Belmond Napoleon: Tain l'Hermitage to Avignon

Guests board the luxurious barge Belmond Napolen in Tain l'Hermitage or Tournon, where they have the opportunity to meet the crew over a glass of champagne. In the evening, we will be joined by a local sommelier who will introduce guests to the wines of the northern part of the Rhône Valley. Later, dinner will be served accompanied by the best wines of France.

The barge sails to Viviers while guests have the opportunity to admire the beauty of the Rhône Valley from the viewing deck. In the early afternoon, they will go ashore to visit with a guide this charming medieval city dating back to the times of Rome.

After returning to the barge, we invite guests to a game of the traditional Provençal game - petanque.

Guests drive through rural Provence to Gringan, where they will visit the magnificent Renaissance castle overlooking the village. The origins of the castle are little known, it was first mentioned as "castellum Gradignanum" in the cartulary of Saint-Chaffre in 1035. The town itself is much older, archaeological research has discovered traces of a Bronze Age community and later Roman occupation in the 1559th century AD. In the XNUMXth century The Adhémar de Monteil family becomes the owners of the castle. Together with the importance of its owners, the castle grew. In XNUMX, when the Adhémar line expired, the castle and other estates passed into the hands of the Castellane family, including: François de Castellane-Ornano-Adhémar de Monteil de Grignan, a knight in the service of the Sun King - Louis XIV, who was the governor general of Provence.

Guests will enjoy a delicious lunch at a restaurant in Gringan, after which we will invite them to visit a local truffle farm, where they will be able to taste this delicacy and learn interesting facts about them. After returning on board, the barge continues to Saint-Etienne-des-Sorts, passing through the Bollène Lock with a dramatic 23 m level difference.

On this day, guests will visit the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, overlooked by a ruined medieval castle, built in the 1387th century for Pope John XXII - the second of the popes who chose Avignon as their seat. None of the later popes lived here, only after the schism of XNUMX did antipope Clement VII seek safety within its walls. There will also be a wine tasting session at Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Lunch is served on deck as the barge passes the famous Pont Saint-Bénezet bridge. We moor in front of the city gates and guests have the opportunity to visit the amazing Roman aqueduct Pont du Gard, which is a visible section of the ancient Roman aqueduct of Nîmes, spanned on a grand scale over the Gardon River near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard. The Pont du Gard is the highest of the Roman aqueducts - its height is 48,8 m and - next to the Aqueduct of Segovia - the best preserved. Pont du Gard is part of a 50 km long aqueduct built between 26 BC and 16 BC on the orders of Agrippa (an inscription dedicated to it from 19 BC has been preserved on the bridge), supplying water from the Uzès springs to the Roman colony of Nemausus (now Nîmes). The bridge over the Gardon River canyon consists of three arcades, and the canal through which the water flowed drops by only 270 cm over a length of approximately 2,5 m. In Roman times, it supplied approximately 40,000 m3 of water per day to the houses, baths and fountains of Nîmes. It was used until around the XNUMXth century AD

The guide will show guests around the Papal Palace in Avignon and the Nôtre Dame Cathedral. The papal palace is the residence of the popes, built during the Avignon captivity, when the city served as the Holy See in the years 1309-1377. The palace is still one of the largest Gothic castles in Europe. We invite guests to browse Avignon's shops and taste coffee in the city's many cafés. Lunch is served on board while the Belmond Napoléon sails to Arles. Before dinner, we will invite guests to explore the charming village of Les Baux-de-Provence.

Guests have the opportunity to visit the Roman city of Arles with its fantastic ruins of a Roman amphitheater. Vincent Van Gogh also worked here, arriving in Arles in February 1888. Fascinated by the landscapes of Provence, he created over 300 paintings and sketches during his stay in Arles. The following year, Van Gogh left Arles and went to the Saint-Paul psychiatric hospital in nearby Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, which guests will visit after lunch served on a barge. Nostradamus was born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.

After returning on board, we will invite guests to a farewell gala dinner.

In the morning, guests enjoy a final breakfast served on board the exclusive Belmod Napoléon barge.