The 7 o’clock alarm was unwelcome – I was on holiday! Admittedly, I could have gone to bed straight after last night’s music, but socialising in the bar had been just too tempting. As it was, I needed time for breakfast if I was to enjoy our morning excursion.

Passing through the ship’s Reception, I exchanged my room key for my Shore Pass and headed up the gangplank onto the embankment in Châteauneuf-du-Rhône, boarded the coach, and the wheels rolled at 8:30. The area is famous for its lavender and we were to see it everywhere, and that made the morning rather special.

Our first stop was at the Maison de la Lavande at Domaine Lavendaïs, a lavender farm and museum. It was resplendent with fields of glorious lavender running right up to the buildings and stretching away nearly as far as I could see. There was café, a fun-looking play area for children, and an excellent gift shop filled with lavender-themed gifts, and all of them were quality items. I was tempted by much but settled for a small ceramic model of a cicada (lavender coloured of course). I could have enjoyed more time there but at least we had long enough for Fairport Convention to wine & dine me, well, not exactly, but whilst chatting to him in the queue Dave Pegg bought me an ice cream. It was lavender flavoured of course – and delicious.

We continued to and then along the Ardèche Gorge. I was so very glad I was not driving as the coach wound its way along the twisty road because I could safely spend all my time gazing at the wonderful limestone scenery with the Ardèche river cutting deeply through it, well below us. We stopped for a while at the highlight of the gorge, a natural arch called the Pont d’Arc, one of only two such natural arches in the world to cross a river. It was created when the river cut its way through weaker rock and for centuries the arch was used as a bridge, rather than having to climb down into the gorge, ford the river, and up the other side.

After a couple more stops at scenic view points it was time to return – but what views they were as we continued to gaze out across the mountainous area and the river far below, with scattered houses and farms next to it and canoeists paddling along it.

While we’d been enjoying our excursion, the ship had continued sailing and we rejoined it at Le Pouzin, just in time for lunch.

Peter Tyers