Paris to Lyon

Today we were supposed to travel by very fast train to Dijon then a short bus ride to Chalon at the head of the Saonne River to join our boat, the Scenic Sapphire, However, recent heavy rains made the Saonne unnavigable by our boat so we had to travel much further by bus to Lyon. This means that we will be able to travel the length of the Rhone River but none of the Saonne. You can’t help bad luck, and Scenic have decided that we will stay in Lyon for several days and provide the excursions we would have had from Saonne stops from Lyon. That makes for longer bus rides but it means that no-one has to miss out on planned excursions.

Not to worry. The boat is luxurious and the crew are very friendly and helpful. Most of the passengers are Australians and the rest are a few Canadians, Kiwis, British and Americans. We have already become friends with quite a few of the crowd and it promises to be a great trip. The boat is not long out of a refit and everything looks brand new.

Despite the loss of the Saonne ports we did get to spend some time in Dijon and snapped quite a few photos of the lovely medieval streetscapes, the Burgundy Palace and other very impressive examples of French architecture from centuries past. We also had the pleasure of travelling through the lovely grain fields and vineyards of the Burgundy region. Unfortunately we are having trouble uploading photos at the moment so will try and fix the problem and post some of Dijon later.

Dinner last night was such fun. We sat with 2 Aussies from Sydney for dinner then moved to a larger table for cheeses and desserts. There were 2 Canadian ladies travelling together and they were a hoot. Much of the banter centred around who bought their tights with them to join the early morning stretch class with Dragan. He looks to be the exercise guru on the boat and is pleasant eye candy!!! (Sue’s comment, not Phil’s J) The Canadian ladies left their tights at home, but thought they would  go to admire the view…of Lyon of course….damn shame as did we!!! The wait staff know Phil’s gluten free, but more importantly they know he drinks Canadian Club and dry ginger in a long glass. Sad when we have only had 1 dinner!!!!!