France Day 13 -April 11, 2026 – Tournon

It’s early, but I’m already having a bad day.

 First, Judy is under the weather with what might be a cold and so she decided to stay on board while I toured Tournon solo. I soon discovered that I’d failed to put the chip back in the camera so I was stuck with only my iPhone. Then, at the Saturday market, I bought not only a box of strawberries but also a bag of locally-grown popcorn (the sugar-coated version, not the salt) for my poor wife. Have you ever tried to shoot iPhone pictures when encumbered with two bags of stuff that shouldn’t be crushed?

 The tour ended with an hour of free time and me with no where to go. Can’t take pictures, didn’t dare go back to the market for fear of buying that good-looking white asparagus and Judy wasn’t along to do the usual shopping. So, I found a street side café to kill some time.

My next indignity was when I tried to order, with my best French accent, an espresso and “crow-sant.” After a puzzled look, I tried “Pastry.” The waitress’s light went on. She corrected me with “qua-so” (hold your nose at the end).

I’ll spare you a discussion of my encumbered toilet stop.

But the good news is that fewer pictures means less time processing for the blog. The market was fun and had a stand where one can pick out a live chicken and have it cooked while you wait. The strawberries are perfectly ripe and rival anything we get from Plant City, FL for sweetness.

The qua-son was the best I’ve ever had and paired delightfully with espresso and a couple of strawberries I swiped from Judy’s Care package. Watching friends and family congregating at the café on a delight Spring Saturday morning was a treat.

And the single-hole bathroom was modern and did a complete cleaning job between patrons, albeit with seriously impaired throughput. Not ideal for a crowd when the bus is about to leave.

Tournon was, yawn, settled on both sides of the river by the Romans who killed of a bunch of soldiers who converted to Christianity, thereby creating a whole flock of saints. It became a trading town in medieval times.

The population here was largely Protestant with a smattering of Catholics. That made Tournon a hot bed during the Religious Wars of the sixteenth century.

The local (Catholic) church is medieval Gothic but with a wooden roof to reduce its weight   It suffered damage to its stained glass during WWII, which was replaced in the 1960s.

The church was not destroyed during the French Revolution but wall paintings in a side chapel were whitewashed. The whitewash was removed to reveal fairly well-preserved images from the 15th century.

Marc Seguin was a local engineer who invented the cable suspension bridge. His nephews, also engineers, invented the hot air balloon.

Sguin was if nothing else if not prolific. He sired a total of 19 children,13 with first wife, his cousin, and 6 with his second, his niece.

 They put up a statue of him near the bridge. I didn’t figure out for sure which achievement he is being honored for.

Deisel is 2.4 per litre. That’s about $10.70 per US gallon. It’s getting cheaper to burn wine,  our guide claimed.

Back on board, we had lunch, took a tour of the bridge and generally enjoyed being outside. If the forecast is correct, the next few days are to be rainy with temps back to the 50s.

We arrived in Vivier around 4 PM, just in time for a two hour walk through the medieval town. Very nice, built on the side of a hill, the top of which is a cathedral. Built in the 11th and 12th centuries, it has been and remains the seat of the Bishop of Viviers. The bishops see ranges for 100 miles along the Rhône, including Tournon. P

Avalon arranged a concert for us – a woman playing an autoharp and singing French and English tunes. Beautiful music made special by the acústics of the stone-walled cathedral.

At dinner we sat next to a young couple from Australia – not far from the Steve Irwin (“the Crocodile Hunter”) park, where we visited on our trip. They’ve been married two weeks today. She’s a primary care doctor focused on rural health needs in Australia and he’s in residence in general surgery. I told them to think of us on their 50th anniversary. I’ve decided young folk are more fun than old people.

We’re on our way to Avignon tomorrow, home of Popes when they were kicked out of Vatican City.