- Welcome to the Rhône river, and another of the World's Greatest Cruises.

(upbeat music) I'm Lynn Elmhirst, a travel journalist with a deep passion for sailing the high seas.

Navigating timeless routes on a world that's 70% water, cruising may be the most authentic way to travel.

Not to mention its spectacular scenery, fascinating ships, maritime traditions, and local people and cultures.

(upbeat music) Join me on the "World's Greatest Cruises."

"World's Greatest Cruises" is made possible in part by the JERNE community of travel advisors: local business owners with experience cruising and planning cruises.

More information at JERNE.COM/CRUISE Today on "World's Greatest Cruises," we're on a river cruise odyssey through the South of France.

Usually a river cruise is from point A to B on a river but this time we embark from Lyon, the third largest city in France, and where two rivers meet.

So first we travel north on the Saône, and then return to the confluence of the two rivers in Lyon, before heading south on the Rhône to the last town before the Rome Delta empties into the Mediterranean Sea.

It's a route that takes us into the heart of three regions, and the home to iconic French lifestyle, delicacies, some of the greatest wines, and wine stories in France.

You could drive the length of this route in less than a day, but the Rhône was the original highway through the South of France, dating back over 2,000 years to the Romans.

So our week-long river cruise gives us an authentic, ancient perspective, and brings us into the heart and soul of places you might not otherwise experience except from the river.

- You have the flexibility of just walking off the ship, and being in the center of towns.

So you have medieval towns, small towns like Viviers, but it's a magical place like going back into the 15th century.

Then you have Roman cities like Arles, where you have the amphitheater, the Roman Coliseum.

You have medieval cities like Avignon, and then you have big cosmopolitan cities like Lyon.

So all of them are very different.

And you visit three regions of France on this itinerary, which are also all very different from each other, which you wouldn't necessarily do if you were not on the ship.

- The slow boat allows you to really taste, and sample some of these very unique, and charming, charming places that are so different, and so very French, right?

I think that's where the South of France is one of the most iconic places in people's travel imagination.

- It's just magical.

(screen swooshing) - Some friends and colleagues, and I are sailing aboard the Emerald Liberte, a river cruise ship that's sized to sail along the Rhône, and through its locks with about 140 guests, and 40 crew members.

As the name suggests, this river cruise ship taps into the French way of life with cuisine prepared by a French chef, regional wine tastings conducted by local experts welcomed onboard, an introduction to the vast universe of French cheeses, and even a dinner prepared onboard by a local celebrity chef.

- The cake tonight, is a recipe from my grandmother.

- [Lynn] But it's not all about delicacies even in a region overflowing with wine and flavor.

Emerald Cruises has an active program that helps guests maintain wellness goals, and at the same time gives a unique perspective on the community's history, and landscapes along the Rhône.

Like a guided hike up the steep hills into some of the world's oldest vineyards.

We also borrowed e-bikes from the ship to explore historic riverside villages.

And onboard the ship, a walking circuit, and games organized by the physical activity manager, keep us on the sun deck as we sail through iconic French landscapes.

The light-filled contemporary urban design of the Emerald Liberte even includes an infinity pool so we can do our laps without missing any of the scenery floating past.

(gentle upbeat music) (screen swooshing) When the Romans expanded into what's now France, they used the Rhône to make their way from the Mediterranean into the heart of their new territory.

A hike or a ride on the world's oldest funicular to the top of one of Lyon's hills reveals why the Romans decided to stay here, and how Lyon established itself as one of France's top cities.

So tell us about how the geography created Lyon.

So two rivers and two hills.

- [Clement] Yeah.

- And the Romans thought, "Aha, this is a good place."

- Yes, they say, "We need to be on the top of one hill."

They found that Fourvière, so old forum, was the best to overlook the old valley.

- [Lynn] So, the Fourvière, this hill was the original Roman settlement.

- [Clement] Exactly, the Roman settlement, the city settlement.

- [Lynn] And so you can still, which is amazing today, see 2,000 year old Roman ruins here in Lyon.

- [Clement] Yes.

- [Lynn] So after the Romans, the French rose again, and that's what we see in the old town.

Lyon's old town retains the largest display of Renaissance architecture in France.

And it was during that time of expansion of wealth, knowledge, and creative skills that Lyon was decreed the location of royal silk production, and became the capital of the European silk trade.

You can still discover Lyon's silk heritage today.

Some workshops don't just sell silk you can wear as a souvenir, they're using antique machines, and looms to create real gold and silver thread, and recreate historic silk fabric for restoration projects around the country.

And did your father train you?

- Yes.

- Yes.

- I work with my father.

- So do you help recreate historical...?

- Exactly the same pattern, the same silk, on the same loom.

- So you're providing them with authentic... - Hmm, exactly.

- Authentic fabric.

- Yes.

- That's a pretty great job.

- Yes, it's a good job.

(Lynn laughing) (gentle upbeat music) - Clement, one of my favorite, very unique features of Lyonnaise architecture are the traboules, and you're going to show us some of the best ones.

- Exactly.

Lyon traboules really simply is a passageway, a shortcut.

So you go on one street to another one, and you pass through the building.

- So I had heard that they started for the silk workers as a way for silk workers to get their silk between down to the river, from the silk district down to the river where they could be shipped throughout the world without getting them wet.

But you say also many uses since then for the Resistance during the wars, and also just for residents now.

These are people's real buildings.

- Exactly.

- These people live in the old towns, live in the traboules.

There are more than 400 traboules in the old town.

Each one, there are people that live there.

- [Lynn] Here we go.

- [Clement] Yeah.

- And here we are.

(gentle upbeat music) (screen swooshing) Lyon's largest square has a statue any book lover like me will want to visit "The Little Prince" is the world's most translated book after the Bible, and the charming, touching, and deceptively childish story was written by Lyon native, and French aviation pioneer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

There's even a bookstore right across the street.

(gentle upbeat music) So of course I had to get my very own copy of "The Little Prince."

This one is for my new little nephew.

(screen swooshing) Onboard the Emerald Liberte, that evening before we sailed, we got more insights into silk production in Lyon, with a local studio invited onboard to explain the silk screening process of dying elaborate prints onto fabric.

(gentle upbeat music) (ship horn blasting) The first leg of our journey is north from Lyon following the Saône river into France's Beaujolais, and Burgundy wine regions.

Chalon-Sur-Soane, with its weekly market in full swing in the square, gives us our first taste of small town French life, and gives me the opportunity to pick up a little local color to take back to my ship's state room.

And it's our jumping off port for our excursion into the heart of the legendary Burgundy wine region.

In Beaune some of the world's most well-known, and highly valued wines intersect with charity, community, medicine, and religion, all under the colorful glazed tiles of one of France's most recognizable roofs, and architectural masterpieces.

This is an extraordinary building with an extraordinary history.

- It is.

It started in 1443 when Nicolas Rolin, and his wife, Guignone des Salins, took the decision to found this place.

Or to be honest with you, part of the project was linked to the fact that they wanted to buy their place in heaven.

- [Lynn] Right.

- Our Hôtel-Dieu was the name of every hospital for poor and sick.

Hôtel-Dieu means House of God, run of course by the people who found them, but also by a group of nuns, of course, who were nursing... - Did the work.

- Yes, of course they did, yes.

(gentle upbeat music) - Sophie, I feel like I should be whispering in this room, and that there may be the souls of sick people all around us.

- And that's where everything started.

It's in fact called the Salle des Pôvres for the Room of the Poor.

And it was actually the first bedroom of this hospital.

- [Lynn] Before modern medicine there was really no way to help people, but obviously that's not the case.

People were able to be helped here.

- They were helped first by praying, that's for sure.

We have to be honest.

The beginning, the priest, and the doctor were as important.

That the reason why we have such a, you know, such a gorgeous ceiling here.

It's really a decorative ceiling, which was symbolizing heaven.

And people had to pray, of course, for their life, you know, after death, so going to heaven.

And just in case they were not afraid of hell enough, they put those horrible heads of monsters as yet you can see on each side.

- [Lynn] To tell you to pray harder.

- Yes, and we are laughing about it today, but I think they were actually very scared about it, yes.

- And what surprised me is how recently this was in operation.

- And people are always impressed, that here in 1971, you know, there were patients.

- In 1971.

- Yes, we are cheating.

Not in this room.

This room was already, you know, sort of museum in the 19th, since the 19th century.

But the rest, you know, was actually, you know, in operation.

- [Lynn] As you can see, all the beds faced the chapel, which was graced with a painting that even at that time was already considered a masterpiece, commissioned for a room for the poor and dying.

What's maybe most remarkable is how a hospital for the poor, and common people, now a museum, remained funded throughout the centuries.

The answer is the reason Les Hospices de Beaune is one of the most famous labels in French wine.

- Almost from the beginning, I think after the first decade, the first donation in vineyard was also given.

- Right.

- And all throughout the history, you understand many vineyards were given, and not whatever vineyards, just the best.

And today what we call Hospices de Beaune, it's not only this gorgeous museum, it's also a very nice wine estate of about 62 hectares of vineyard.

- [Lynn] And it's a very famous, very famous wine.

It's a good quality wine, and people, so, and that helps support it and maintain it.

- [Sophie] Exactly.

- [Lynn] Still to this day, - Still to this day.

Because they had this wonderful idea 163 years ago to start a wine auction.

So today it's one of the biggest wine auctions of the world.

And of course all the money of the wine is going to maintain this museum.

Sometimes a place has a soul, and I think yes, the Hospices de Beaune, they do have a soul, yes.

(gentle upbeat music) (ship horn blasting) (gentle upbeat music) - [Lynn] On a ship, maybe more than in any other type of space, every square inch counts.

It gives designers the opportunity to flex their creativity to find ways to make shipboard spaces do double duty.

The Emerald Liberte's contemporary design incorporates a number of space-maximizing details.

In my suite, my indoors is also my outdoors.

When I drop the top half of the window down, providing a railing to lean on, or a clear balcony to relax, and watch the scenery of the Rhône sail past from the privacy of my room.

The pool area makes an even more astonishing transformation I've never seen on a cruise ship of any size.

It's a pool with a view.

Even as an indoor pool with its infinity edge, and glass wall looking out over the wake of the ship.

And on fair days the roof is retractable, making it an open air pool.

But that's not even its biggest trick.

In the evenings, the pool can disappear all together to be transformed into a cinema for movie nights complete with popcorn.

(screen swooshing) (gentle upbeat music) Once we start sailing south from Lyon, we soon begin to see the river's signature Rhône riverbank vineyards.

Some of the oldest in the world, begun over 2,000 years ago by the Romans as they made their way up the Rhône identifying ideal wine growing conditions as they went.

And on our first port of call on the Rhône, an active shore excursion presents us with the opportunity to get up close to the land, and the vines on a hike that starts by crossing the oldest suspension bridge in France, and takes us high above the river to a hillside designated part of French national heritage.

(gentle jazz music) - [Usha] We are here at the Hermitage Vineyards.

- And tell us why that's such a famous name.

- [Usha] There was a knight who came, and he settled up here, and all he wanted to do was become a hermit.

(all laughing) So he settled on top of the... - Right I was just saying that.

- Exactly.

- I could hang out in there.

- [Usha] He settled on top of the hills over there.

You see that chapel?

- [Lynn] Yes.

- He became a hermit.

And this is why the vineyard here is called the Hermitage.

- Ah, I didn't know that that was the origin of the name.

And what about the wine?

So why is the wine so famous?

- Well, the wine is also very famous because it's good wine.

It's good wine.

(Lynn laughing) It's the soil.

To make good wine, you need a good soil.

We call it terroir.

- [Lynn] Right.

- We have the soil, we have the exposure to the sun.

We have the cold climate as well.

- And love.

- And love of course.

- And a good wine maker.

- A good wine maker otherwise you would end up with vinegar.

- [Ryan] Right.

- There's only one red grape variety over here.

And that is the Syrah or the Shiraz grapes.

- [Ryan] And do you have a favorite wine?

- I do.

I do love the Heritage wine of course.

- Are you kidding?

- But it's very, very expensive.

Yes, yes I do.

I do love that.

- Special occasions.

- Special occasions, yes.

(screen swooshing) - A local wine expert was invited onboard the Emerald Liberte to reveal some of the secrets of the wines of the northern Côtes du Rhne region.

So many people take this cruise on the Rhône because they love wine (laughing).

- Yeah, yeah, right.

- Like, Ryan and I do.

- Exactly.

- Yes, and in fact, I think that's how I convinced him to come all together.

And we're in the perfect place to be tasting wine.

- Oh yes you are and then right in the heart of the northern Rhône Valley.

- Right.

- And so.

- What's here?

- So here in for the whites, we have two very old traditional grape varieties, which are marsanne and roussanne.

And then for our red wines, we have syrah is really the king, and queen of the region because it was born in the region in the northern Rhône valley.

- [Lynn] So tell us about this wine.

- So this wine is made of 100% of viognier.

So viognier is very charismatic variety, very aromatic, very expressive.

It gives lots of body to the wines.

(gentle music) - So fresh.

Yeah, that would be the word that I would use.

- Yes.

- Yes, fresh.

Because of those heavy flower and fruit notes.

You even have more a sensation of freshness because of the salivation and the acidity.

- I would very much to enjoy just to drink this on a sunny day.

- Exactly.

- Not necessarily paired with food just being, say on the sun deck.

And now we're shifting to red.

- We've moved into the Syrah world.

(Lynn laughing) So this time it's a 2020 vintage.

It's set to be one of the best, or maybe the best vintage of the century, though the century has only just started.

But really 2020 was a really nice, and representative of the Rhône Valley style.

Lots of heat, still some freshness.

So it's a nice balance.

So this is typically the kind of wine for a great barbecue, summer barbecue when it's hot.

- I think I can smell some pepper already.

When you inhale, your nose gets a little.. - You have some pepper, you have some, you have a mix of what I said the red berries, but also the dark berries.

You feel the heat, the ripeness.

- Mm hm.

- It's got a great finish too.

- Yes, yes.

It is not that simple, and... - Because it's sophisticated simple I think, how I would describe it.

- It feels easy.

- It's easy.

And for the third wine, we have a Crozes this time, one of the Crozes, we have 17 Crozes in the northern Rhône, in the Rhône Valley.

The nickname of the Crozes-Hermitage wine is the friend's wine.

So it needs to be easy to drink, pour.

- That's a good way of describing it.

- So of the three wine, which is your favorite wine?

This one is?

- Oh, certainly this one.

- Yes.

- All right.

- This is the one that I would bring good friends over that I wanna spend more time with.

- Oh yes, sure.

- Yes.

- Around the table.

- Exactly.

- I'd invite you over to drink this wine.

- Thank you, Lynn.

(all laughing) Actually, I'd invite you over to drink any of these wines.

And you too Pierre-Jean, thank you so much.

Lovely to meet you.

- Thank you so much.

Thank you.

- Cheers.

- Cheers.

(screen swooshing) - [Lynn] Wine and cheese may be the world's longest gastronomic marriage.

The French have been making cheese for as long as wine.

And the pairing's a fundamental part of French hospitality that's pretty much gone global.

French President Charles de Gaulle famously once asked, "How can you govern a country that has 246 varieties of cheeses?"

While he actually underestimated that number, there are in fact over 1,200 varieties of cheese produced in France today, but onboard the Emerald Liberte one evening, the chef, Andiana, gave guests a crash course in French cheeses that introduced us to the different ingredients, techniques, textures, ages, and flavors of one of everybody's favorite French foods complete with wine of course.

(screen swooshing) The French understand that the good life isn't a never ending wine and cheese party.

Ryan, I'm glad you suggested this early morning bicycle ride before we left Viviers.

It's about balance.

So we tried to follow that example, borrowing the ship's e-bikes during our call in the picture-perfect medieval village of Viviers.

I really love this active way of experiencing French life.

- I agree 100% with you.

Look it up on top of that horizon there.

- Yeah.

- That's actually beautiful.

My goodness.

- Absolutely stunning.

- Yeah.

- [Ryan] Shaking hands with history here.

- [Lynn] Yes, exactly.

(church bells chiming) Now the church bells.

- [Ryan] Church bells are always so welcoming I find.

- [Lynn] Yes.

Come.

- [Ryan] Come enjoy.

- [Lynn] Yes, that's what they're saying.

- [Ryan] Enjoy each other's company.

Enjoy this place.

- [Lynn] That's right.

Before people had smart watches, it's the church bell.

- [Ryan] Exactly, yeah, before it was an iPhone.

- [Lynn] That's right.

Going through an alley of plane trees, there's nothing more French than this.

Unless you had a basket with a baguette (laughing).

- [Ryan] Yes, that's the only thing we're missing.

- [Lynn] And maybe replace the helmet with a beret.

(both laughing) Here we are back at the ship.

- [Ryan] Welcome home Lynn.

- [Lynn] Welcome home.

Bonjour.

- [Ryan] Bonjour.

(Lynn laughing) (gentle upbeat music) (ship horn blasting) - Further south on the Rhône in Avignon, the river gives us the essential view of the city, its famous bridge ruins, medieval stone ramparts, and the papal palace that was the headquarters of Catholic popes during the Middle Ages.

While guests were off the Emerald Liberte discovering Avignon, the culinary culture of Provence was coming onboard in the form of a visiting celebrity French chef arriving with provisions to prepare a dinner inspired by his Provençale roots.

Many people maybe think of trying local cuisine off the ship.

Tonight we get to try local cuisine on the ship.

- I think it's very clever concept because it is better to bring one person than 100 people go out.

- [Lynn] What was your inspiration for your cuisine at your restaurant, and here tonight for dinner?

- Tonight I bring all the fresh products onboard, and for give you an example.

Tonight we'll serve this terrine.

- Yes.

- It's grilled vegetables, and Brousse.

Brousse is cheese from Aix-en-Provence.

Is local cheese, very light, not too strong because I want to give the customer the sensation of Provençale cuisine, but with a modern style.

- Ah, well this looks beautiful.

It's like a work of art, every plate.

- Thank you.

Yes, I really like put a lot of color, and on this plate... - [Lynn] Well Provence has so much color.

- Exactly.

- [Lynn] Yes.

- The cake tonight is a recipe from my grandmother.

It's olive oil cake and apple cake.

We don't put butter inside.

Just olive oil because we don't have a cow over here.

- Right.

- In the South of France, only olive tree.

For the main course a beef, we cook it 10 hours in oven.

Very slowly.

We marinate 12 hours before.

So we need about 24 hours to prepare recipe.

- Right.

- So, but it's very nice because you can eat the meat with a spoon.

- Challenge accepted.

(gentle upbeat music) (people chattering) Chef, I ate your beef with a spoon.

It was fantastic.

Thank you chef.

(gentle upbeat music) (ship horn blasting) (gentle upbeat music) Our final port of call on our cruise down the Rhône river was the first stop for Romans coming up from the Mediterranean.

Over 2,000 years later, their legacy dominates Arles, and we can discover it all just walking off the Emerald Liberte docked along the crescent-shaped quay.

Good morning, Raphaele.

- Good morning Lynn.

And welcome to Arles.

- Do you know what I love about Arles is you can see so much of the old town of Arles from the river.

- [Raphaele] It's a pretty old town.

It was founded on the order of Julius Cesar in 46 BC.

It's a very good strategic position.

- So there was the river, which was the main transportation route, but the road was here, the road to Rome was here as well.

A hub really.

- Exactly.

- For the entire Roman Empire.

- Exactly.

- [Lynn] Yes, so there's still evidence of Roman occupation.

That's one of the main things that makes Arles, so interesting in a very big way.

When you walk through that archway, and into the arena, you can't help but just say, "Wow."

- It is a wow.

It is a wow.

The capacity was 20,000 seats.

It was pretty ambitious for a little colony like Arles.

- So things still happen here.

It's still used for its original purpose over 2,000 years later.

So first of all, it's still standing, and it's still usable.

This isn't a monument that is just looked at.

It's a monument that is still part of life here in Arles.

- It's a very important monument for us, absolutely yes.

- And I love when you're looking around, you can see hints of outside the arena in Arles with towers, and so on, that's definitely not Roman so you get that sense of being in Arles, and that sense of history after the Romans as well.

And outside of the arena, so there are galleries, and so on that give you a wonderful view.

And can we go see some of those?

- Absolutely.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Lynn] You said this is a very special place for you.

- Yes, this is absolutely to me the most beautiful place of this arena.

This is where I felt in love with the Roman monument.

(screen swooshing) - [Lynn] Over a last glass of wine aboard the Emerald Liberte, we get a final taste of local Provençale culture with a troop of folk dancers, and musicians coming onboard to share the heritage they continue to preserve.

Along with the sights, vineyards, and cuisine that have captivated me during our river cruise, it reminds me why there's no place like Rome.

Until next time on "World's Greatest Cruises," wishing you fair winds and following seas.

(gentle upbeat music) More information about "World's Greatest Cruises," and the ship and ports of call featured in today's program on our website at www.WorldsGreatestCruises.com.

"World's Greatest Cruises" is made possible in part by the JERNE community of travel advisors: local business owners with experience cruising and planning cruises.

More information at JERNE.COM/CRUISE Next time on "World's Greatest Cruises," we take an expedition cruise through three of the great lakes.

From Michigan's Mackinac Island, where time has stood still to Canada's freshwater playgrounds, and onto the western shores of Lake Superior.

We explore the Great Lakes from the ship by kayak, zodiac, special operations boats, and even submarine.

And we delve into indigenous and fur trapper history.