Overnight the ship had sailed further north on the Saone River and was moored at Chalon Sur Saone. This time, I was woken at 4am when the ship departed the previous port.
It was a cool morning (7C) with plenty of blue sky. It was a tranquil scene from our balcony looking out to the buildings on the other side of the river.
This morning we had booked to go on the outing to the the city of Beaune. The buses left the wharf at 9am with Sophie as our guide and took us through beautiful green countryside.
Sophie told us that the most popular sports here are soccer, rugby and basketball. They are particularly proud of their basketball team.
These towns are in the Burgundy region which is famous for its wine. She told us that most of the wine here is white wine but they are best known for their red wine such as pinot noir which sells for higher prices that their white wines.
She pointed out the limestone cliffs and said the limestone soil gives their wine its distinctive flavour. On either side of the road, we saw vineyards stretching into the distance.
Occasionally we'd drive through small villages with narrow streets. The driver had to be very careful because the streets were often only just wide enough for the bus.
Most of the houses and buildings are made of stone. Houses are usually two storey because they use the ground floor as their wine cellar and they live on the upper level.
The buses reached Beaune at about 10am. They had to park outside the city walls and we then walked a few blocks into the town where Sophie showed us the meeting point where we had to return by 12:15pm to head back to the ship.
She guided us through some narrow cobblestone streets and plazas before stopping at her favourite shop that sells chocolate, jams and other delicacies.
The main purpose of our trip to this town was to visit the Hotel Dieu which is also known as Hospices Civils de Beaune.
It was established in 1443 as a hospital for the poor as is now a museum.
Initially, Sophie took us into the central cobblestone courtyard where we could admire the architecture. The building is a solid construction with large stone blocks for the walls and heavy slate tiles for the roof. There are numerous towers and spires.
It's little wonder that it has lasted for so many centuries.
Our tour would only go to ground floor rooms. The first room we stopped at had large paintings and various statues. The lighting was subdued - probably to protect the artwork.
After going through other rooms, she took us to the large hall that was used as a hospital. Here they had reproduced the beds on each side of the room.
At the end of this hospital room was the chapel with its altar, statues and tall stained glass window.
Towards the end of the tour, she took us through the kitchen to the pharmacy. Naturally their was a gift shop near the exit.
After the hospital tour, we had free time to explore the town of Beaune. Suzy and I found a coffee shop in the main plaza. It was pleasant sitting there in the sunshine even though it was still cool (13C).
For the return trip to our ship at Chalon Sur Saone, the bus took the motorway instead of the scenic route through the countryside. We were back at about 1pm - just in time for lunch.
At lunch we met another Australian couple and another couple from the UK. I had the duck dish for main course and the Malbec wine. Another excellent lunch.
Suzy went for a walk after lunch but there wasn't much open in the town because it was a Sunday afternoon.
The ship departed Chalon Sur Saone at about 3:30pm and headed south towards Lyon. We could admire the scenery from our balcony. From time to time, we saw swans on the river.
Suzy spent most of the afternoon rebooking our holiday now that we are no longer going to Jordan. Between Paris and Brussels, we'll be going to Strasbourg in north western France.
At about 6:15pm, we entered a lock and so I went upstairs to the sun deck to take photos. It was only a small lock - perhaps only 3m.
Apparently we'd be going through only three locks on the Saone whereas there would be twelve locks on the Rhone and they would often be much bigger.
Before entering the lock, they'd lowered the control room and a crew member was driving the ship from a small control panel near the railing.
As usual, Danielle gave her port talk at 6:45pm and we went down to the dining room for dinner at 7pm. We sat with two Australian couples (Adelaide) and another couple from the US. Everyone has interesting travel stories.
At 9:30pm, we went back up to the lounge where they ran a name that tune competition.
I was exhausted by the time we got to bed at about 10:30pm.
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