Ramblings of a Spoiled Gen X-er: It's a Boat Full of Fred Reinigs

I'm hearing a bunch of wonderful stories from other passengers but it's for the first time! This is an inside joke for those who have known me since childhood.

The first night on board was good. The bed is actually two twin beds pushed together. It seems very European. There are two options for breakfast and lunch. There is a buffet in the main dining room and a small buffet in the lounge.

We decide to have breakfast in the main dining room. It's a very large buffet with an egg station. They have a big selection of breads but not like in Germany. Fresh fruit, cereals hot and cold, yogurts, meats, smoked fish, cheeses and Moët Chandon!

You can see my mimosa in the corner of the picture.

In the lounge they have an espresso machine. The coffee here is really Americanos so it's a little bitter in my opinion. Good thing I'm weaned off coffee.

After breakfast they have the safety drill.

The crew gets more fashionable life jackets than us.

After our drill we sail for Bourg. During this time we get a cruise overview and select our daily excursions. It turns out our itinerary is all messed up due to the tides and heavy rainfall this spring. Some of the options are shuffled or changed. I guess we weren't really sailing far so we will zigzag the area.

Burt Wolf gives a quick talk in what will be his nearly daily talks.

Back to main dining room for lunch after our briefing.

I'm trying to eat a little healthier. The food is good but really not interesting either.

Dessert will make up for the OK lunch.

We leave Bourg on buses to St. Emilion. It's on old city with cobblestone streets in two levels. Part of the city wall and palace still exist.

This is part of a palace that has been integrated into a hotel.

This is from the old city wall. It's quite massive.

From the bus stop we can see Chateau Guadet. We will be stopping in here after our cruise. We met the wine maker in Walla Walla as he interned with l'ecole.

This is where they used to roll wine barrels down the street.

Though not a St Emilion wine Petrus is from next door in Pommerol. Can it really be that good?

We visit some catacombs but are not allowed to take pictures in there.

We have a "sundowner" at Chateau Soutard before heading back to the ship.

It is pretty grounds but we don't find out much about the wine or winery. It's really a drink with meat and cheese. It's not necessarily a bad thing.

In the meantime the ship has moved to Libourne. It's a short bus ride to the boat. Dinner in the main lounge has a choice of appetizers, soup, main course and dessert. Items change daily but there are constants like steak and chicken. There are also two other "restaurants". It's really just different seating areas on this level and the lounge level but they have different multi course dinners.