LightCentric Photography Blog

Saturday, September 26, 2026

18 Days in France - Vienne

Our Viking Lofn "rafted" outside another Viking River Boat at our mooring in Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

WE WERE still getting used to the cruise stop/port schedule. We are accustomed to the ocean cruise ship schedules which mostly cruise at night and stop at ports during the day, staying put once in a given port. River cruises are less consistent. Part of the reason is schedules can change depending on conditions. Another is that many of the river ports are very small, making in and out scheduling challenging. We had heard about this already, but it is often necessary to "raft" fwo or more boats along the dockside, meaning you may be going through, or up and over, another ship sometimes. So river cruise stops are just less consistent by their nature. Our stop in Vienne appeared to me to be one of those instances. We arrived at our mooring in Vienne, sometime during the dinner hour. There was a scheduled evening walking tour, starting around 9:00 p.m. Sometime during the night, we would leave Vienne and sail onward to our final port of call on this leg of our journey: Lyon, where we would remain docked for the next 3 nights.

Vienne Suspension Bridge - Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

OUR MOORING was actually across the river from Vienne, at Sainte-Columbe, just at the foot of The Vienne Suspension Bridge (La Passerelle), a beautiful pedestrian bridge across the Rhone. Having already spent a rather long, hot day in Tournon, only 2 of our group opted to go out on the scheduled night walking tour of Vienne. I was one of the participants. I am glad I went.

Vienne Suspension Bridge - Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

KNOWING THERE would not be any opportunities in a group setting for a tripod, I opted to carry only my Samsung S24+ phone for this one. I don't usually do a lot of handheld shots at night, not having fully embraced the high ISO capabilities of my Sony a7cr. I probably should. But I got a few that I think are worthy of posting anyway.

Cathédrale Saint-Maurice de Vienne (Vienne Cathedral) - Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

VIKING PUTS their passengers out for excursions in semi-manageable "groups." On this night, not expecting a huge turnout (and they were right - there were only 2 groups in the end), they did not assign us a group. We just picked one. My newest acquaintance, Randy (brother in law to our other traveling companions Jim and Flo) and I picked a group and set up our "walkies" and off we went. After we exited the Vienne Suspension Bridge, we crossed perhaps Vienne's busiest street and almost immediately came upon the beautiful Romanesque and French Gothic Cathedrale Saint-Maurice de Vienne (Vienne Cathedral). Our walk had started right at 9:00 p.m. (Civil Twilight) and the light was warm and low contrast, flattering the stone work.

Jardin de Cybele (Vienne Archaelogical Garden) - Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

BEYOND THE Cathedral, we walked a couple city streets in the heart of the old Medieval City, and arrived at one of its most popular places, The Archaelogical Garden (Jardin de Cybèle). In this spot there are the remains of the ancient Gallow - Roman civilization which is now at the geographical heart of Vienne. The structure you see up on the hill behind the garden is Théâtre Antique de Vienne, and ancient Roman Theatre, which now serves as a venue for musical acts. We did not go up there as it was in use at the time, by none other than Sting, who has often performed there. We could hear the music and the cheering crowd way up in the distance. Built around 40 - 50 A.D., the theatre still bears its stone seating (maybe an uncomfortable concert attendance).

Roman Ruins - Jardin de Cybele - Vienne France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

JUST STEPS away from the garden, we came upon Place François Mitterrand the site of Hôtel de Ville (City Hall), former 18th Century town house of one of Vienne's noblemen (recall from the Avignon Blog that in French, "hôtel" can have a number of meanings, one of which is an important municipal building). The architecture and landscaping is grand; all the more so when lit at night.


Hôtel de Ville, Vienne - Vienne, France Copright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

CONTINUING JUST around the corner, we came upon Vienne's historically most popular square, Place du Palais Charles de Gaulle, the site for the ancient Roman Temple of Augustus and Livia. Built some 100 years B.C., the temple is an important part of Roman history, and attests to the presence of Roman Civilization so many years ago.

Temple of Augustus and Livia - Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THERE IS often a special magic in night time lighting. At the same time often masking unwanted clutter around a photographic subject, the lighting creates contrast and shadows, enhancing the textures and colors of these subjects.

Temple of Augustus and Livia - Vienne, France
Copyrigtht Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THIS BASICALLY ended our nightime Vienne excursion. But all around this area, there were shops, restaurants and bars, and evidence of a vibrant night life in Vienne's old downtown. I wished we could stop and visit one or two of the street bars for a drink and to take in the nightlife. I think that if some of the rest of our group had joined us, we might have. We were only about 10 minutes from our cruise ship. Our guide let us know that staying for a while was an option, but it seemed that most of our group opted to accompany her back to the ship.

Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

I WAS able to make just a couple more images of this beautiful city on the way.

Vienne, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

OUR NEXT port of call, the next morning, was Viviers.

A last look across the Rhone to Vienne, as the moon rose over the city
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

We will be away for the next two weeks, traveling again in Spain and France. Of course, the plan is to bring back more photos. I think our itinerary will bear much fruit for that endeavor. In the meantime, stay tuned and I will see you in October!

Saturday, September 19, 2026

18 Days in France - Tournon

Tournon Steam Train (Train de l'Ardeche) - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

WE ARRIVED at our dock in Tournon, France, sometime during the night, and awoke ready for our adventure of the day, a short coach ride across the river to the Tournon-sur-Rhône railway station servicing the now tourist-driven Tournon Steam Train. Historically, citizens of the area traveled by a similar steam train to get from one village to another (or further). Just a year ago, we had ridden a similar train on our 2025 Celebrity Apex ocean cruise with our good friends, Todd and Heather, in Flam, Norway. Given that we were pretty far north in the world at that time, it seemed like mother nature chose that one day to give us rain and drizzle. But for me, surprisingly, I got some pretty nice "atmospheric" images.

Steam Locomotive - Tournon Steam Train - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

TODAY'S TRAIN ride was in many ways similar. It was an old, narrower gauge train driven by a steam locomotive. The open cars (they were closed with windows in Flam). One of the things I have learned during our travels over the year is just how challenging shooting from a moving vehicle is - especially when there are windows involved. In fact, I will go so far as calling it a proverbial "crapshoot." When I do get a nice (or even just acceptable) image, it is as much due to luck as it is skill or equipment. Today was no exception. Not only were we moving along at a pretty good clip, but even though there were no windows to provide ugly reflections, it was one of those cloudless, blue-sky days, yielding harsh lighting conditions. Back home at the computer, I was disappointed not to really get anything I though was very good.

BUT AS I often say here, it is one of those probable once-in-a-lifetime gigs. So you do what you can. This is the third "scenic" train ride we have taken during our travels (beginning back in 2020, on Alaska/Yukon's White Pass Railroad). One of the shots I have aways tried to get is the one of the rest of the train up ahead of us, rounding a track (preferably even crossing a bridge). So far, I have been successful, as shown above (and in the opening image).

Tournon Steam Locomotive - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

WHEN DOING my research prior to this trip, there were two things I wanted to try to make photographs of. The first was that fact that there would be an opportunity to capture (possibly even dramatic) steam around the locomotive. I did get a few like that, though lighting conditions meant some pretty intensive "post-processing" to get the image looking acceptable (in my view anyway).

Hand-operated "Armstrong" Turntable - Tournon Steam Train - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THE SECOND thing was the turntable used by the engineers to turn the locomotive around for the return trip. At both ends, the locomotive had to re-connect with the opposite end of the train in order to pull it in the opposite direction (I never figured out how they turned it around back at the main station). A little "Google" research turns up more than I ever wanted to know about these things (but if you are a train buff, I recommend you look up "train turntable" and watch a couple of the You-Tube videos that pop up - they are interesting). This is known in the industry as an "Armstrong" type turntable. One might think it was designed by an engineer by that name. But no. It is more obvious than that. It can be operated by one man with just "arm - strength," as the image below illustrates. You cannot really see it here, but the entire mechanism balances on a large plate with bearings in the middle, while the ends run on a rail around the circumference of the turntable pit. The key is to get the locomotive balanced on the center of the pivot. Fascinating to watch.

Engineer single-handedly pushing the locomotive balanced on the turntable 180 degrees around - Tournon Steam Train - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

I HAVE only seen something like this one other time; at Powell and Market Streets in San Francisco, where two workers push the car 180 degrees around on a turntable to reverse directions. It was pretty cool.

The end of the Tournon Steam Train - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THERE IS a small, but interesting museum at the station which is part of the admission for the train ride. Of course in our case, Viking took care of all the ticketing, times, etc. But you can certainly do this on your own. It is hard to see the size of the parts of the wheel drive mechanism I photographed, but they are huge. There is also a collection of railroad lanterns, and a couple specimen cars.

Steam Locomotive wheel-drive components
Tournon Steam Train - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

I THINK I have mentioned that our visit to France was during a period of record high tempuratures, and today was no exception. High 90's (F) were common most days, with a couple actually exceeding 100. This day was no exception, and by the time we returned to the ship, we were ready for a cold drink and some welcoming air-conditioning. Apparently, it is a tradition for Viking crew members to greet returning passengers with their red umbrella line on from time to time. Today was Lofn's turn. It made for an engaging photo, even given the challenging lighting conditions.

Viking Lofn - Tournon, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

Sunday, September 13, 2026

18 Days in France - Viviers

Official Coat of Arms: Viviers, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

WE WERE still getting used to the river cruise stop/port schedule. The next day after Arles was really Avignon (again). Originally, we were to have sailed to Arles and then back again to Avignon, but due to techical issues, the ship never moved during those first days. I think I have pretty much exhausted my Avignon photos here and though our tour guide was great again, I am not going to post another whole blog on Avignon. We are accustomed to the ocean cruise ship schedules which mostly cruise at night and stop at ports in the mornings, leaving in the afternoon or evening for the next one, except when occasionally doing an overnight. River cruises are less consistent. Part of the reason is schedules can change more readily on the river, depending on conditions. Another is that many of the river ports are very small, making in and out scheduling challenging. We had heard about this already, but it is often necessary to "raft" two or more boats along the dockside, meaning you may be going through, or up and over, another ship sometimes. So river cruise stops are just less consistent by their nature. So, after finally getting under way in the evening, we sailed on to Viviers, our next port.

Almost everywhere I go in the world, I find street art. This one was painted on the actual door of a building in sleepy little Viviers, France.
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

ORIGINALLY SETTLED some time around 1200 BC, by the Gauls, as a fishing village on the Rhone, Viviers became an important center of the region, though remaining very small to this day. Later absorbed into the Roman Empire, the village became a possession of the Kingdom of France in the early 14th Century. During its development, the village was consistently influential in the Catholic Church.

Viking Lofn docked at Viviers, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

THE VIVIERS Cathedral (Cathédrale Saint-Vincent de Viviers) was built between the 14th and 15th Centuries and is the seat of the Bishop of Viviers. The Cathedral was our our ultimate destination that day. Already moored at the Viviers Cruise Port by the time I got up, I was able to grab my camera and make a few shots in the nice morning sunlight. Viviers is a popular stop for Rhone River Cruises, but we were the sole ship there that day. And it doesn't look like there is much room for numerous ships to dock. The quaint little village of only about 3600 people was quiet. It does appear to have a pretty busy little pleasure boat harbor, especially for such a small community.

Pleasure Boat Harbor - Viviers, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

OUR EXCURSION was a walking tour of the village of Viviers, including a (thankfully gradual) climb up to the top of the hill where the Cathedral sits. Our guide told us she was know as the "wrong way" guide, because rather than walking us directly into the village, she took us away from the village and approached it from the back, in order to give us what she deemed the best view of the village and cathedral; best for making that memorable photo.

Viviers Cathedral Complex from below - at the rear of the village - Viviers, France
Copyright Andy Richards 2026 - All Rights Reserved

I COULDN'T disagree with her. There were some nice views of the Cathedral up high and small village which starts down in front, but continues its way up the winding cobblestone roads up the hill. As we entered the village from the back side, she told us that the Village passed laws which require any new construction to match up to the ancient Medieval look of the existing buildings. The thought is to preserve the essentially Medieval character of the village - partly as heritage, and partly because it enhances the tourism draw of the place.

AS WE proceeded upward, we reached a place where student volunteers were being taught the artisanship of stone work construction. It was fascinating to watch the essentially all hand tools being used. Although a fair number of people live in the village, it is mostly a "bedroom" community. Other than the small needs to serve tourists, and shops and restaurants that cater to both tourists and the locals, there is no industry there.

THE RESIDENTS who are working probably generally commute to one of the larger cities (like Avignon or Lyon). At the base of the hill and village entrances, there are a couple large car parks. It didn't take long to realize why. As we walked up the cobblestone street it became apparent that cars were not a common thing. There is a way to get up to the top by car (we saw a car park at the Cathedral, and we know some of the officials from our ship traveled up by car). But in the part of the village we were in we saw no cars.

IN OUR "Port Talk" the night before, and at the beginning of our tour from our tour guide, we heard that the ultimate moment of our excursion would be experienced when we reached the "summit" of the hill where the Cathedral stands. On the grounds is a large open area and there are 360 degree views of the countryside from there. So we kept trekking on upward, continuing to see the quiet, old school beauty of the village surroundings.

WE DID finally reach the top. And saw the promised view. I made the panoramic image below, looking down at the Rhone, toward our cruise port. I also made a few more images from the high vantage point.

THE CATHEDRAL is another gothic masterpiece, but was very difficult to get a meaningful photo of. I did make some closeups of some of the details, but didn't really bring a photo of the cathedral as a whole back. The shots from up there, though, made it worth the long walk.

COMING BACK down, our guide left us to our own devices in the center of the village at the bottom of the hill. We walked back down the main street to our cruise ship - surprisingly close to the boat. Our walk in the "back way" was deceptive. Back at the cruise port, I made a couple images of the river. The first was a flag pole group on the riverbank featuring the Viviers official coat of arms.

LOOKING upriver, the "mineral" excavation" is property of the multi-national french company: LaFarge. You see their footprint all over the world. There is a huge LaFarge facility at the extreme northeastern reaches of Lake Huron in the U.S. which I have seen from boat several times.

Looking upriver from The Port of Viviers on the Rhone River
Copyright Andy Richards 2026

THE SHIP was scheduled to sail shortly after noon, headed eventually to our next port stop: Tournon, where we would ride the scenic steam train. This afternoon was one of only a couple days we were able to experience "scenic sailing" on the Rhone.

ALONG THE way we made a very brief stop to board a group from an excursion that had taken most of the afternoon, and hence, met the ship on the way, shortly before dinner. During this part of the cruise, we experienced mostly clear skies and tempuratures in the upper 90s. While the views were indeed beautiful, it was so hot that you couldn't really remain on the deck for very long. I only made a few images and then, only with my cell phone.

DURING THE two cruises up the Rhone and then the Seine, we negotiated many locks. Often, we were indoors during that time, seeing really only the concrete walls of the locks as we moved up and down. But during one of the sailing days on each ship, we were able to be up top and observe the "lock experience." Perhaps my better (more comprehensive) images will come later, as we sailed up the Seine and got a view from the bow of the ship. But this series was also very interesting, as we entered the lock; as it closed on us, and as we exit upriver.

Negotiating a Lock - Rhone River - Viking Lofn