. It’s much more calming to have it all planned for you and all you have to do it show up. They did not ask me to write a certain amount of posts or have any stipulations on how I covered the trip, but I’m sharing the whole experience with you all in several posts.
As part of our Charming Ardeche tour, we visited a lavender farm, which was quite enjoyable and scenic. They toured us on a little tram around the property and then we came back to learn more about the lavender harvesting business.
It was a beautiful place and the smell of lavender was prolific.
Mark and I at the lavender farm. On a sidenote, Mark has a superior sense of smell and he really didn’t like the heavy lavender aroma in the giftshop they had. I love the smell of it, but he does not. That was funny!
We had so many opportunities for scenic views like this.
Driving through the countryside.
Next we stopped for lunch, since this day was an all day tour and we had lunch at this charming restaurant. There was an extra special treat with a view I’ll show you down below.
The food in France was so fresh and delicious, we had several meals similar to this. Simple and tasty salads.
And a beef stew cooked with veggies and potatoes. It was all delicious, with dessert as well.
After lunch, we took a walk down to this gorgeous scenic site, another natural rock arch called the Pont d’Arc. Isn’t that stunning?!
Never to miss a selfie moment with this behind us, Mark was a sport and smiled with me.
The next day was a new excursion, the Tournon Steam train. This was an included excursion with Viking, so most everyone went.
Inside the train was cozy and had an old fashioned feel.
Mark was wondering when the hot chocolate was coming out, like in Polar Express, one of our favorite Christmas movies. We didn’t get any hot chocolate, but the scenery here was extra special too.
We arrived here at this little station, which we heard was just a prop. The train made a u-turn and then we went back where we started. The Train de Ardeche was very enjoyable.
One more look at an arched bridge over a river, these are so beautiful to see.
In case there was any doubt that they grow lots of grapes for wine in France, the vineyards were everywhere here in the South of France. It was a beautiful sight to see.
We drove through quaint villages during our excursions and they were so beautiful.
A walk through Vienne one afternoon was another included excursion. We ended up not doing this whole tour, but it was pretty. This stop ended up being where I went out and found a jacket for Mark. The other two ladies we were hanging out with, Susan and Martha, went along with me too and they were shopping for a couple items. We all found what we needed. The weather turned cooler the last 3 days of the cruise and instead of 70’s weather, it went down to the 50’s and Mark didn’t have a jacket, so I found one for him.
This little town was quaint as well.
I’m going to stop here and leave the rest for another post. I think I can do it in one more post. It’s so many pretty pictures and it’s hard not to share them all, but I tried to choose the best ones to tell our story of our Viking River cruise to the south of France. It was such a lovely trip! Thanks for tagging along with us!
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