Back from Tauck's "Savoring France: Lyon, Provence & Paris," June 13-22 – A Review

[maryogreen]

 

In September 2021, my husband and I sailed round-trip from Paris on the Seine River with Tauck. It was our first Tauck cruise and our first venture traveling post-pandemic. The cruise as well as the land excursions in Paris were so outstanding that we eagerly signed on for another Tauck river adventure, this time on the Rhône, from Paris to Lyon.

 

Our Tauck home in Paris was the Intercontinental Paris Le Grand, a beautiful hotel with a view of the Palais Garnier opera house. After a day of touring on our own, the Tauck tour began with a pastry class at the Cordon Bleu, one of the highlights of the trip. Tauck also hosted a welcome dinner at Fouquet's – which turned out to be much better than what we'd read from previous posts on these boards – and offered what was billed as a food and beverage walking tour that didn't quite live up to its description. It was the only disappointing tour and not-so-great guide that we experienced on the trip.

 

We traveled to Lyon by high-speed train – about a two-hour trip – and boarded the Ms Emerald for our cruise on the Rhône. The ship as almost at capacity at 81 guests and was a déjà-vous duplicate of the Ms Sapphire which we'd sailed on the Seine. Unknowingly, we had even booked the same cabin we had on the Sapphire, #309!

 

It's almost difficult to write a review because based on our two experiences, Tauck runs everything so seamlessly that there is very little to improve. Cruise director Kamel was a delight and hosted daily meetings before dinner, updating everyone on the following days's events. The three tour directors were wonderful and accompanied the groups on all excursions. They went out of their way to accommodate requests and help anyone in any way.

 

Food ran the gamut from good to exceptional, and the Chef's Dinner at the end of the week was about as outstanding as it gets. My husband and I would have liked a little more variety in the dinner offerings and some healthier choices at times. (We filled out a mid-cruise survey, and the Hotel Director couldn't have been more responsive.) Servers in the dining room were efficient, although not as engaging as we've experienced on other cruises. Our cabin attendant was top-notch, and the crew maintaining the ship kept everything looking pristine.

 

For us, the highlights of the trip – and the key reason we chose Tauck – were the excursions. We stood in lavender fields at the foot of a castle, watched labradors hunt for truffles at a farm in Provence and saw Van Gogh's "Starry Night on the Rhône" painting in Arles. The painting was a last-minute addition to the schedule after Tauck learned that it was newly on loan from Paris, and paid the admission to the Arles museum for anyone who wanted to see it. There were two special events on the river as well – lunch at a ranch in the Camargue and dinner at a château in Uzès. 

 

Bottom Line: It was a wonderful, filled-to-the-brim experience that left us exhausted and exhilarated at the end of every day!

 

For anyone who is interested, I've just posted my first blog from the trip and will have stories and photos from every port in the coming days.

https://www.themodernpostcard.com/paris-in-the-summer-three-years-later/

 

 

Mary

The Modern Postcard

Edited July 2 by Host Jazzbeau
fixed spelling

[Gourmet Gal]

Nice review.  I did the same cruise a few years ago but there were quite a few problems- some Covid related.  Anyway, I believe the chateau dinner was in Uzès not Èze.  Èze is in Provence nearer to Monaco.

[maryogreen]

@Gourmet Gal, thank you! Sorry to hear you had some issues on your cruise. Whatever the problems might have been, Tauck certainly has worked things out! You are correct that the dinner was in Uzès. Thanks for catching that...I will edit the review.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, maryogreen said:

@Gourmet Gal, thank you! Sorry to hear you had some issues on your cruise. Whatever the problems might have been, Tauck certainly has worked things out! You are correct that the dinner was in Uzès. Thanks for catching that...I will edit the review.

You can't now, so I did it for you.

[Roz]

@Gourmet Gal, nice review and photos.  I've found Tauck to be a top notch operation.

[maryogreen]

3 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

You can't now, so I did it for you.

@Host Jazzbeau Thanks! I tried and didn't realize we can't go back and edit our posts. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

39 minutes ago, maryogreen said:

@Host Jazzbeau Thanks! I tried and didn't realize we can't go back and edit our posts. 

There's a short window when you can.  I don't remember how long...