Our second wine visit was less interesting to us as we weren’t there to buy wine to take home. This was more like visiting a wine shop with friends, which we can do at home. However, we enjoyed their wines more than the previous place.

This place is in the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which is a tiny place and as a result I’m foreshadowing something to come.

See that box on the counter? It’s got the best winery snack we’ve had so far. BONUS POINTS!

The family crest.

This is where we lost the bus. Or the bus lost us.

We hiked down the hill past the school….

… and here you see us troop off into the distance. Eventually we were forced to join the French Foreign Legion and serve in North Africa.

Well, eventually we made a few calls, and sent a couple scouting parties which made contact with our transportation. Then came the next problem. This ain’t the suburbs baby. Ya can’t just drive your giant heavy bus down any old street, leaving our party stranded.

Well, some members of our party aren’t as spry as they used to be. We got it all figured out. Advice: don’t leave the bus without the bus driver’s phone number.

Top chef!

Where he spent a year went crazy cut his ear off and got kicked out.

He painted starry night, the hospital garden and yellow house here. Spent 3 months of the year in a hospital

Some of the Portland people organized a side-trip to Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Here we are on a bus we eventually lost.

Maison Bouachon, our first stop.

Here is an example of how their vines grow. Note this is not an exaggeration, the soil is quite rocky.

Here is a chart of the grape varietals grown in the area.

I love these giant casks they use to age the wine.

Here’s a clever wine tool set that’s also a game of chess.

And here we see a typical vineyard. The rocks are believed to retain the heat of the day and radiate it back to the vines at night. Another goal for the way they are trained is to allow the local “mistral” winds to keep the vines dry.

The ruin on top of the hill contains an ancient lich and his legions of skeletons. Your party will want magic users, clerics… ok, just kidding. We are told this was the Pope’s summer cabin.

Wine country with giant glacial boulders and short vines

There were many rules about how to do this tasting but my wine ran out before all of the rules were rolled out. Sniff swirl swish inhale….

The French Pope hung his Pope hat here for quite a number of years. Yes, so much Pope-ing needed to be done that there was more than one Pope for quite some time.

The Rhone River.

This tower was used as a prison, and was in use until relatively recently.

Here we see evidence of The Great Zombie Wars of 1595.

We enter the market. Here’s a box of crabs.

Escargot of various types.

Fish!

Notice that when they sell duck they leave the head on so you can tell you’re really getting a duck and not a chicken.

Flea market, somehow I managed to restrain myself.

Candy shop!

City Hall. We were warned to avoid the cafe places there as they have the worst food.

Viviers, a really nice place to raise your kids up! Another labyrinth. Many of the homes are not occupied as it’s not so convenient to live like this in our modern era. You’ll get lots of exercise walking from your parking space with the groceries, and it’s not simple to renovate these old buildings. We are told there are generous tax breaks for those who take it on.

Cheese tasting on board! Yes, it was very yummy.

Steve from Lenee Winery has a birthday on our ship. Somehow they brought their wine which they’ve been sharing during the voyage.

Yes, in the lost and found, a Tasty Bite. Who leaves something like this lying about on a river cruise boat?