Trip Report- Uniworld's Grand France

[boblerm]

22 hours ago, robertmartha said:

Bob

 

Thank you so much for all your very informative postings, your wonderful photos both on and off the ship (s) and for taking the time to post all of this information ! Really enjoying traveling along with you - !

 

Thanks again -

Bob

Bob, very much appreciate your kind words.

[Roz]

Love the "Bar du Leopard" 🐆  Uniworld's décor is a lot of fun.

 

Roz

[boblerm]

Day 11 May 27  Macon, Beaune

 

Today we took a little detour on the river Saone (not to be confused with the river Seine), and which is a tributary of the river Rhone.😶

Our excursion was "Burgundy Vineyards, Wine Tasting, Beaune and Hotel Dieu.

 

We started with a drive to the Chateau de Meursault, a large vineyard in the Burgundy region of France.

 

 

 

Here were given a tour of the wine cellars, and here I learned much more about the wine production of this region than I ever wanted to know.

 

 

Did enjoy the wine tasting, however.

 

 

We then went to the medieval town of Beaune.

 

 

 

If you have been following this report, then I most likely do not need to tell you the name of this church.

 

We started with some free time to explore, and had lunch on our own in a lovely French bistro.  We had chicken salad and bruschetta.  Was not expecting such a large portion.

 

The bulk of our time was spent touring the Hotel Dieu, or Hospice de Beaune.  It is a former hospital, now a museum,  founded in 1443 by the Duke of Burgundy to care for the poor.  A very historically  and architecturally interesting place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Judgement by Rogier van Weyden

 

 

Back on board, we had the Captain's welcome reception

 

Here is the evening's dinner menu

 

Eggplant, tomato and peach salad, seared scallops and prawns

 

Veal tenderloin, linguini clams and mussels

[PrettyParrot]

Bob, what a great day in Maçon and Beaun!  Thank you again for posting all of your wonderful photos and commentary.  Your postings have continued to pique our interest in this cruise (I've just emailed Uniworld on availability for next year)  😃 However, I must say that my husband much prefers the decor on the Catherine to the Joie de Vivre! 😂

[boblerm]

13 minutes ago, PrettyParrot said:

Bob, what a great day in Maçon and Beaun!  Thank you again for posting all of your wonderful photos and commentary.  Your postings have continued to pique our interest in this cruise (I've just emailed Uniworld on availability for next year)  😃 However, I must say that my husband much prefers the decor on the Catherine to the Joie de Vivre! 😂

Me too!  But in truth, the JdV isn't all that bad.

[Roz]

"Today we bid farewell to some friends that we made on the Joie de Vivre that were daparting. There was a group of about 40 of us who were continuing on to the Catherine.  We were bussed to the Paris Gare du Nord train station to take the high speed TGV train to Lyon.  The ride was a pleasant and comfortable one."

 

Since there were 40 passengers doing the transfer, I assume Uniworld sold this as 2 separate cruises with the option to do back to back cruises?  Is this correct?  Did Uniworld arrange the transfer?  Was it included in your cruise fare?

 

Roz

[PrettyParrot]

32 minutes ago, boblerm said:

Me too!  But in truth, the JdV isn't all that bad.

 I think the decor is part of the fun too!  

[jpalbny]

19 hours ago, Roz said:

Since there were 40 passengers doing the transfer, I assume Uniworld sold this as 2 separate cruises with the option to do back to back cruises?  Is this correct?  Did Uniworld arrange the transfer?  Was it included in your cruise fare?

 

Roz - That's the way it was in 2015. We did the second half only, on SS Catherine. We were "adopted" by another two couples who had come off the first half. That was in the days before SS JdV existed so their first half was on a smaller older ship. We spent many dinners together talking about the pros and cons of the two itineraries, comparison between ships, etc. But yes, you could book either/or, or you could book both as a complete "grand voyage" with the transfer from Paris/Lyon included. Hopefully Bob will confirm soon that this is still the case.

 

***

 

Bob, just catching up after a weekend away. Love the Catherine pix and also the Beaune tour. We did NOT have a winery stop on our Beaune tour in 2015. We drove to a scenic viewpoint for a quick stop, then arrived in Beaune for a short guided tour, then lunch on our own, then reassembled for the semi-guided tour of the Hospice. Agree, it sure is an amazing place. Your pictures of that gorgeous tile roof really pop. Nice shots!

 

One question from earlier - I see that you didn't do any touring on your own that first day in Lyon. Was that a case of taking it easy, or did the schedule leave you not enough time for seeing anything? We took an early train from Paris, so we had all afternoon free, and we took full advantage. I hope you had time to see more of Lyon later, on your revisit after Beaune.

 

Again, really enjoying the thread as the Rhone was a very enjoyable cruise for us.

Edited June 16, 2019 by jpalbny

[Roz]

3 hours ago, jpalbny said:

 

Roz - That's the way it was in 2015. We did the second half only, on SS Catherine. We were "adopted" by another two couples who had come off the first half. That was in the days before SS JdV existed so their first half was on a smaller older ship. We spent many dinners together talking about the pros and cons of the two itineraries, comparison between ships, etc. But yes, you could book either/or, or you could book both as a complete "grand voyage" with the transfer from Paris/Lyon included. Hopefully Bob will confirm soon that this is still the case.

 

I went to Uniworld's website and see that there are 3 French cruises that are combinations of 2 or 3 shorter cruises.  Maybe when I retire.....

 

Roz

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, Roz said:

 

I went to Uniworld's website and see that there are 3 French cruises that are combinations of 2 or 3 shorter cruises.  Maybe when I retire.....

 

Roz

Roz, this is correct, Uniworld offers 3 cruises in France which can be mixed and matched, Paris & Normandy on the JdV,  Burgundy & Provence on the Catherine, and Bordeaux on the Bon Voyage.  We did the "Grand France, which is the first 2, some did this itinerary in reverse.  We met some people who did "Majestic France, which is the Bon Voyage and the JdV.  And we ran into a few lucky folk who did "Ultimate France", which is all 3.

 

To answer your previous question, the transfer between ships was seamless, all transfers and luggage handling was taken care of, and there were Uniworld reps accompanying us door to door.

[boblerm]

5 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Bob, just catching up after a weekend away. Love the Catherine pix and also the Beaune tour. We did NOT have a winery stop on our Beaune tour in 2015. We drove to a scenic viewpoint for a quick stop, then arrived in Beaune for a short guided tour, then lunch on our own, then reassembled for the semi-guided tour of the Hospice. Agree, it sure is an amazing place. Your pictures of that gorgeous tile roof really pop. Nice shots!

 

JP, I think I would have actually preferred this to what we did, our time in Beaune was pretty much confined to touring the magnificent Hospice, our free time was pretty much taken up with lunch.  Little time for exploring the town, I think I would have preferred that to the upteenth presentation on wine production.  But in fairness, most of the group seemed to really enjoy the visit to the vineyard, (including my wife), so I think that I am in the minority here.

 

5 hours ago, jpalbny said:

One question from earlier - I see that you didn't do any touring on your own that first day in Lyon. Was that a case of taking it easy, or did the schedule leave you not enough time for seeing anything? We took an early train from Paris, so we had all afternoon free, and we took full advantage. I hope you had time to see more of Lyon later, on your revisit after Beaune.

 



We did have a few hours free between lunch and all aboard, we chose to take it easy.  There really wasn't any information provided for touring Lyon, not even maps left out at the front desk, although I imagine that it info would have been provided if asked.  But we did have a full day in Lyon, that will be my next entry.

[Roz]

2 hours ago, boblerm said:

Roz, this is correct, Uniworld offers 3 cruises in France which can be mixed and matched, Paris & Normandy on the JdV,  Burgundy & Provence on the Catherine, and Bordeaux on the Bon Voyage.  We did the "Grand France, which is the first 2, some did this itinerary in reverse.  We met some people who did "Majestic France, which is the Bon Voyage and the JdV.  And we ran into a few lucky folk who did "Ultimate France", which is all 3.

 

To answer your previous question, the transfer between ships was seamless, all transfers and luggage handling was taken care of, and there were Uniworld reps accompanying us door to door.

 

Thanks for confirming, Bob.  Uniworld is really a class act.  Yes, that "Ultimate France" looks amazing.

 

Roz

[boblerm]

Day 12  May 28    Lyon

 

Lyon is a beautiful French city, but I guess that statement is somewhat redundant.  I am coming to realize that the term "beautiful" used in conjunction with "French city, town, or village" is completely superfluous!

 

First things first- in my ignorance of the French language, I always pronounced this city "lee own".  This is not correct, nor is it Leon, nor is it lion. It is pronounced, as best as I can tell, as one syllable, with a hard o sound, and only the slightest hint of the final n.  And whatever you do, please do not forget the French attitude!

 

 

Our excursion was "Lyon Gastronomic City Tour".  Our first stop was at this magnificent cathedral, which is not called Notre Dame de Lyon!

 

 

But no worries, it is called Notre Dame de Fourviere, Fourviere being one of the arrondissements of Lyon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cathedral is located at the top of the hill with a nice view of Lyon

 

Next we went to the Hotel Dieu where there is a large market

 

 

Here we had our first "gastronomical" offering, of 2 cheeses

 

 

Next we went to La Halle where we had cider and a trout pate

 

Our final offering was at a local cafe, where we had a "brioche of pralines", which was the consensus winner.

 

Lyon is also known as City of Murals- there are building that have paintings that depict historical events and famous people.  Here is one of the most popular

 

 

 

The people and events depicted can be read about here, it is pretty interesting.

Lyon Public Murals

 

Wait- what city am I in?????

 

Saint Nizier Church

 

Place Bellecour

 

 

 

 

 

The "Flower Tree", a work of Korean artist Jeong-Hwa Choi

 

 

More sights of Lyon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On this trip, everything has been going along about as well as could be expected, with nary a glitch.  Could our luck hold out?

Well........not exactly.........

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by boblerm

[boblerm]

We had  lunch onboard, and afterward, Jeannie was feeling a little weak, and wanted to take a nap.  I went back into town to poke around a little more.  On my way back to the ship, I got  a text from Jeannie, that she felt feverish and was shivering.

When I got back to our room, Jeannie was not looking good.   Well, not exactly true, Jeannie always looks good, but she was not looking particularly healthy.  Jeannie is a former RN, and from her symptoms, she was pretty sure she knew what her problem was, and knew that she needed a medical consultation.  Unlike ocean cruise ships, river ships as a rule do not have medical personnel onboard.

 

I went to the reception area, and our Cruise Manager AJ was there.  I told him of our problem, he said that we had a choice of going to an emergency room, or having a doctor come to the ship.  Jeannie did not really feel up to going out, so we asked if he could call a doctor.  He did, and said that the doctor should be here within 2 hours.  This was 3:30 PM.  At 5:40, AJ called our room and said that he has been calling, and was told that the doctor is delayed, but will definitely be here.  The doctor arrived at about 7, a very nice young man, who after taking history and examining Jeannie, confirmed her suspicion as to diagnosis.  He gave us a prescription for an antibiotic, and said that it was a one dose deal, and 80% of the time the issue is resolved within 24 hours.  The problem- it was now 7:30, all aboard was 8, and sailing set for 8:30.  I have no clue as to where to go to get this prescription filled, and how long it is likely to take.

 

Just then, Concierge Robert came to our room to see how things were going, and offered to get the prescription filled for us.  He did, and returned just about 8.  He said that he had to take a cab to the pharmacy, and laid out the money for the prescription, and told me the prescription cost.  I asked him how much the taxi fare was, and he said, "no problem, sir, that is on us"! 

 

That night, for the first time in our cruising lives, we had dinner in our room.  We were very fortunate to have a room large enough to dine in comfortably, and very fortunate to have a butler.  Valentin, our butler is an absolute gem.  He served us from the dining room menu, course by course, and at the pace that we wanted.  Amazing service.

 

 

There was an entertainer in the lounge that night, a singer named Kania, but we were clearly not up for going out.  And so another first for us is that we watched a movie in our room.  We chose "An American in Paris ".  I must confess that we fell asleep not long after the movie started, not because it wasn't enjoyable, but because we were rather wiped out by the day's activities and stress.

The end of the story is a good one, Jeannie did respond to the antibiotic and we were not hampered in enjoying the rest of the cruise.

[acwmom]

Bob, I am really enjoying your trip report, and realizing that we definitely need to sail the Rhone. (We were supposed to do this trip last year, but there was lock repair, Uniworld canceled the cruise, and we did a repeat of Paris Normandy instead) 

 

I am so glad Jeannie got the care she needed, and felt better quickly! And, what customer service from Uniworld. One of the main reasons we choose to sail with them. 

 

Robin

[jpalbny]

Glad that got sorted out OK with Jeannie's illness, Bob. Always worry about something like that. Looks like a beautiful day in Lyon. 

 

I had long puzzled over the origin of the name "Fourvière" because to me, it seemed to be made up of an English word "four" and a German word "vier" which also means four!

 

So I looked into it, and it supposedly comes from the fact that there was an old market up on the hill in Roman times. Vieux-Forum got turned around and became Fouvrière?

 

Speaking of Roman times, the Roman museum just downhill from the cathedral was great!

 

Robin, what are you waiting for? 😉 We want to go back and spend more time in this area, but we'll do it by land this time. 

[acwmom]

2 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Robin, what are you waiting for? 😉 We want to go back and spend more time in this area, but we'll do it by land this time. 

A sale  We actually want to explore France, in general. I'm trying to convince my husband that we should retire there.

 

Robin

[need2travel1]

Bob,

So glad Jeannie was feeling better relatively quickly, it's bad enough when you become ill at home but it's awful when it happens on vacation.  Shout out to Uniworld for taking care of things so seamlessly for you.  Their high level of service is one of the reasons we choose to travel with them.

 

Loving your review & pics-Lyon looks like a great city to wander around.   But now I have a problem-I want to do this cruise instead of the Castles on the Rhine that we're booked on next month!!  I don't think I can convince my husband though LOL.  Guess I'll just live vicariously thru your review......

[liptastic]

Bob just found your latest live thread. As always you and Jeannie give us all such a wonderful thread with great information and such lovely photos. We have yet to take a river cruise, but it is on our to do list.

Sorry to read Jeannie was poorly but glad she responded well to treatment and definitely such good care onboard is very reassuring to read.

Thanks as always for taking us along with you,  Jean.

 

[PrettyParrot]

So happy that Jeannie is on the mend!  What kindness and consideration from the Catherine's staff to help you!  They really went the extra mile to make sure that Jeannie received the treatment she needed.  

[boblerm]

7 hours ago, acwmom said:

I am so glad Jeannie got the care she needed, and felt better quickly! And, what customer service from Uniworld. One of the main reasons we choose to sail with them. 

 

Robin, we were extremely pleased with the way that our problem was handled, and all of the care that the personnel showed to us.  Very impressive indeed!

[boblerm]

6 hours ago, jpalbny said:

Glad that got sorted out OK with Jeannie's illness, Bob. Always worry about something like that. Looks like a beautiful day in Lyon. 

 

I had long puzzled over the origin of the name "Fourvière" because to me, it seemed to be made up of an English word "four" and a German word "vier" which also means four!

 

So I looked into it, and it supposedly comes from the fact that there was an old market up on the hill in Roman times. Vieux-Forum got turned around and became Fouvrière?

 

JP, interesting that you should ask about "Fourvière".  I distinctly remember our tour guide telling us that people often ask about it and as far as she knows....."it doesn't mean anything!"

[boblerm]

2 hours ago, need2travel1 said:

Bob,

So glad Jeannie was feeling better relatively quickly, it's bad enough when you become ill at home but it's awful when it happens on vacation.  Shout out to Uniworld for taking care of things so seamlessly for you.  Their high level of service is one of the reasons we choose to travel with them.

 

Loving your review & pics-Lyon looks like a great city to wander around.   But now I have a problem-I want to do this cruise instead of the Castles on the Rhine that we're booked on next month!!  I don't think I can convince my husband though LOL.  Guess I'll just live vicariously thru your review......

Thank you need2travel1, 

In all honesty, as much as we loved this  itinerary, and we did love it, if you twisted my arm and made me choose between this and the Rhine, I would choose the Rhine.  The scenery is just breathtaking.  One thing that this itinerary lacks is truly scenic cruising.

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, liptastic said:

Bob just found your latest live thread. As always you and Jeannie give us all such a wonderful thread with great information and such lovely photos. We have yet to take a river cruise, but it is on our to do list.

Sorry to read Jeannie was poorly but glad she responded well to treatment and definitely such good care onboard is very reassuring to read.

Thanks as always for taking us along with you,  Jean.

 

Thank you so much, Jean, happy to see you here!

River cruising, as I'm sure you know, is a very different animal than ocean cruising.  It isn't that one is "better" than the other, just very different experiences, we love both!

[boblerm]

1 hour ago, PrettyParrot said:

So happy that Jeannie is on the mend!  What kindness and consideration from the Catherine's staff to help you!  They really went the extra mile to make sure that Jeannie received the treatment she needed.  

Thank you PrettyParrot, they really did, and over the next few days many of the staff who were aware of our issue expressed their concern, asking how she was feeling.