Beaujolais Wine Region
The next day our very hung-over bus departed for Lyon, where we were staying in the first of about seven or eight
“Contiki-owned” stops, meaning the accommodation was run and usually owned solely by Contiki. In this case our
accommodation happened to be in a 16th century chateau in the middle of the Beaujolais Wine Region. Without a
doubt this was the best place we stayed on the trip, and even ignoring the fact that we were sleeping in a French
mansion, its location in the French countryside was absolutely incredible. The only detractor of its location lay in its
isolation, meaning there wasn’t really much to do while we were there other than walk around the countryside and
lie by the pool, which wasn’t all bad as it provided us with a great opportunity to get to know each other better
without worrying about getting lost or missing a bus.
Barcelona
This brief stopover in the French countryside preceded another brief stopover in the city of Barcelona. Sadly
Barcelona was to be our only experience of Spanish culture, but thanks to our tour guides we still managed to get a
lot out of the city. In the two or three days we were there we visited the famous La Segrada Familia (the huge,
unfinished church built by Gaudi), the Barcelona Football Club’s stadium, Nou Camp, a currently unused bullfighting
ring (Catalonian laws un-disappointingly currently ban bullfighting due to cruelty to animals), had paella at a
waterfront restaurant, went on a walking tour through the main city after dinner one night which was amazing
seeing everything lit up and filled with people of all ages literally dancing in the streets, and bussed our way up to
the Olympic village area which had an amazing outlook over the entire city.
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