Over all a great holiday. It was our 33rd holiday with GRJ and our 4th river cruise with them. The area of France that we visited was far more scenic and interesting than we'd expected. Our favourite excursions were the open carriage steam train ride through the Ardeche gorge, and our visit to Arles which included going into the amphitheatre, which was fascinating. We enjoyed all of the trips but for me, as a non drinker, I really wasn't interested in the vineyards and wine tasting. Obviously I was in the minority there, but an alternative to the wine would have been appreciated. The food on board was excellent as normal although I felt the breakfasts could have been better. I'm sure we've had better breakfasts before. Most of the staff were lovely and would do anything to help if they could, there was 1 or 2 exceptions, by midweek we'd learned which side of the restaurant was best to sit to get the best waiters. The local guide we had for the Palais des Popes rather liked the sound of his own voice a bit too much. He spoke very fast and gave far too much information, I think we all got a bit bored after a while looking around what is basically an empty shell. The land train ride into Avignon was fascinating however. It would have been nice to see more of the town and less of the Palace maybe. The lavender farm was a bit of a let down as we didn't have long enough there. We were supposed to have a train ride around the farm but there was no time for it. The itinerary also suggested trying the lavender ice cream which we also didn't have time for. After seeing the museum and the little film we were told, you have time to either go to the toilet or the gift shop! We managed to squeeze in both, but it was all way too rushed. I do realise though, that had we had longer there, we'd have had less time at the Ardeche gorge viewpoints. They were spectacular and it would have been lovely to have had time to walk down to the Pont d' arc, so maybe the lavender farm needs axing from the itinerary.
