Surrounded by soaring walls, we stare upwards, heads back, mouths agape, eyes focused on the marvel above. Like visitors inside the Sistine Chapel staring up at Michelangelo's masterpiece, we stand silent in awe. A few people drop to their knees.
Except this isn't a chapel, it's the Rhone River and we are at the bottom of the Bollene lock, one of the deepest in Europe. Even on bended knee, it's impossible to fit the 190-metre long, seven-storey monster into a single camera frame.
As intricate as threading a needle, he steers the ship, judging space and distance by skill alone.
While our 11-day Burgundy and Provence river cruise aboard Avalon Poetry II is a chance to string together some of France's best sights – Cote d'Azur, Arles, Avignon, Viviers, Lyon, Dijon and Paris – the precision navigation required to squeeze through 12 locks along the Rhone River is equally entertaining.
The architecture of the Bollene lock is Art Deco meets Cold War – grey and formidable, yet beautiful in its austerity. Built in 1952 as part of the Donzère-Mondragon Dam, it is also functional, producing renewable hydroelectric power. During a tour of Poetry II's wheelhouse with Captain Julien Capon, we learn that together with the nearby nuclear power station and adjacent wind farms, this region produces one-third of France's electrical power.
Cruising from the south, Captain Capon glides into the lock, with barely 20 centimetres to spare on either side. As intricate as threading a needle, he steers the ship from a small control panel located at the edge of the ship, one eye squinting, the other fixed firmly on the wall, judging space and distance by skill alone.
This is serious business, but his boyish grin gives the game away – like Ratty in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, he's just a big kid messing about in boats. And that, in a nutshell, is the simple pleasure of river cruising: the chance to connect with a country via its waterways.
Once we are inside the lock, the gate closes behind, trapping us inside as water pours into the chamber, slowly lifting Poetry II up the cathedral-like cavern into bright sunlight 23 metres above. It's noisy and dramatic, an argument of steel on steel, a whooshing of water, a rebirth from darkness into light.
Man has been controlling rivers since ancient times, but it took an artist, Leonardo de Vinci, to perfect the technique with the invention of the Miter lock in 1497.
Like a lazy cat, Poetry II is stretched flat, her top deck folded down to allow a safe passage.
Launched in 2014, the 128-passenger river cruise ship is part of Avalon Waterways' fleet of 14 luxury ships, soon to be 16, when Avalon Passion and Avalon Imagery II are launched next year.
"River cruise ships are built to strict requirements," explains Capon. "While ship length can vary, height is governed by the bridges they must fit under."
We learn a lot about the mechanics of river cruising from our captain. We learn that from the sea to Lyon there is a rise of 148 metres, hence the 12 locks; that's one about every 25 kilometres.
"Such frequency is a bonus for river cruising," says Capon. "It keeps the year-round water level more constant than on the Rhine or Danube."
We also learn it is the width of locks that governs the width of river cruise ships – that is, all ships must be under 12 metres wide. Given this, interior layout is vital for maximising cabin space. In a revolutionary design move, Avalon Waterways' "suite ships" have done away with exterior balconies, opting instead for wall-to-wall glass doors that slide back, turning the entire Panorama Suite into an open-air balcony.
Under Captain Capon's patient tutorage, we learn about gravity and how water always finds its own level, how ballast is added or subtracted by pumping water in and out, and how it costs $55,000 a year for a cruise company to pass through these locks.
The wheelhouse is crowded, passengers ask questions, take notes, sign up for additional wheelhouse tours. I love this stuff, but I'm surprised how keen my fellow passengers are.
The river has more lessons. One morning I learn that river cruise ships sometimes tie up abreast of each other when docking.
Throwing back the curtains, dressed in nothing but my underpants, I'm faced with the wide eyes and gaping mouths of passengers in an adjacent cabin. Not so much staring in silent awe, but looking more like the disturbed figure from Edvard Munch's The Scream.
Yes, there is much to learn about river cruising.
MORE INFORMATION
avalonwaterways.com.au, france.fr
CRUISING THERE
Explore Burgundy and Provence in 2016 with Avalon Waterways on an 11-day itinerary between Cote d'Azur and Paris. Prices start from $4395 per person, twin share, in a Deluxe Stateroom (lower deck) including one night on the Cote d'Azur, a seven-night cruise on the Rhone and Saone rivers on board Avalon Poetry II, and two nights in Paris. Fares include all meals, wine and beer with dinner, gratuities, transport, entrance fees and most tours. Phone 1300 230 234 or see www.avalonwaterways.com.au
GETTING THERE
Cathay Pacific operates several flights a day from Sydney and Melbourne, via Hong Kong, to key European gateways, including arrival and departure points for Avalon Waterways' cruises. See cathaypacific.com.au.
