A September Evening Cruise

This was my first evening cruise

and September seemed the perfect month to do it.

Coming into port to let the daytime cruise passengers off

and allow us to embark.

I do love the big chimneys on these paddle steamers

and the captain is surveying things from his perch above!

Gazing down at the gorgeous reflections as we queue to go aboard.

You can see the paddles in the water right under the name of the cruise boat.

We had reserved seats in the lovely restaurant for the Cheese Raclette Cruise

See more about raclette below.

Off we go.

It's a wonderful evening and the sunset should be lovely.

I can't resist being outside on the deck.

This is our window-side table.

Look at the beautiful wooden panels shining in the early evening sun.

I love the draped curtains.

Almost impossible to take these shots without reflections.

There are windows on both sides of the boat.

The view across the lake onto the vineyards in the early evening light.

The light changes as we move forward

The waitress brings a good red wine to accompany the raclette

The sun has almost disappeared from the sky leaving a yellow glow

Balancing on the horizon

and the sky turns orange and creates warm reflections on the water's surface.

Since the raclette is a long drawn-out meal,

I have plenty of time to go outside with my camera.

The reflections are just wonderful!

The outside lights are turned on against the darkening blue sky

and the crescent moon rises high.

The boat turns round and we cruise towards the sunset

as we admire the view through the open window.

We have disembarked and watch the boat edging its way into mooring.

What a lovely first experience of an evening cruise!

***

About cheese raclette:

This is what raclette looks like.

It's usually served with boiled potatoes, gherkins and pickled onions.

The actual cheese is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese.

It's usually fashioned into a wheel of about 6 kg (13 lbs).

It is most commonly used for melting.

The word 'raclette' comes from the verb 'racler' which means to scrape.

The melted cheese, which is done on a special apparatus,

is scraped onto the plate with a wide-bladed knife or special instrument.

An extra note:

"Raclette was mentioned in medieval writings,

in texts from Swiss-German convents dating from as far as 1291,

as a particularly nutritious meal consumed by peasants in mountainous Switzerland

and Savoy (now part of France).

Traditionally, Swiss cow herders used to take the cheese with them

when they were moving cows to or from the pastures up in the mountains.

In the evenings, around the campfire, they would place the cheese

next to the fire and, when it had reached the perfect softness, scrape it

on top of bread."

With thanks to Wikepedia for this extra information.

***