Truffles, Lavender, Chocolate, and Bulls: My Avalon Active & Discover Cruise on the Rhône
- May 11
- 11 min read
An article by Penny Matthews, One Luxe Journey
I was standing in a small oak forest about twenty minutes outside Viviers when one of the white Labs froze, sniffed, and started digging like she'd been waiting for this moment her whole life.
A few seconds later, I had a freshly-unearthed black truffle in my palm. Still warm from the soil. The handler was grinning. The dog was getting her treat. And I was standing there in my walking shoes, in the middle of Provence, having a slightly out-of-body moment about the fact that this was a Saturday morning excursion off a river cruise.
This is what I want to tell you about today.
In April/May 2026 I sailed on the Avalon Poetry II from Arles to Lyon — eight days northbound on the Rhône, on Avalon's Active & Discover version of their classic French itinerary. And while I've sailed plenty of rivers in this part of Europe, this one rearranged my brain about what a river cruise can actually feel like when you stop sitting on the bus and start getting your hands dirty.
So pour yourself something. Let me walk you through what I did, what surprised me, and why I'm already telling clients to look hard at this itinerary for spring 2027.
A Quick Word on What "Active & Discover" Actually Means
Before I take you into the excursions, you need to understand the concept — because this isn't a marketing label, it's a real difference in how you spend your days.
Avalon's signature is Avalon Choice: every single day in port, you can pick from three tiers of excursion.
Classic — the gentle, walking-pace city tour with a guide. The version that suits most travellers most of the time.
Discovery — a hands-on cultural experience: a cooking class, a workshop, a market tour, a meet-and-greet with a local maker.
Active — bikes, hikes, kayaks, and longer walks for travellers who want to move.
On the Active & Discover sailing, the daily lineup leans heavily toward those second two columns — the hands-on stuff and the get-your-heart-rate-up stuff. You can absolutely mix and match (I did — some days I wanted to walk Roman ruins quietly with a guide, other days I wanted to be in the dirt). But the architecture of the trip pulls you off the ship and into the region in a way standard sailings just don't.
The other thing that matters: Poetry II's Open-Air Panorama Suites. Floor-to-ceiling windows that open the entire wall of your suite to the river. You wake up, slide the door, and your room becomes a balcony. It's the detail clients always remember when they come home. The light on the Rhône at 6:30 in the morning, the smell of the river, your coffee, no rush. That's the part I can't really photograph for you. You have to feel it.
Okay. Onto the excursions.
1. The Truffle Hunt Near Viviers
Let me come back to that morning in the oak forest.
Viviers is one of those quiet medieval towns on the Rhône that most people couldn't find on a map — population about 3,500, dramatic limestone cliffs, the oldest continuously-inhabited cathedral town in France. Avalon docks you almost at the foot of the old town. From there, a short transfer takes you out into the surrounding countryside and into truffle territory.
Our truffle hunt was a real working hunt — not a demonstration. Our handler — a woman who's been doing this her whole adult life and clearly adored the dogs — worked with two beautiful white Labs named Niki and Gina. (Yes, I'm naming them. They earned it.) The dogs led us through the property, noses down, working the root systems of the oaks. When one of them signalled, the handler dropped to her knees with a small tool and unearthed the truffle by hand. We did this several times. Each one came out of the dirt looking like a small, knobbly, very expensive lump of nothing. And then she'd hand it to one of us to hold.
Here's a fun fact I didn't know before this trip: truffles don't actually smell to humans in their raw, just-out-of-the-ground state. The aroma compounds the dogs are tracking are largely outside our scent register. Which is exactly why you need them — you would walk right over a truffle. Niki and Gina would not. What you smell on the day is mostly the warm earth and the oak duff. The famous truffle aroma — the one that fills a French dining room — really comes alive once the truffle is shaved fresh, warmed, met with fat and salt. Which is, conveniently, what happened next.
We finished with a tasting in a sunny French farmhouse:
Shaved fresh truffle on warm bread with a generous drizzle of local olive oil and a pinch of fleur de sel from the Camargue (the same salt-marsh region we'd just been visiting — the salt is harvested by hand, has a delicate flake, and tastes like the sea in the best possible way)
Bread with truffled oil, the same fleur de sel, and another small drink of olive oil
That was the moment the room went quiet. There's a reason this is one of the most expensive ingredients on earth.
I came home with both — a small jar of truffle for my use, and a beautiful bottle of truffled oil that's now living a very dignified life on my counter. (The fleur de sel deserves a small bag of its own next time. Lesson learned.)
If you do nothing else on this cruise, do this excursion.
Want me to flag the next sailing that includes the truffle hunt? Just send a quick note to hello@oneluxejourney.ca and I'll look at the calendar for you.
2. The Aromatic Farm at a Provençal Mas Near Avignon
The day we docked near Avignon, I chose the aromatic farm tour — a working mas (the Provençal word for a traditional country estate) where they grow and distill the herbs and flowers that smell like the south of France in your imagination.
I walked off the coach and we casually walked over to a fiels , and the smell hit me before I'd taken three steps.
I want to be careful not to over-romanticize this part, because every travel writer in history has written purple paragraphs about lavender. But here's the truthful version: the air at this mas was thick. Not floral-perfume thick — agricultural thick. Crushed rosemary, thyme drying in bundles, the resinous green hit of cypress, and underneath it all, the dusty-sweet beginning-of-the-season note of lavender just starting to wake up. (We were there in spring, before peak bloom — the lavender was working its way toward summer, but the older oils were already in the still room doing their thing.)
This was the excursion where I learned the most.
I've never been to a lavender farm before. What surprised me was how much actual chemistry and craft went into distillation. The copper alembic stills, the slow steam coaxing essential oils out of plant matter, the difference between huile essentielle (the pure essential oil) and hydrolat (the floral water by-product). Our host walked us through it without once making it feel like a sales pitch — even though, yes, there was a small shop at the end and yes, I bought everything.
The detail I'm still thinking about is what they call the jellyfish.
When the distilled liquid runs into the separator at the end of the process, you'd think it would split cleanly — pure essential oil on top, pure hydrolat on the bottom, like oil and water in your kitchen. It mostly does. But there's a third layer in the middle — a hazy, translucent, slowly-undulating zone where the two haven't fully decided yet. It looks exactly like a small jellyfish suspended in glass. Our host told us they think of it the way oceanographers think of the place where seawater meets freshwater at a river mouth — neither one nor the other, a brackish in-between, beautiful in its own right. Essential oil people apparently obsess over this layer. Once you've seen it, you understand why. It's the part you can't quite name, the part that looks alive.
Bring an empty bag. You will fill it.
3. Valrhona Chocolate at Tain-l'Hermitage
A little further north on the Rhône sits a small town called Tain-l'Hermitage — known for two things: serious wine (the Hermitage and Crozes-Hermitage appellations are right there in the name) and the headquarters of Valrhona, one of the most respected chocolate houses in the world.
The Valrhona excursion is a combo — a tour of the Cité du Chocolat (their immersive on-site experience), a guided tasting flight, and a hands-on workshop where you make your own chocolate. I'd budgeted polite enthusiasm. I left a complete convert.
The workshop was the part I didn't expect to love so much. They sat us down at a marble counter, walked us through tempering, gave us moulds and toppings, and let us actually make a small tablet (bar) to take home. The science of getting the temperature curve right, the snap of properly tempered chocolate, why some bars are matte and some are glossy and what that tells you — I genuinely learned things I will use for the rest of my life. (I will think about cocoa percentages forever now. You're welcome and I'm sorry.)
The tasting flight was the second revelation. They walked us through single-origin chocolates the way a sommelier walks you through wine — Madagascar versus Tanzania versus Dominican Republic, the way the terroir of cocoa actually translates into flavour, why a 70% bar from one farm tastes like dried cherries and a 70% from another tastes like roasted hazelnut.
If you've ever wondered whether chocolate is "worth" doing as an excursion when you could be looking at vineyards — yes. It is. Especially with Valrhona.
4. The Manade in the Camargue: White Horses, Black Bulls, and One Big Misconception
Now we're getting into the part of the trip that completely upended what I thought I knew about Provence.
The Camargue is the wild, salt-marsh delta where the Rhône meets the Mediterranean — flat, windswept, golden-grass country. It is the home of two animals that have shaped its identity for centuries: the small, hardy, almost mythic white horses and the black bulls raised for the regional bull-running tradition.
Our excursion took us to a working manade — a traditional Camargue bull-and-horse ranch — where the gardians (the cowboys of Provence, basically) showed us the herds, walked us through the breeding program, demonstrated how they work the horses, and explained the local culture around the bulls. Plus I found out that there is somewhere that huge mosquitos dont love me!!
Here's what blew me apart: I had assumed — like most North Americans — that bull-fighting in this part of France meant Spanish-style corrida, where the bull is killed at the end. It does not.
The Camargue tradition is called course camarguaise. The athletes are called raseteurs, not matadors. The bull enters the arena, the raseteurs wear white, and their goal is to remove a small cocarde (a rosette) tied between the bull's horns using a small hooked instrument. The bull is never harmed. The best bulls become celebrities — they get names, fan clubs, statues in their honour when they pass. They live full, well-fed, locally-celebrated lives, and they retire.
I cannot tell you how much that detail changed how I saw this entire region. The whole tradition is built on respect for the animal, not destruction of it. Once you know that, the Camargue suddenly makes a different kind of sense.
We also got a snack at the manade — a deeply Provençal spread, local wine, the wind doing its Camargue thing — and then a horseback demonstration that I will be thinking about for a long time. White horses, low light, gardians moving the bulls with quiet authority. It looked like a film.
So — Is This Cruise Right For You?
Here's the honest version.
The Avalon Poetry II Active & Discover sailing on the Rhône is for travellers who want France in their hands, not just out a window. If your idea of a great vacation is being driven from one Instagram-famous square to the next, this isn't your trip. If your idea of a great vacation is meeting a chocolate maker, hunting truffles, smelling lavender at the source, or eating with a Camargue family— book this one.
It works beautifully for:
Couples planning a milestone trip who want shared experiences, not just shared selfies
Girlfriend groups who like depth and don't mind getting their walking shoes a little dusty
Solo travellers (the ship is small and warm; the daily small-group excursions make it remarkably easy to travel alone here)
It is not a bargain river cruise — it sits firmly in Avalon's premium tier — but for what's included, the level of access, and the way the Active & Discover model is built, it earns its price. (If you want my full breakdown of what European river cruises actually cost, — happy to send it your way.)
Booking Window: If You're Thinking 2027, Start Now
I'm going to be straight with you on timing.
The 2027 Active & Discover Rhône sailings are already on the calendar, and the best dates — late April, May, and early-to-mid June, when the Provençal countryside is at its most photographable — are filling on the booking side faster than the rest of the season. Avalon's early-booking incentives are real, and they're meaningful: reduced deposits, complimentary cabin upgrades on select sailings, included pre-paid gratuities depending on the promotion window.
The right booking window for spring 2027 is right now — roughly 12 to 18 months out. That's where you get the cabin you actually want (Open-Air Panorama Suite, mid-ship, the floor with the views), the dates that align with your other life obligations, and the early-booking economics.
If you wait until winter 2026, you're booking what's left.
The Invitation
If you've read this far, you're either already planning this trip in your head, or you're in that quiet "could I, though?" stage that I hear from clients all the time. Either is great.
Here's what I'd suggest:
If you want to talk it through — book a complimentary discovery call with me. We'll spend thirty minutes on what you actually want out of a trip like this, what dates work, who you're travelling with, and what tier of cabin makes sense. No pressure, no quote on the spot — just a real conversation.
If you want to just send me a question — email me directly at hello@oneluxejourney.ca. Truly, that's my real inbox. I read everything.
If you want to see more of the trip in pictures — find me over on the One Luxe Journey Facebook page, where I'm slowly putting up the visual recap. The Camargue horses alone are worth the click.
If you want to join on the escorted group trip for next June - send me a quick email and I will send you all the particulars.
The Rhône, in spring, with truffles in your hand, lavender in the air, and chocolate on your tongue— that's the trip. I'd love to help you plan it.
— Penny
Coming Up: Part Two — The Active Side of Active & Discover
This article focused on the Discover half of the equation — the hands-on, sensory, get-into-the-culture excursions. But Avalon's Active & Discover program has a whole second half I haven't told you about yet: the bikes, the hikes, the longer walks, the kayaks, and the days where you trade the motorcoach for your own two legs (or two wheels).
In Part Two, I'll walk you through which active excursions I personally did, what level of fitness they actually require (spoiler: less than you think), and which ones I'd choose again in a heartbeat. If you've ever wondered whether a river cruise can also be the kind of trip that gets you moving — and gets you into the landscape, not just past it — that's the article you'll want.
Subscribe to the One Luxe Journey newsletter or follow along on Facebook and I'll drop it in your inbox when it's live.
Penny Matthews is the founder of One Luxe Journey, a bespoke luxury travel advisory specializing in river, expedition, and small-ship journeys for discerning travellers. She works with clients across Canada and beyond, and has a soft spot for itineraries that get you out of the bus and into the actual country.
📩 hello@oneluxejourney.ca | One Luxe Journey on Facebook
#AvalonWaterways #PoetryII #RhôneRiverCruise #ActiveAndDiscover #LuxuryRiverCruise #ProvenceTravel #OneLuxeJourney #TruffleHunting #Valrhona #Camargue #ArlesArena #MidlifeTravel
Comments