Sometimes plans go awry and things get more interesting. Last night, the ship came to a stop, ostensibly to resolve a technical issue. We had noticed that at times the air-conditioning seemed to fail periodically in the lounge and later in the dining room, but since the outside temperature was near 90 degrees, that was the simple explanation. Today we learned that the issue was that the generators on board, which run everything from the lighting to the air-conditioning to the propulsion system, were not supplying enough electricity to handle everything. It was a choice between the passenger amenities (lighting, air-conditioning, plumbing) or the propulsion. Passenger comfort won.
Now we are safely docked near a little French village on the Rhone - St-Etienne-des-Sorts. Since this was to have been a day of cruising upriver, activities on board such as a mini-course in the French language and a cooking demonstration by the head chef went on as scheduled. Later in the afternoon, motor coaches were brought to the village to take us on a tour to the village of Viviers. The bus ride took us through a rich agricultural area with fields growing lavender, cherries, peaches, apricots, almonds, kiwi as well as barley and corn. Viviers is located on a hill with buildings dating back to the Middle Ages. Winding streets lead up to a cathedral with breathtaking views of the Rhone Valley. Our guide was an English woman who had lived in Viviers for more than 30 years, had a wonderful sense of humor and was extremely knowledgeable of the plants and trees in the region.
We returned to the ship to learn that the issue had not yet been fixed, but that engineers from the shipyard in Germany where the ship was built were on their way. Having consulted with the on board engineers, they felt reasonably confident that the problem could be resolved tomorrow.
And this is where it got more interesting (as far as we are concerned). Because we are not able to keep up the planned itinerary, Viking has arranged two tours which were not included -- one to the Pont du Gard, the ruins of the Roman aqueduct considered to be the best preserved example in Europe, the other to the Ardeche Gorges, the "Grand Canyon" of France. We had read of both in the guide books, and now we are about to see them!
