Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours eight-day, food- and wine-themed cruise down the Rhône river, from Lyon, France’s gastronomic capital, 283km south as the river flows to the Roman city of Arles, takes passengers through – and to – some of the country’s most storied wine-producing regions.
The 135-metre Scenic Sapphire can accommodate 147 passengers in its 74 suites. There are complementary e-bikes on board for exploring during shore visits, a small gym and a humidity- and temperature-controlled Salt Therapy Lounge, complete with salt brick walls.
The city of Arles
On-board dining
There’s a range of dining options on board. The main à la carte Crystal Dining restaurant offers a different French culinary classic each night from frog’s legs to duck confit. The more casual River Café serves all-day grazing options and a light, buffet-style lunch. The ‘exclusive and intimate’ L’Amour presents a five-course showcase of regional specialities to 32 passengers each night. Table La Rive puts on a six-course degustation for guests staying in the Royal or Junior suites, with each dish the ‘signature’ of one of the ship’s chefs and each matched with a ‘special’ wine.
For me, the highlight of the Table La Rive was the octopus carpaccio, which came with a rock lobster medallion and a lemony caper and olive vinaigrette, paired with a crisp Grüner Veltliner from Austria’s Wachau Valley.
Sites to explore
Sunset in Avignon
The cruise began with a quick detour north up the Rhône’s largest tributary, the Saône, to the Mâcon for a visit to Château de Pravins, an artisanal biodynamic producer in Beaujolais. At the domaine, where grapes have been grown since the 13th century, we were given a tour around the rather unkempt-looking biodynamic vineyards, deliberately left a little wild to improve biodiversity. We then entered the cool, dark vat room, where the intricacies of the winemaking process were explained to us, before concluding our visit with a comprehensive tasting of the domaine’s wines in the even cooler and darker gravel-floored, vaulted-ceilinged cellar. Fascinatingly rustic, characterful drops, the wines are a far cry from the simple, fruity caricature of Beaujolais Nouveau.
The Rhône’s hinterland is home to numerous pretty, well-preserved medieval villages, several of which can be visited on organised excursions from the ship. Among them is the walled hilltop settlement of Pérouges. Dating all the way back to the 12th century, Pérouges is officially one of the ‘most beautiful villages of France’, a delightful maze of narrow cobbled streets and Renaissance residences. It even has its own gastronomic specialty, the galette de Pérouges, which is traditionally eaten accompanied by a glass of the local sparkling rosé, Cerdon.
The Rhône’s importance to France’s prosperity is made plain by the architectural grandeur of Avignon, the cruise’s penultimate stop. Here we visited Châteauneuf-du-Pape, whose popularity can be traced back to Pope Clement V’s decision to move the papacy to Avignon in 1309. Our visit began with a tutored tasting at Maison Bouachon, which begain as a cooperage in 1898 before its owners decided to fill the barrels with wine themselves. We then spent some time exploring the sleepy village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape itself, before visiting the ruins of the 14th-century castle built by John XXII, which are now the symbol of the appellation.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The following day, we reached Arles, about 40km from the Med, where the Rhône reaches its delta, the largest in western Europe, the famous Camargue, and where our culinary journey through southern France concluded.
Scenic’s eight-day Rhône Bliss: Beaujolais Harvest Journey itinerary is priced from £2,945 per person including flights, transfers, free Wi-Fi and all meals and drinks/beverages. (0161 516 5548)
