A WINE RIVER CRUISE AND TOUR THROUGH BRITTANY, NORMANDY AND ALONG THE SEINE RIVER - MAY 2024

A Reading on the AmaDante

Well, this is a surprise! I completely missed you during this past month, so let me update you for June. My husband and I returned from two weeks in France (beginning on April 30^th through May 15^th) to a house filled with heavy construction and demolition and company from Savannah, GA. But first may I tell you what a marvelous trip we took. Not only did we take you along; we scooped up some new followers while en route.

It all began in Paris, of course. You see, we took a seven-day wine river cruise down the Seine River, which was preceded by a four-day tour of Brittany and Normandy. But first we began in Paris. Doesn’t life always begin in Paris?

As it turns out, we left our Parisian hotel on May 1^st, which, as it turns out, is a national holiday! It was Labor Day and the day one gives Lilies-of-the-Valley to your loved ones. I purchased a potted Lilies-of-the-Valley plant just before hopping on the bus, and the intoxicating aroma kept pace with our excursion. And, because it was a holiday, there were very few cars on the roads leading out of Paris, and the heart of the city seemed a bit forlorn as it was bound and gagged with construction barriers due to the upcoming Olympics. Our buses, filled with 50-60 fellow travelers for this land cruise, took us straight past the Eiffel Tower and all the marvelous monuments of the City, but continued to lumber out of town.

The Chartres Cathedral in Chartres was our first stop, and one my husband and I had visited probably thirty years before. For an 830-year-old edifice (built on Roman and Celtic ruins), it looked quite good. And it was spic and span for the . . . perhaps, for the upcoming Olympics! (We would see this all over the areas of France we traveled.)  We then continued for three or more hours through the verdant green countryside and entered Brittany with the rains beating a heavy tattoo on the roof of the bus. The skies were black with foreboding clouds circling about, but we arrived perfectly intact at St. Malo.

Now, you might be familiar with the layout of this city as the movie, All the Light You Cannot See was filmed there. Backed up to La Manche, or better known to us as the English Channel, we spent three days in this proximity experiencing what the tour guide explained was their rainy season. “But quite honestly,” she said, “the rains have been continuing for six months now; and we are getting quite tired of it!” Yes, we were blasted sideways with sometimes bitter cold winds and rain, but also experienced the beauty of the seaside communities which all trace their lineage to Celtic habitation in the 1^st c. B.C. Yes, we were immersing ourselves in the ever-present layers of history going back way before the Normans.

Ah, but that was to change. One of our day trips was to Mont St. Michel, which is an immense rock which rose straight up out of the Atlantic (called an ‘extrusion’) and was built into a citadel 1001 years ago. “Constructed above some of the most treacherous tides in Europe, the society of man was mirrored in the hierarchy upon which Western Christianity was founded; the abbey church on the summit affirmed the spiritual supremacy, while the ramparts showed off the military power that enclosed the supporting city to ward against the years of wars that this place witnessed,” it said in the guide books.

Mont St. Michel is a place that begs to be seen, walked, hiked, and admired by millions . . . and, as it turns out France was still on a prolonged holiday and most of those folks were edging to get into the majestic fortifications along with all of us.

I had been to many of the areas we were visiting before while gathering research for my novel, A Cup of Redemption, but my husband, Winston, had not been along. I, in fact, wrote about my trips into Normandy and Brittany in one of my Savoring the Olde Ways series books called Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, Book Two. [And, incidentally, that book is one of the reasons we had chosen this tour to be on, and why this very book was placed in every stateroom on board the ship, the AmaDante of the AmaWaterways tour boats for our river wine cruise.]

Our next few days were filled with more excursions to Bayeaux, Caen, and Rouen. And some of us visited and were deeply moved by a visit to Normandy beaches (June 6^th will be the 80^th anniversary). We stood in line and viewed the ancient Tapestry of Bayeaux, which is the complete story of the Battle of Hastings in 1066 hand-stitched or embroidered on a 224-foot linen panel.

The stories I write are almost always centered around wars and the people who flourished or at least survived in those regions, along with a smattering of recipes from the family traditional specialties from the past. And, in the case, in my series, I was focused on both World War I and World War II. But this trip was also to embrace the beauty of the many Gothic cathedrals, and Monet’s gardens in Giverny and to sample the regional foods (from land and sea) plus indulging in the local ciders and Calvados.

As for the wine tasting, that took place on the ship, AmaDante, and was cohosted by the good folks of Bricoleur Vineyards from Windsor, California. They, along with many of their members from across the U.S. (including us) were in celebration and pure enjoyment.

Also, it was through our trusty travel agents from Take Time to Travel from Georgia (Tammy Spivey and Jani and crew) who created our tours and were the ones who, working with the winery and AmaWaterways, ordered more than 50 copies of my Book Two of Searching for Family and Traditions at the French Table, to be placed in each stateroom on the ship.

We joined the cruise ship in Le Havre, which was the childhood home of Monet, and along with the 100+ passengers we sailed south for a week to pull into Paris on the seventh day.

In fact, as we were gliding into Paris, I was given the opportunity to share my book with the entire boatload and tell them some new tales about the places they had just visited. For me, this was quite a monumental gift, and one I certainly did not expect or anticipate. To be introduced as a “World Famous Author” was an honor.

But I must say the best part of the trip was meeting all the many fellow travelers from all over the U.S. including from New York state, Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, and of course, a plethora from California. Being able to listen to their stories, share their tables, along with enjoying their company was the true gift.

We began and ended in Paris, and by the time my husband and I returned to Paris at the tail end of the cruise, we were exhausted from all the activity. We also were not ready to face more crowded museums and art galleries, or even the Eiffel Tower. So we opted to stay near our hotel around the corner from Luxembourg Gardens. (This is one of our favorite places to visit.) And we have been back here on numerous occasions whether it was for my husband’s work (teaching at the Sorbonne), or just loving the convenience in a vital yet genteel part of the city. Ah, but then it was time to go home.

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Upon arriving home, we found our house still under heavy construction (new master bathroom) and company practically on our doorstep. Obviously, we had no ‘room at the inn’ so we quickly got a hotel room for our company. This was the first time we had met my French narrator, Terri Rockwell, and her husband, Jason. Terri had just completed the audio version of my novel, A Cup of Redemption, and she was anxious to meet all the “characters” in the three books she has completed for me. And she especially wanted to meet Josiane Selvage, who was and is a character in so many ways!

Jason, too, was looking forward to meeting us as our photos had been pinned up in their closet (her recording space) for about a year now. He told us that each day he got up in the morning, walked over to my husband, Winston’s photo, and asked, “So, what do you think of this tie today, Winston?”  

Fresh from Savannah, GA., this was their first West Coast foray and we, along with Josiane, were able to have dinners and glasses of wine together over the next ten days during their visit. They were a true joy!

The audio book for A Cup of Redemption has been released through Findaway and can be found on Spotify and many other sources, but will take a couple more weeks before you can purchase it through Amazon. Stay tuned!