Live: Viking Chateaux, Rivers & Wine Cruise - August 11-18

[Australia08]

August 11 - Bordeaux

 

We just boarded the Viking Forseti.  We tried to leave the US on Tuesday, August 6th, but Mother Nature had other plans.  Luckily, we were able to head out the next day.  Having some status with Delta made our lives easier since we had a special number to call that had us on hold only 6 minutes.  Making hotel arrangements was more of a challenge, but all was well in the end.  We arrived at CDG early August 8th and took the RER to Gare Montparnasse, then headed out on a TGV for the 2 hour train trip to Bordeaux.  Even though we had to cancel one night of our Bordeaux hotel, we enjoyed 3 nights at the Hilton Tapestry Collection Hotel Marty.  It was in the old city, but outside of the super busy center so while it was quite walkable, we enjoyed being able to walk out of the hubbub each evening.  The first evening, we were still experiencing a bit of jet lag so we walked a bit, then decided neither of us felt like much food, so went to Le Bar a Vin, a wine bar in a beautiful space.  We enjoyed a sparkling wine with some foie gras and a red with selection of goat cheeses, both wines from Bordeaux.  They have a nice wine menu by the glass at Le Bar a Vin, and are most willing to assist in selection.  

 

 

 

 

By the time, we finished and walked back to the hotel, we were definitely ready to head to bed (on the early side for us, around 10 pm).

 

On Friday morning, August 9th, we enjoyed breakfast at the hotel, then headed to the Rustic Vines office to meet our full day wine excursion.  We had six other tour members.  Our van ride took about 45 minutes.  Our first winery was Chateau Ferrand in the Pomerol appellation.  We had a nice tour of the winery, learned a bit about their history, and had an excellent wine tasting.  We got to sample one white and two different reds.  After our wine tasting, our guide took us outside to enjoy a picnic lunch served with a bottle of a different vintage of one of Chateau Ferrand’s reds.

 

 

 

 

After our relaxing lunch, we headed off to another chateau in Leland de Pomerol, Chateau Moncets.  Here, we walked around the chateau property as the guide explained about this chateau’s history. Then it was on to the tasting room for a rose, followed by three reds. I liked the wines here, but the chateau guide was less engaging.  They also put our group of 8 together with another group of 8 so it lacked the more intimate setting of the earlier chateau 

 

 

 

 

 

Our final stop was in the village of Saint-Emilion.  There we went to a wine shop called Boutique Wines, where one of the shop staff led us through a tasting of five wines.  He actually had us taste each wine before telling us about the wine.  It was only at the end when we each picked our 2 favorites that we learned the prices.  This tasting lasted almost an hour and was lots of fun.

 

 

Following, our wine shop tasting, it was time for the Rustic Vines guide to take us on a quick tour of the village before it as time for us to head back to Bordeaux.

 

 

 

By the time, we returned to Bordeaux, we decided to just have another wine bar  appetizer evening.  The Rustic Vines guide had suggested that we might enjoy the nearby Aux 4 Coins du Vin.  It is a modern-style wine bar with bottles attached to an apparatus where you have the option of dispensing sample, half glass or full glasses of a huge variety of wines.  Since the dispensers are pressurized, the wine doesn’t start the oxidation process that normally happens when the bottle is opened and exposed to air. For our purpose, this was great since we were able to sample a variety of Bordeaux area wines at different price points.  More foie gras and some croque-monsieur gave us all we wanted to eat.

 

 

After eating, we took a leisurely walk along the waterfront before heading back to the hotel.

[Australia08]

On Saturday, August 10th, we had a very small breakfast at the hotel because we had booked a food tour with Devour Tours.  We met our guide at 10 am, then proceeded immediately to the bakery, Louis Lamour.  Our guide, Sylvie,  purchased our chocolataine (the Bordeaux name for pan au chocolate) and we sat at the outside table to enjoy them.  It’s difficult to describe just how multi-layered this treat is, and just how crispy on the outside and buttery on the inside the layers are! What a wonderful way to start our Bordeaux food experience.  

 

 

Our next stop was at Cassonade Canneles.  We had already been treated to canneles, the traditional Bordeaux small cake, at our hotel and as a treat for our picnic during the prior day’s tour, however, we quickly learned that there is a real difference between a quality cannele and a mass-produced cannele.  Cassonade Canneles is located on the street leading up to the Grosse Cloche so we talked about the history of this beautiful city gate as we munched.  

 

 

On our way to our next stop, Sylvie discussed the city’s architecture, introducing us to the few remaining medieval residences that were wood-timbered and discussing the eventual 18th century design.  

 

 

We also walked by the spectacular St. Andres cathedral where Eleanor of Aquitaine wed the future Louis VII in 1137.  

 

 

 

Our next stop was a nice shop filled with wines and pates.  There, we sampled foie gras - goose liver, as well as duck liver pate.  I, particularly, loved the goose liver.  We decided that we’ll come back here before we leave Bordeaux to buy some of the mixed gift tins of pates, rilletes, and terrines as gifts.

 

 

The next shop we visited was one of the best - Chez Delphine La Fromagerie.  Delphine, herself, introduced us to several of her favorite cheeses.

 

 

 

 

Yes, we were getting full, but it was time to enjoy some sweets at La Maison Darricau Chocolaterie.  Here, the chocolates we sampled were true works of art.

 

 

And just don the street, our final food item was the pastry, Dune Blanches.  It is a Chou pastry with a sugar crystal coating, filled with the most delicate cream,  I’ll be heading back for more of these when we return to Bordeaux next week, too.

 

 

 

While our food tasting had ended, Sylvie still needed to cap off our food tour with a Bordeaux wine tasting at Le Pied a Terre.  Our wine host introduced us to one white and two reds from the region, discussing each at length and answering questions we had about growing and harvesting conditions.

 

 

This was really a wonderful tour.  After it concluded, we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and exploring side streets throughout the city.  

 

Again, for the evening we headed to another wine bar.  Unfortunately, the one we selected was closed for the August holiday so we had to choose another wine bar that had been mentioned on the website Lost in Bordeaux. This wine bar, L’Ampélo, was similar to the wine bar we had visited the evening before.  It had the pressurized wine dispensers perfect for the sampling we wished to do.  After several wines with croque monsieur and duck rillete, we were ready to take a long walk along the river, then head back to the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Australia08]

On Sunday, August 11th, we had breakfast at our hotel, checked out around 11 am, called a BOLT, and headed to where the Viking Forseti was docked.  We quickly boarded and our room was ready for us.  We got a last minute great deal on one of the AA Suites.  I like having the separate sitting room.  I often wake up early and I can go down the hall, grab a coffee to bring back to the room, then sit in the sitting room area without bothering Mike.  I know a lot of people say they are never in their room, but I do enjoy the privacy of the room during different parts of the day.  I have plenty of together time with other passengers during meal times and tours.

 

We immediately unpacked.  The room is pretty similar to the room we had on the Danube except the door to the bedroom is located in a slightly different place and I miss the wonderful cubby shelves that surrounded the desk on the Danube cruise sitting room.  Those cubbies provided so much storage for those items you like to grab right before going to meals or right before heading out on a tour.  

 

I spent most of the afternoon reading the materials that Viking had for us about the upcoming cruise and starting to journal what we’d done to date.  Before I knew it, it was time to head to the safety briefing, followed by the port talk.  We had dinner in the Restaurant with some lovely Australian passengers.  While most of the passengers onboard headed to bed after dinner, Mike and I headed to the lounge for a nightcap and seemed to have the dance floor to ourselves.  I’m sure after tonight when most passengers were tired from travel there will be more people in the lounge following dinner.

 

By the way, I’ve decided to not add any more photos to my postings.  Viking limits my upload data and I don’t want to continue to use up my own data.  Perhaps, I’ll add some photos once I’m back in a hotel or at a Starbucks that provides better wifi.

[loge23]

Very nice log and best wishes for more happy times aboard the Forseti!

Too bad about the photos - the ones you already posted were wonderful.

We did this trip way back in '14 also on the Forseti and we had a blast! We had done an independent trip in Bordeaux the year before that, so when the ubiquitous Viking mailers came in after that trip, we booked our return as a River Cruise. We were not disappointed, although we didn't get to as many wineries as we did on our own obviously. 

The highlight of that cruise was a dinner at Chateau Kirwin in Margaux (included tour) - a fabulous affair which featured a vertical tasting of Kirwin with an incredible feast served and prepared by the Viking staff. The '04 comes to mind!

We also opted for a plus tour which took us to a lunch at Chateau Siaurac in Lalande de Pomerol. The Chateau's owner, an affable gent Paul Goldschmidt (no not the ballplayer!) was gracious and we all had a great time. We still get wine offers from there - they have long had a partner in Napa where they ship to, so it's easy to purchase from them.

Finally, in Sauternes we visited Chateau d'Arche (included tour) for a fine lesson and tasting in Sauternes. They offered another plus trip to Cognac where some guests mixed their own bottles to take home.

You don't go very far on this trip, but it was one of the best of the five River cruises we took with Viking. We did the Loire Valley pre-tour before the cruise. Virtually, all the passengers aboard this trip were wine aficionados.  

The last night, eight of us new friends from the cruise commandeered a table in the DR and had a Bacchanalian feast for the ages! The Bordeaux was flowing!

Here's wishing for a lot of fun and great memories on your trip! It will be interesting to read about how things may have changed.

Travel safely!

[Australia08]

Yesterday, August 12, we began our day with the “Panoramic Bordeaux” tour.  We had about 45 minutes on the bus which we enjoyed because it gave us a chance to see some of the parts of the city that we hadn’t walked to during our earlier stay.  The final 45 minutes was a walking tour throughout the city, viewing many sights we had already discovered on our own, but I will say that our guide gave us some new info that I hadn’t heard before.  Following the walking tour, everyone was given an hour of free time.  We decided to get some exercise and just walk back to the Forseti.  By the time we returned, it was time to head to the Aquavit Terrace for a lovely lunch.  I love sitting out on the Aquavit Terrace because the breeze and the city scene in the distance just makes me glad to be on a cruise.  We enjoyed sharing the table with a nice couple from Maine.  After lunch, we took advantage of a free afternoon to do some reading.  Our original sail away time of 12:30 came and went.  Eventually, we were informed that there was a problem with the gray matter tank.  They had a repair part on the way, but the tank would have to be pumped by truck from a more industrial location outside the city, so that was where we would be heading and it also meant that our schedule would be altered.  Because of the need to use the truck pumping, we missed our ability to sail to Libourne, and we would be sailing to Bourg to spend the night there.  We would keep our original tours for Tuesday, but those tours would need to start from Bourg instead.  Since the Bordeaux cruise itinerary doesn’t go all that far anyway, it really wasn’t a problem.  After the pumping in the afternoon, we sailed to Bourg.  Most of the afternoon, I relaxed, spent some time on our veranda as we sailed, then prepared for dinner.  We had a nice dinner with some new table mates.  It’s nice that they are pouring two very nice Bordeaux wines as the included wines.  Normally, we get Silver Spirits, but since it was only a week long cruise and we are staying in the AA Suite, we decided to just enjoy the included wines at meals and take our suite provided wines to the cocktail hour, then purchase our cognacs and/or whiskeys for after dinner.  So far this is working out quite well, especially since we wanted to concentrate on drinking French wines during this trip.

 As it turned out this evening, when we went to the lounge to order our after dinner drinks, there was a wine tasting event just starting.  It was very nice.  The wine educator, Lori, introduced us to four wines from the region, giving us some experience with the differences between the right and left bank styles, as well as differences due to the type of aging, etc.  At the end, she poured a final wine, quizzing us on whether we thought it was right or left bank, the varietals used, the types of aging, etc.  It was informative and fun. Needless to say, with all that wine tasting, we decided we didn’t need any other after dinner drink.  

 

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, Australia08 said:

At the end, she poured a final wine, quizzing us on whether we thought it was right or left bank, the varietals used, the types of aging, etc.

 

A retired educator wants to know:  how'd you do on the final exam?  😀

[Canal archive]

Thank you interesting article good reading.

Plus on the technical side I’m so glad you mentioned the grey matter tanks on board they are not as yet required on board English Narrow Boats they do have the unmentionable tanks but not the detritus waste (grey matter) tanks. Which I understand is one of the reasons for the state of the Seine during the Olympics only vessels of over a certain length are required to have a grey matter tank and think of how many restaurant boats in Paris.
Grey waste - any water used for any form of washing or cleaning.

(Sorry if I’m preaching to the converted)

 

Edited August 14 by Canal archive

[Australia08]

5 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

A retired educator wants to know:  how'd you do on the final exam?  😀

Actually, I was out after the first 3 questions. I got right bank/left bank right and appellation and grape variety right.  Mike was in the last group of correct answers until there was one winner. I think he fell out when they asked about how it had been aged.  We’re actually learning a lot. 

[jrkstl]

Thank you so much for live posting your trip! We really enjoyed this cruise in 2016 - so much so that we booked it again for March of 2026 🙂 I'm happy to hear that it seems as good as ever. And happy that you seem to be enjoying it as well!

[Australia08]

Tuesday, August 13 - Bourg to Bassens to Bordeaux

 

Our river schedule is still a problem, however, tours continued, just leaving from different ports.  After breakfast, we boarded our bus for the “Historic Saint-Emilion & Chateau Vineyard Visit.”  Our guide was excellent.  She provided a great deal of information about the appellations we were traveling through, but stopped talking from time to time to just let us enjoy the views.  One of the advantages of leaving from Bourg is that we were able to travel through a couple of additional appellations - Cotes de Bourg and Fronsac to mention two.  When we arrived in Libourne, we were ready to take a walking tour through the village.  Tuesday is market day in Libourne so we enjoyed seeing the variety of market stalls.  Having been in Beaune before on its market day, I have to say that the Libourne market paled in comparison, however, I still loved seeing the fresh local produce and the oysters.

 

Our guide took us into the local chocolateríe, Yves Thuries.  The shop proprietor was prepared for our visit with two huge platters of their beautiful chocolates, all individual works of art in my opinion!  After sampling, we headed to the city hall for a quick view, then back to the bus.

 

It was a short ride to Saint-Emilion.  Of course, we were passing by beautiful vineyards along the way.  Once in Saint-Emilion, our guide led us from the upper city to the lower city.  For Mike and I, it was revisiting many of the sights we saw late last week on our full day winery tour, but again, we were picking up interesting bits of information from a different guide.  I especially liked that she pointed out a shop, Nadia Fermigier Saint-Emilion Macarons.  She told us that as a child her mother would always allow her to buy a paper with 6 macarons and how she ate them so quickly and scraped the paper with her fingernail to get every last bit.  It was such an intriguing description that I knew I wanted to head back during our free time.  

 

Our guide took us to several of the iconic overlooks, the church in the upper town,  we walked by the monolithic church in the lower town as well as walking by an old wood-timbered building, saw the area where women used to do their laundry by the spring, and heard all about the “miracles” of Saint-Emilion.  When we were given our free time, we did head back to the macaron shop, bought some, then walked back down the street to a coffee bar to enjoy the macarons with some espresso.  We learned by reading the paper on which the macarons are sold that these are macarons made using the recipe of Macarons des Anciennes Religieuses that have been made since 1620 (the store we visited has been in operation since 1930).  By the way, I agreed with our guide, they were delicious.  I wish I had bought even more!

 

Another shop I discovered in Saint-Emilion was a scarf shop, Letol.  The scarves are made in France and while not inexpensive, I know I will really enjoy wearing the two scarves I purchased.  

 

It was time to head back to the bus and go to lunch.  Our lunch was a relaxing two hour affair - just wonderful!  We were served a goat cheese salad, a chicken dish with wine sauce, potatoes, and a small arugula garnish.  All of this was accompanied by red and white wines from the chateau (a Saint-Emilion Grand Cru appellation) where we were dining - the chateau was Chateau Cándele.  As we finished bottles of wine, they continued to open more bottles for us to enjoy.  The dessert served was a cake that had plum, apple, and pear with cream.  This was followed with coffee.  And, of course, we are enjoying all of this while looking out through open windows over the picturesque vineyards.

 

After lunch, it was back on the bus to head to Appellation Leland de Pomerol to the Chateau Siaurac.  The chateau guide gave us a walking tour of the property as she explained about the characteristics and history of their wines.  We had an opportunity to walk through the historic chateau that is currently hosting an art exhibit.  Then it was on to the winery production areas, and finally to the tasting room.  There we enjoyed three of their reds, served with two different local cheeses.  

 

We felt that this tour really was worth the money.  I would actually take the tour all over again if given the opportunity.

 

When we returned to the Forseti, we found out that while the pumping had taken place and the repair part had been received, it would be necessary to go through one more pumping process the next morning before things would return to normal.  Viking made the decision to have us sail back to Bordeaux since the pumping had taken place in a less than scenic industrial port.  By returning to Bordeaux for the evening, we would be able to go into a more vibrant city, if we wished, after dinner.  The next morning, we could then return to Bassens for the final pumping (hopefully).  

 

We enjoyed dinner onboard, went to the bar after the program director had begun a music game show, then we stayed after the game show to enjoy the pianist (different from the pianist who started with us).  He played very enjoyable light jazzy numbers, all sung in French.  Super way to end the evening!

[jrkstl]

Wow - your optional excursion sounds wonderful. Thanks for the detailed review! Will definitely keep this one on the list 🙂 We only did the optional Camus Cognac excursion on our trip in 2016, which we enjoyed, but I like the sound of this one too!

[beanpittsburgh]

WE did this cruise on Viking in 2015.  It sounds like they have changed things up a bit since then. I'm enjoying this ongoing review very much.  It brings back great memories.

[kluv2cruz]

On 8/11/2024 at 7:50 AM, Australia08 said:

Le Bar a Vin, a wine bar in a beautiful space

We enjoyed that bar too in June 2024 on a bicycle trip from Paris to Carcassonne via Bordeaux! A great find. 

[kluv2cruz]

On 8/12/2024 at 7:14 AM, Australia08 said:

our final food item was the pastry, Dune Blanches

We found this place too! Loving your food, wine, architecture, history tour of Bordeaux! 

[Host Jazzbeau]

We have enjoyed Devour tours in other cities, so I immediately checked to see if I could book this one when we are in Bordeaux next year.  Unfortunately we will be available only on a Monday, and they don't do the tour that day.  But thank you so much for describing it in detail (with the names of the shops) – only the cheese shop is closed on Mondays, so I was able to add all of the pâtisseries to my DIY walking tour.  Or as it will become, DIY waddling tour!!!

[Australia08]

I am so sorry that I fell off the forum for several weeks.  I must admit that I was having all kinds of trouble posting from onboard the Forseti, so decided to complete a shortened review once we returned home.  As you can see, I've been busy with other activities since returning home, but vow to do a shortened recap of our wonderful experiences now.  I'm going to start with posting a few photos from the last day I described, August 13th.

 

Candy tray at Yves Thuries in Libourne

 

City Hall in Libourne

 

Vines outside Saint-Emilion

 

Frescoes in Saint-Emilion Collegial Catholic Church

 

 

Wood-timbered building in Saint-Emilion

 

Monolithic Church in Saint-Emilion

 

Traditional macarons from the shop suggested by the tour guide

 

Lunch at the winery (part of the full day tour)

 

Vines outside the winery where we ate lunch

 

Chateau Siaurac (Leland de Pomerol) - location of our after lunch winery tour

 

Some of the wines we sampled

 

View from our veranda that evening after dinner

 

One comment about our room - We were so lucky to never once be rafted with another river cruise boat.  We also always faced away from the dock, facing the river views.  We made a lot of use of the veranda portion of our AA Suite!

 

 

 

 

[knoxclone]

wonderful photos!

[Australia08]

Wednesday, August 14 - Bordeaux to Blaye

 

Our morning began with a cruise up to Bassens for another pumping technical stop where we remained docked until 10:00 am.  The morning included a Live Demonstration where the chef showed us how to make macarons.

 

 

Around 1:30 pm, after lunch onboard, we arrived in Blaye.  There, we took the included "Blaye Walking Tour and Citadel Visit."  The Blaye Citadel was built on orders from King Louis XIV to protect Bordeaux.  Blaye is on the Gironde River and Bordeaux is upstream on the Garonne River.  Legend says that Roland, the Frankish hero, is buried here.  The citadel, its city walls and the two nearby forts are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.  We had a good guide and the Citadel was quite impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

One of many buildings inside the walls of the citadel

 

Looking out on the Gironde River

 

Inside the citadel walls, looking down on the Viking Forseti

 

The vineyard inside the citadel walls

 

After the tour, we headed back to the Forseti.  A painting class (extra fee) was offered, but we decided to walk back into town just to get some more exercise and look around.  When we returned, we enjoyed our veranda.

 

Afternoon view from our veranda

 

Later, we attended the Viking Explorer Cocktail Party - actually, I think almost everyone attended since most were returning Viking guests.  Then after dinner, an Acoustic Swing group performed live music.  This was a nice trio who sang and played popular French songs from the 1930s through 1960s.  It was very enjoyable.

 

 

 

 

 

[Australia08]

Thursday morning, August 15 - Blaye

 

Each morning, I routinely put on something fast and then sans make-up, went down to the coffee machine for a double espresso and a croissant.  I then would return to the room, don my robe and sit down to enjoy my coffee to start the day.  Mike liked to sleep later so having the two rooms was great for that.  I just wish there was a Nespresso machine in the room (like the Ocean ships).  There's definitely room for one.  I would prefer just making my coffee in the room and staying in my pajamas.  I don't like getting ready right away.

 

After breakfast, we headed downstairs to meet our guide for the optional "Blaye: A Local Perspective" tour.  The guide who picked us up for the tour was one of the interns for the winery/wine shop.  He walked us over to the shop where we began our tour with a nice glass of wine to take with us on our walking tour.

 

Downtown Blaye

 

Our first taste to make sure we liked it before pouring a healthy glass full

 

On the walking tour, guided by the owner, we viewed the winery operation and aging cellar, his wife's art gallery (she answered our questions while we were in the gallery) and his car/bike collection.  Along the way, we learned a lot about the Bordeaux region's small wineries.  Both interns followed us with bottles on the tour, constantly topping off our wine glasses.  What  fun!

 

Inside the winery

 

Part of the car/bike collection

 

Inside the art gallery

 

Participatory art - anyone who wanted to could add to the canvas - several tour members did

 

One final stop on our walking tour was an opportunity to visit one of the apartments they rent out that is located in one of the historic buildings.  I think we all felt that we'd like to return to Blaye sometime to rent that apartment for a week.

 

Eventually, we made our way back to the wine shop where we were able to sample four more of their wines.  It was such a fun experience 

 

 

 

[Australia08]

Thursday afternoon, August 15 - Blaye to Cussac-Fort-Medoc

 

During lunch, the Forseti moved across the Gironde to Cussac-Fort-Medoc, where we boarded buses for the afternoon/evening excursion "Medoc and Margaux Wine Country."  The Forseti then set sail for Bordeaux, the location we would return to after dinner.  For about an hour and a half, our guided bus tour took us past many chateaux.  We exited the bus for a few photo opportunities, but it was basically just viewing. 

 

One of the chateaux on our bus tour

 

Some vines at one of our photo stop locations  -  You can really see the gravelly soil for which this region is known, a key to their terroir.

 

Another chateau from the bus tour - we saw many, but thought I'd just post a couple photos

 

Representative photo of the vines, taken from the bus

 

We saw chateaux in several areas, for instance, the St. Julian appellation, the Puilliac appellation, and most importantly the Margaux appellation.  The Margaux appellation was the first appellation used for vine planting by the ancient Romans, and today it has about 80 different chateaux.  Since everyone from the Forseti was on this tour so there were three buses.  We had the same guide we'd had for our full-day St. Emilion tour.  We really liked her for that tour and also enjoyed her for this tour because she had an entertaining style (although bus tours are generally not our thing).  Since there were three buses, each bus went to a different Margaux chateau for tour and tasting.  Our bus went to Chateau Giscours, which had very nice grounds.  The tour was sufficient, but I felt like the two rather small tastings weren't that generous, although the Chateau branded wine was wonderful.

 

Chateau Giscours

 

On our wine tour at Chateau Giscours

 

In the tasting room at Chateau Giscours

 

One of the entrance gates at Chateau Giscours - looking out toward the vines

 

A close up of the vines at Chateau Giscours

 

After our time at Chateau Giscours, our bus took us to THE Chateau Margaux.  We walked next to the vineyards and many tour participants were taking photos of the chateau and some of the out buildings. 

 

Chateau Margaux

 

One of the roads inside the estate at Chateau Margaux

 

Then we headed to our dinner venue at Chateau Kirwan. The dinner at Chateau Kirwan was held in a lovely building.  The dinner was prepared by our Viking staff and for a dinner served banquet style to so many people at once, it was very nice.  The wine served was from Chateau Kirwan and excellent.

 

Inside the venue for dining at Chateau Kirwan

 

Our dinner and wine menu from the Chateau Kirwan dinner

 

After our dinner, it was time to head back to the busses and head to Bordeaux.  This was about a 45 minute drive.  After dropping off things in our room, we headed to the Lounge for a nightcap and some dancing.  The local pianist Eric played.  He didn't speak very much English, and when we asked him for a waltz, he asked, "French waltz?"  We figured we'd give it a try.  It was perfect and he played it for us on two more occasions before we left the Forseti.

 

 

[Australia08]

Friday, August 16 - Bordeaux

 

Today was our "free" day in Bordeaux.  Originally, I wanted to book the optional "Wines of Bordeaux Master Class," but we booked this cruise when Viking was running a sale in June so it was already sold out.  After we arrived in Bordeaux and had so many "tasting" opportunities on other tours, we decided to take this day, sleep a bit later, see a few things we'd missed previously, and enjoy the Viking Forseti. 

 

It was a beautiful day to stroll along the waterfront and take a meandering walk to see the Place de la Bourse, the Miroir d'eau, and the Saint-Andre Cathedral.  I especially wanted to visit inside the Cathedral since we'd only had time to walk by it earlier in the week. 

 

Along the Bordeaux waterfront

 

 

The Miroir d'eau

 

 

Part of the Palais de la Bourse

 

 

More of the historic district architecture that makes the entire district a UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

The gothic Saint-Andre Cathedral

 

The Saint-Andre Cathedral was our goal that morning.  It dates to the 14th and 15th centuries. One of its wall even dates to the Romanesque era. The interior was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

After our morning self-exploration, we headed back to the Forseti to enjoy lunch, walk on the upper deck, take a nap, and partake in what the Viking Daily referred to as "French teatime."  We soon learned that this meant having coffee with cognac and whipped cream.  Of course, passengers could have tea also, but honestly, who wants to pass up coffee, cognac, and whipped cream?  

 

 

 

 

After teatime, we just read and enjoyed our room.  Again, for us, it was worth paying extra for the extra room in our AA Suite.  While the sitting room area did not have the great cubbies around the desk that we'd found useful on the Viking Kadlin in the spring, we still did enjoy the extra space to spread out (although these European river boats are not as spacious as the river ship on the Mekong).

 

Afternoon views from our room

 

 

Forseti AA Suite bedroom looking into sitting room

 

Forseti sitting room

 

Forseti sitting room

 

DIFFERENT TRIP:  This is the sitting room on the Viking Kadlin with the cubbies around the desk that really added to the storage in the room.

 

After dinner, there was another live musical group (strings) brought onboard to entertain us.

 

The lovely evening views from our veranda

 

Right before bed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Edited September 11 by Australia08

[Host Jazzbeau]

Lovely cabins, both of them.  I also always aim for the largest cabin possible (especially on a river ship, where the largest isn't really all that large) – and make full use of it.  Not trying to convince those who "only sleep and shower" in their rooms, but there is another viewpoint.

[Canal archive]

Only a short comment about that and it’s not meant nastily just means we have to get going sooner - since you Americans got into river cruising getting hold of some of the larger cabins has become somewhat problematic, boy are you guys off the mark quickly!

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 minutes ago, Canal archive said:

Only a short comment about that and it’s not meant nastily just means we have to get going sooner - since you Americans got into river cruising getting hold of some of the larger cabins has become somewhat problematic, boy are you guys off the mark quickly!

I do plan very far ahead (as you can see in my signature below).  But I've been surprised that some cruise lines are willing to take bookings even before they have been announced.  My latest AMA booking came when I enquired on their website about the next release of dates – next thing I knew a travel agent that I have never dealt with called me with my AMA info and said he had gotten the sail dates and could book me with very good 'extra early-bird' discounts.  As passenger no 1, I had my choice of every cabin on the ship!

[Canal archive]

I’m really not surprised my daughter is (shhhh) still involved with the hotel business and the stories she has about the selling of ‘up market’ rooms in top of the heap hotels would keep you entertained all evening especially with how cut throat it is becoming. You really just have to be on your toes. Where are you off to with AMA.