Bring Your Hat - Rhône Valley to Provence

Our itinerary:

We stayed at the old meets new stunning Boscolo Hôtel & Spa in Lyon. It’s in walking distance to everything you would want to see here. From old town, to amazing shopping, incredible local pastries and cafes. Could have stayed here for an entire week. Our first night we were completely on our own. We walked the cobblestone streets, got dinner at Casabea and picked up a bottle of wine from the forever accommodating wine shop Nosch. We decided on an early night after a long day of travel. We woke up refreshed and headed to my now favorite spot in all of Lyon, Le Pain Des Jacobins. There are only four chairs and two tables outside so get there early if you want a seat. By 9 am there was a line out the door. You could eat there every day for a year and not try everything. She must have magic elves working for her. We sipped our coffee and enjoyed every little bite of our pistachio tart. 

The weather was glorious and we walked the cobblestones again peeking into flower shops, chocolatiers, reading the historical plaques, resting on benches, people watching, jaw dropping architecture and statues. What a beautiful city.


The Quai Claude Bernard, Lyon is short walk from the hotel so we check out and drag our roller bags what seemed like ten miles, but actually it was less than one, to our river boat the AMA Kristina. We looked like proper American tourists that day for sure.
Check in on the boat was at 3 PM and our Welcome Reception was on the Sun Deck with our good friends and owners of the Samsara winery in Santa Barbara. They arranged this entire trip and for the next seven days it’s us and 80 other wine club members and friends. 

We overnighted in Lyon on board and got up early to head to the Les Halles Market Tour. So yummy. We had tastings set up with wine pairings at 3 booths. I learned a lot about French food style and that I love the smell of frog legs being pan fried in butter and garlic. Another sunny day so we headed top side to sit and sip by the pool after we returned to the boat for a cat nap. At 6:30 PM we had our first Samsara Wine Dinner in the Main Restaurant as we watched the sun go down over the Rhône river in Lyon one last time.

The following morning we took our bus into the countryside to tour Domaine de Fund-Vieille. It was a beautiful family owned property with the most playful vineyard dog. They specialize in Gamay in this region, but we tasted several of their wines family style at a long table after walking the property with the owner and winemaker himself.

After returning to the boat, we set sail for a short cruise to Vienne Sainte-Colombe. While in route, we had just enough time for a wine seminar. We compared Samsara new world wines with French old world wines of the same varietal. I know that some of you will be disappointed, but I preferred the California wine hands down. We arrived in Vienne for some self exploring before dinner. A darling ancient town loaded with history and interesting tales. Once off the boat, it was hard to miss the Gothic church, and the Temple of Augustus. We found our way to the pyramid of Vienne and had a cocktail at the La Pyramide Hotel’s Blue Pearl. We walked back into town to dine with the locals. We accidentally ordered way too much food, but washed it down with a local beer before heading back to the boat. 



We overnighted on the ship in Vienne Sainte-Colombe and got up early for a morning hike. Across one of the first suspension bridges ever constructed, back through the town up up up to Mount Pipet for a glorious view of Vienne and the Rhône river.

We hustled back to set sail for Tournon and L’Hermitage. While in route we soaked up some sun with a glass of rosé by the pool and then got ready for our Samsara Wine Dinner in the Main Restaurant. Samsara brought 22 cases of wine with them and we had our work cut out for us trying to taste it all. Matt the winemaker and Joan one of the owners talked us through the pairings. We are so very familiar with these wines and yet half way around the world with French food it was a completely new experience.

We overnighted on the ship in Tournon and hit the ground running for one of the highlights of our trip, Climbing to the top of L’Hermitage hill. The steepest vineyards in the world. At least it felt like they were. 
The vines were being worked by large beautiful horses and the view from the top was everything I had hoped. Afterwards we went to wine school and tasted 3 wines at the beautiful M. Chapoutier. To round out our day we stopped at the famous chocolatier Valrhona for a sweet treat on our walk back to the boat.

We arrived back on the boat for a quick fresh ing up and then off to a wine seminar on board at 2:30pm. This was exclusively Samsara and featured my favorites. Their estate Pinot and Syrah. If too much wine is a thing, I was reaching my limit.

We had dinner at the Chef’s table at the rear of the ship that night and watched the sun set out the rotunda windows as we set sail for the tiny town of Viviers. This was an unexpected treat. The road to town was quiet and lined on both sides with massive sycamore trees. Once in town center, I think the entire town’s population of less than 100 people were there in costume to welcome our arrival. Be partially deserted town was the set of our evening ghost walk. Our guides stayed in character all night and the actors that played the ghosts were incredible. It was like the town was open just for us. We overnighted in Viviers and set sail for Avignon in the morning.

We jumped off the boat in Avignon for our self guided tour to the Papal Palace. The Pope’s residence and church is unbelievably massive and sets up for a spectacular town square. There is a secret garden on the hill next to the palace that we happened upon. It’s a “must see”. The garden is a mix of modern style, water and exotic plants. There is a man made grotto and art students sit about painting this beautiful place. From the top you can see the river on both sides. We found some delicious coffee and headed back to the boat for some lunch.

Later that afternoon we boarded a bus to the country for a visit to a third generation truffle farm. We were greeted by the owner’s daughter and led inside for a fascinating lesson on farming the rare black truffle. I never knew I needed to know that much about truffles and I think we should have earned a certificate of some sort. So interesting and then we were out in the grove hunting with the truffle dog. He was a lively black lab that absolutely loved his job. Lastly we visited the owner’s workshop for a tasting and you guessed it, more wine.

The following morning we headed to the countryside again to visit the hilltop town of Les Baux. There is a petit road to the gates that was challenging with our bus, but our driver was a pro. The town is only open seasonally and almost no one resides there year round. For our visit, though it was alive with tourists shops and cafés. We got some coffee and strolled for about an hour. When I was a little girl, my grandma would bring me nougat from Italy. They have a very similar sweet treat in France that I had to try. It was incredible and we bought some to take home as gifts for family and friends.




Our next stop just outside Les Baux was at the seventh generation family owned olive farm Mas St Jean. Greeted by two incredible sisters that seemed to run the entire place. From the ancient church on the property, the flock of sheep and olive tasting under the massive courtyard trees it was the perfect break in our day before heading back to the ship for dinner.

The following day was the day I had been looking forward to our entire trip. We arrived in Arles that morning around eleven AM. We took a short walk into town for a crispy local pint and awaited our personal driver. While the rest of our group walked around Arles we headed south to where the river meets the sea. This magical marsh is home to flamingos and one of the oldest breeds of horses, the Carmargue. They are domesticated wild horses that are born brown and turn entirely white around their seventh birthday. We rode out of Mas Saint Germain where the horses are used to herd cattle and love to run. Like something out of a fairytale we walked out to them grazing free in the field, looped a rope around their necks and walked them to the stable for brushing and saddles. We made our way through the rice fields and cattle to the marsh where we rode in the water next to the birds and some very thirsty mosquitoes. What a gift this was. 

That evening we had a farewell reception with Samsara on the sun deck. We toasted with California bubbles and talked about where our next adventure might take us as a group. The next morning will be early and hectic as we disembark and go our separate ways. Some will go home, some will continue on to other European destinations and a group of 30 of us will stay together heading to Saint Remy.

On our way to Saint Remy we stopped again in Les Baux. We were intentional this time looking for a memory of this place that we could install in our new house and snacks for the hotel. We decided on a brass wall mounted French soap. You see these in the bathrooms all over the area and as luck would have it we were in the middle of a bathroom project that needed something different. As for the snacks we let our noses guide us to the haunting aroma of truffle cheese and sausage with a bottle of rosé to wash it down from Maison du Jambon. Voila as they say.

For lunch we made our way to Saint Remy to Bistro du Paradou for a four-course menu paired with Château Mont Redon wines and a massive cheese board. Our friends Joan and Dave have dined at this restaurant countless times and they treated our entire group like family.

After lunch, we checked into Le Saint Remy, a five star luxury hotel with rooms and suites housed in a historic 19 century townhouse, with a modern addition. located in the heart of town and walkable to everything. When we got to the hotel room, I immediately showered and put on my pajamas. We rented a movie and were in for the night. I needed some downtime. We watched a movie that was recommended to us by one of our favorite couples on the trip. We sipped our rosé and snacked on our truffle treats that we picked up earlier in the day and had the best night sleep of the trip.

Awakening, refreshed and ready to go I hit the gym before heading downstairs for the complimentary breakfast and some coffee. There was a guided group tour of the village this morning, but again we opted out and walked the shops ourselves. As an added treat, it was mayday, and there was a parade complete with the most adorable donkeys you’ve ever seen in your life. We made it back to the hotel just in time for our four course lunch with wine pairings. This was my favorite lunch of the trip. The hotel did an amazing job and their courtyard was a gorgeous backdrop for a middy tasting with our group.

After lunch, we headed out for another wine tasting at Domaine de Metifiot (organic wines & olive oil). This is hands down the most impressive winery I have ever toured. This winery has been getting a good bit of press lately, and it is well deserved. The design is a modern marvel. I haven’t seen that many massive cement fermenting tanks in one place ever. The owner himself, ran the tasting and walked the vineyards with us. We were still full from lunch, but they had laid out an amazing spread of charcuterie, fruits, vegetables, and fresh bread for us. They had their entire line available for us to taste. Just incredible.

After a short walk back to the hotel we freshened up and closed out our day with a walk across the village to Têtes d’Ail for another dinner with our group. This restaurant was modern on the inside, service was excellent and even though I was running out of room, I managed a little more food and wine.

The next morning started with a quick 30 minutes of cardio and a small breakfast at the hotel. We had a full day of back to back winery visits planned so I needed my strength. Our first stop was at Domaine de Longue Toque (Gigondas) for a cellar tour, vineyard walk, wine education and tasting. They had set up a really nice package for us to be able to order the wine we tasted and have it shipped directly to us in the US. I believe every single one of us took advantage of that offer, and after all of our orders were placed we were treated to a wine paired lunch. These were some of my favorite wines of the trip and I cannot wait to break into my shipment.

For our final tasting of the trip we headed to Châteauneuf-du-Pape to tour and taste at Mont Redon. I must admit, this is not my favorite style of wine, but tasting at the source is always different than tasting wine intended to be imported into the US. So I kept an open mind and heart filled with the gratitude of being able to travel to this place as we sat down with the owner to learn. He treated us to three of his best. Each grown just blocks or rows away from one another in that rocky soil and yet each very different. Still not my favorite wine style, but he is my favorite winemaker in the region and his wine was favorited by many in our group that bought bottles to bring home with them.

For our last dinner in France we had the exclusive use at L’Oustalet Maianen. This restaurant is just outside the village of St. Remy and has been completely reimagined with hand blown glass chandeliers depicting the French countryside throughout, and a new wine cellar. I haven’t seen a staff that excited to host a group in a long time. Chef came out to speak with us several times, and the manager darted around from table to table, making sure our every need was met. I lost count of how many courses we had, and in true French style a cheese course was brought out after dessert. I don’t know how Joan and Dave found this place, but this is a must if you are in the area.

We begrudgingly got up for an early breakfast at Le Saint Rémy and headed by VIP coach to the Marseille Provence Airport (MRS) at seven AM sharp completing our last act in France.