St. Emilion, the historical hilltop village, named after the monk who founded a hermitage in the area, was our first stop on the cruise. It is a small medieval wine village 22 miles northeast of Bordeaux France. It is also a World Hertiage site with ruins, Romanesque churches, golden stone structures, catacombs, and wine cellars. This beautiful city has beneath it a hidden under ground church, which I was not allowed to take photos of, that was pretty incredible.

Saint-Émilion, history goes back to prehistoric days and is a World Heritage Site with fascinating Romanesque churches and ruins stretching all along steep and narrow streets.The Romans planted vineyards in what was to become Saint-Émilion as early as the 2nd century. The town was named after the monk Émilion, a traveling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine production in the area.