6 Days on the Rhone Princess (CroisiEurope Riverboat Cruise)

CroisiEurope is a French company with a fleet of over 40 river boats that cruise all of Europe's major rivers. My first CroisiEurope experience was two years ago when I booked their Prague-based Vltava River cruise. The experience was so perfect that I swore allegiance to this company immediately. When it came time to choose a second riverboat trip, we went to the CroisiEurope website immediately and didn't bother researching any other options. This time we chose a cruise based in Lyon (the so-called food capital of France). Both experiences were identical: first class service, the most amazing gourmet French food, all-you-can-drink wine, beer, cocktails, aperitifs, digestives any time of the day or night. On both trips, the crew were amazingly friendly, very accommodating, and genuinely enjoying their jobs which prioritizes keeping their clients happy. Every cliché about French people being snobby gets thrown out the window the second you step on one of their boats.

CroisiEurope's target audience is French pensioners so the average age of their clients is about 70 years old. We're used to being the youngest folks in a crowd, so this was not an issue. Bonus: because the boat is full of old people, all their excursions are easy -- gentle pacing, no strenuous hikes, no struggles, and all the details attended to. In other words, a CroisiEurope cruise might be the easiest way for first-time visitors to France to immerse themselves in French culture. In fact, on both cruises, the English speakers were a very small minority. Fortunately, the entire crew spoke both French and English (some better than others, but that's expected). Another bonus: on some side excursions, the English speakers are grouped together so we almost get a private tour with our own English-speaking guide. The English speakers are also grouped together during meals, and on both trips we lucked out with very cool table mates (on this trip we were seated with a British couple and a couple from California). It seemed like the English speakers who book French cruise lines are also the more savvy travelers who seek deeper cultural immersion experiences. So CroisiEurope also acts as a filter, keeping away the "ethnocentric and noisy ugly Americans" (Rick Steve's words) who rarely travel abroad and come to France to eat at McDonald's.

We booked this specific Rhône River cruise between Lyon and Provence because it included a dinner at Paul Bocuse’s Abbaye de Collonges restaurant and banquet hall. I've been following Paul Bocuse since I was 17 years old and was gifted his cookbook by the chef of the Treetop restaurant in Mahomet, Illinois (this was my first restaurant job as a line cook). Back then, I didn't know who Paul Bocuse was, but later I learned that he may be the most important chef of French nouvelle cuisine. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy," this Michelin-starred chef is celebrated throughout the Lyon region including the city's main gourmet market dubbed Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse. Other tour highlights included a chocolate tasting tour at The Cité du Chocolat in Tain l’Hermitage and a tour of a bull breeding ranch in the Camargue region of Provence. 

But the real reason for booking a CroisiEurope cruise is the food. What's served on these cruises are beautifully presented gourmet multi-course meals that might be worthy of at least one Michelin star. The dishes were creative, damn tasty, and stunningly garnished to look like art. These chefs must have had the highest level of training to pull off meal after meal that were absolutely perfect. On a CroisiEurope cruise, each day starts off with a breakfast buffet where custom-made omelettes are available. Each day's menu is different and the details are announced on the TV screens in your room. Both lunch and dinner are at least three courses including dessert. A wine of the day is usually offered which pairs well with the menu, but alternate white, rose, red, and sparkling wines are also offered. The wine glasses are bottomless and you can taste as many as you wish. I often end the meal with a shot of cognac as the French like to do. Starting with a CroisiEurope cruise means that by the end of the trip, you've completely satiated your desire for dining at Michelin-starred restaurants. Instead you now have cravings for Moroccan cuisine or sushi or Döner kebabs (which seems to be available on almost every other street corner everywhere in France). 

Our cruise started in Lyon and ended in Lyon. So we booked an Airbnb in Lyon for two nights before moving on. Why? To eat more, of course!

(see more pictures of the cruise)