The Barge Cruise That Wasn’t

The rain that I experienced in Paris last week caused flooding of the Yonne.  So, although this week we only had a few showers, the river was too high to allow access to the canal. Therefore our barge, the Luciole, never left the quay at Auxerre.

The trip I booked last July and which cost more than all my other 7 weeks of travel in Europe (airfares excepted) was very disappointing.

There were 10 of us on board and we still ate lots of food. Lunches were buffet  plus  2 cheeses and 2 wines and dinners were 3 courses plus 2 cheeses and 2 wines.

However our visits had to be in the bus. On Monday,we walked the medieval town of Auxerre

 including  the cathedral seen in the first photo. In the afternoon there  was  a wine visit to Chablis.

On Tuesday a rather long drive to the town of Beaune where we toured the Hotel-Dieu built as a hospital for the poor in 1443 and was then well ahead of its time.

This was extra to the normal program and included a 3 course meal plus cheese in a restaurant.
On Wednesday we went to the very pretty village of Noyers sur Sereine.

On Thursday we went to the hillside town of Vezelay and the Basilica where some of the crusades started.

Again a lunch in a nearby restaurant.

Friday we went to the markets at Auxerre

 and saw the procession for Victory in Europe day.  In the afternoon a few of us visited an archaeological site of old Roman ruins. This was another add on and much more interesting than I expected. 

Afterwards I walked along the first part of the canal we did not take and took the next photo.

A cooking class, colour consultant and massage were other activities offered which I did not take.
Today (Saturday) we were bussed back to Paris and I have come south by train to the city of Poitiers.