Train de l'Ardèche dans les Gorges du Doux

I was going on the tour today, so I went to breakfast first. A decided to have a shower first so I put the Privacy note on the door. She didn't know I had done that so she locked the bathroom door. (Belt and suspenders) I had scrambled eggs, hash browns, grapefruit juice and some tea. She got there just about as I was finishing.

The main reason I took this cruise was to revisit some of the places I went to in 1964. I gave a list of the places to Dragan and asked if I could get a taxi and drive by those places. This morning, I talked to Dragan and he is having some problems getting me a driver because of all the people in France for the World Cup. I said just a taxi would be OK. I know where I want to go - I don't really need a guide.
A's report on the train ride
Our tour was to take a steam train ride

Diagram of the river and train track

It was not until 9:30. I managed to get myself to the lobby and signed out but did not get my earphone device activated to blue. The scooter had to be lifted to the ramp which then had cleats all the way down, and at the end there were two steps. After that I had a ramp to the bus. A folded the scooter, and I climbed on the bus. But all the front seats were taken, so Artie who we ate dinner with last night let me have his seat and I sat with his wife, Midge. As we started the tour they told us to put on our seat belts and she found mine for me and I hooked hers up for her.

From the bus

We went through the little town of Tournon and headed for the train station. Before we got to the train station, we had a one lane bridge.

One lane bridge

The road was bordered by grape vines

Road along the tracks from the bus

We got to the train station and A got off to fix the scooter but we had to wait for Artie to get up to us to help his wife get out. She just could not walk the distance to the train. I think it was mainly on her account that they made an arrangement for the elevator in the Paris train station.

I made it onto the train and people said, this is a good seat for you. But it was a sideways seat on the wrong side of the train so I really could not see ahead or behind me without twisting. A sat in a regular seat.

Bridge

On the way up, the only reasonable photos I got were of the dam.

Passing the dam

Dam

Dam

We had a very nice informative guide and she explained the geography and about the local industry.

Looking down on the river

Sooty smoke in the tunnel

She said that while the engine is turned around on a turntable and will go to the other end of the train, that the cars will not be turned around so that if we wanted to see the other side of the route, we should change with people on the gorge side of the train. I looked and saw a seat on that side that was not being used, so when the train stopped, I moved over to that seat. A got off to take a photo of them turning the train around on the turntable

Turntable

Engine

at the little station of Colombier le Vieux – Saint-Barthélémy le Plain. I don't think she remembers the one she saw in Fort Worth when she was about 4.

I got better photos on the way back. Also since we were now at the end of the train rather than the beginning, we could see the engine better on a curve and we didn't get so sooty in the tunnel.

Bridge across the river

River

Bridge

Bridge by the river

Train approaching a bridge

The guide pointed out a generating station which used gravity to get the water to it for power

Electric generating plant

, and also an aqueduct which was built by German prisoners during WWI (so not an old one).

Aqueduct

An isolated beach

Road from the train

After we got off the train,

Steam Engine

Detail

Green cars - not the ones we used

we went to the little museum

Engine cut-out

Model village in the museum

where they had a model town, and a collection of lanterns and

a model railway car

And also a gift shop. I bought a book on trains for the two boys Lucas and Adrian. I also sent each of them a postcard from the ship.

Lavender

We got back on the ship and there was some lady berating Dragan because she got soot on her clothes from the steam engine. What did she expect?

We didn't go to lunch until almost one, and A persuaded me to get a light lunch so we wouldn't have to go all the way down to the dining room, so I did that. I had cucumber yogurt soup and some pasta, a roll and a pastry.

Light lunch in the lounge

Right after that they set up the ice cream bar and I had chocolate and caramel ice cream with caramel sauce and coconut and chocolate sprinkles.

We went back to the room and I used the shower. The shower is triangular. The door opens from the pointy end. There is a rain shower over the center and a hand-held shower nozzle and there are at least 3 things to turn to decide on temperature, amount of water and which shower head you are using. In order for me to face the controls (and not have them behind my back), I have to have the shower seat as far as possible in the pointy end of the shower. But I manage.

At 3 we went to the Barcelona talk, and apparently this is another one of those things where we get off the ship at 8 and we take a bus to the place where we are to take the train and then we have "free time" until it is time to take the train and this time, the train will only be there in the station for 6 or 7 minutes. Dragan said his first step would be to kidnap the conductor and take his whistle.

Not everyone is going to Barcelona. He also said that we should get our tickets for Gaudi's church in advance and that if we did it on the ship computer in our room, they could be printed out on the printer here on the ship. So that's what I did. We have a tour of Barcelona on Friday morning which ends outside of the church so I have tickets for 12:15 with an audio guide. All printed out.

We came back to the room and I think both of us had a nap. We got to dinner a little late. I had the

Lamb

which was a little hard to cut, and I also had the

Crepes suzette

Sunset on the Rhone

Granddaughter looking at a windmill at our window

After sunset on the Rhone

We are still (after midnight) on our way to Avignon, having gone through several locks. I miss the bow camera which has infrared so you and see at night