A Tale of Two Rivers

For those of you who have contemplated river cruising, I'd like to comment on how this form of travel is one of the best ways to immerse yourself in the destinations you travel to.

Consider: Civilizations throughout the world were built around rivers for obvious benefit.

This is where culture, architecture, and cuisine were developed in countries such as Hungary, Austria, Portugal, France, Germany and more exotic locales including Vietnam and Africa. Ocean cruises take you to countries, and river cruises take you into the destination...to both small towns and vineyards...to World Capitals such as Budapest and Vienna and Paris.

The river ship is like a floating boutique hotel where you unpack only once. You simply go to bed - luxurious bed, by the way - and wake up in your next destination. Sometimes, you get to sail during the day and the beauty and peacefulness of the river often takes my breath away. In many cases, depending on the port, you can just step out of the ship and take a walk to local cafés or shops.

There is much flexibility in terms of your time - many excursion options are included but you can also choose to do anything on your own. Even with excursions, some river cruises offer different levels of activity so you can customize your experience. Walk with a cane? Then you can take the leisurely tour for gentle walkers. Want to see more? Take the regular or active tour. All meals are included – along with wine and beer at meals. Internet is great and there is absolutely no waves on the rivers. Anyone who avoids ocean cruises due to motion sickness can embrace the lack of motion on the river ships.

Most people opt to do a pre or post cruise stay before boarding the ship or after the disembarkation - or both! That way you can extend your time in different destinations on land for 2-4 days, which is well worth your time and investment in your overseas flight. Of course there are also great river cruises you can take in the USA - most notably the Pacific Northwest on the Columbia and Snake rivers in Oregon and Washington, and of course the great Mississippi.

Having recently returned from France, I am delighted to share my experience on sailing two back-to-back river cruises on AmaWaterways. The first sailed on the Saone and Rhone rivers from Dijon to Arles. The second - on the Seine to Paris and Normandy.

On our first cruise - Essence of Burgundy and Provence - we started with a pre-cruise stay in beautiful Geneva, Switzerland, European home of many international organizations including the United Nations. Its medieval old town is a short walk from beautiful Lake Geneva and is an easy drive to many other areas of interest. We explored Gruyeres (cheese and chocolate factory); Montreux, home of Chillon Castle; and Annecy in the foothills of the French Alps.

On the drive to our river ship, we stopped in Dijon (the famed birthplace of mustard). After a tour of the city, we enjoyed a private winetasting lunch with our guide/sommelier Pascal- perfection in the capital of the Cote-d'Or in Burgundy. Our ship was docked just outside the city.

The next stops were the quaint cities of Chalon-sur-Saone and Macon, where we explored vineyards in Burgundy, tasting wines including Pouilly Fouisse. Then we explored a Beaujolais vineyard overlooking what was voted multiple times as the "prettiest town in France," Oingt. There were both biking and hiking tours offered almost every day. We sailed on to Tournus, the gateway to southern Burgundy; Lyon, the culinary capital of France, where we had our own Taste of Lyon food tour experience; and on to the Roman ruins of Vienne.

In Viviers, we had a wonderful truffle hunting experience, and in Avignon ("City of the Popes"), we had lunch outside the Papal Palace of Avignon next to an Italian market day on the square.

What is wonderful about this company, AmaWaterways (plus others) is their ability to curate excursions that give you a great sampling of the local culture, history and cuisine of the area you're sailing through, including daily menu offerings, wines and onboard demonstrations of macarons and crepes.

For Paris and Normandy, the itinerary was both picturesque and historical as many of these cities and towns were impacted by World War II. The Normandy beaches are the stars of this sailing, but there was so much more to see and do. Our first stop in Normandy after we boarded near Paris was the magical area of Les Andelys. The Chateau Gaillard Castle is perched above the most beautiful limestone cliffs. We sailed into mists that gave way to blue sky as we sailed away hours later. The next stop was Le Havre, and the picturesque fishing town of Honfleur, where we were lucky to be there on market day.

In medieval Rouen, we skipped the ship lunch and dined at La Couronne, the first restaurant in France visited by Julia Child in 1949, which inspired her to learn to cook at the Cordon Bleu in Paris. We had the same menu of oysters, Dover sole and souffle.

We explored the Pays d'Auge, or Normandy countryside, with stops in the seaside resort of Deauville, and a Calvados distillery. After that, we went to Giverny, home of Monet and
inspiration for "Water Lillies." We then capped off our trip with a quintessential cruise down the Seine from the Eiffel Tower. C'est magnifique.

Karen Quinn-Panzer is the owner and vacation specialist at Dream Vacations Quinn Panzer Travel. She can be contacted at kpanzer@dreamvacations.com or call (888) 918-0597. She is based in Naples, FL with satellite offices in CT and Park City, Utah.