France River Cruise
September, 2014
Les Andelys and Lyons la Forét
Travelling down river over night we awoke to a beautiful sunny morning, and found ourselves moored alongside the town of Les Andelys. After a hardy buffet breakfast and fantastic coffee, we collected onshore to board our bus for a short trip to Lyon La Forét. One of the most beautiful villages in France, according to the literature.
We were dropped off outside the village centre and had a short walk through the back streets to get to the centre of town. The village centre was certainly well defined with a large covered market area, and seating tables that seemed to serve several of the cafes and patisseries that surrounded it. I can personally vouch for one of the patisseries, as I sampled a lovely apple strudel. You can't go to France and not have a pastry, right?
Our morning view from the balcony of our stateroom. Placid waters and a castle on the hill.
Le Pressoir d'or Apple Cider
Re-boarding the bus for a short ride through the countryside, we entered Lyon La Forét and stopped at a very old orchard where they grew apples solely for the purpose of making cider. The buildings were old, and bent, but with character beyond measure.
We had a short tour of some antique cider making devices in a stuffy cellar that I couldn't enter, and then they brought around a very old Volvo tractor with a couple of seating carts attached, and took us all out into the orchard for a tour.
The best part came at the end when we were shown into another old building where they has set up a sampling area where we could taste the fruits of their labour, so to speak. Most of the visitors walked out with a few bottles of their favourite beverage.
