Somewhere between the main course and the coffee eclairs doused with apple sauce, our vessel, a dollhouse compared with today's 2,000-plus capacity mega cruise ships, gently veers to the bank of the Rhone.
Spotlights point to a flat-topped, curved wall ringing the city of Avignon.
In medieval times, it protected the town from bandits. We dock so gently that diners don't even realize the ship has stopped until we hear the gangplank scraping against the concrete sidewalk. Our waiter, pouring the last coffee, suggests we go ashore to see the Palais des Papes, the medieval headquarters of nine 15th-century popes who aimed to create a papacy to rival Rome's. It's the city's best-known attraction, often dubbed the Versailles of Avignon. The palace is beautifully lit at night, the waiter says, confessing that, when he's off work at 3 a.m., he sometimes wanders into town to see it.