Rhone river cruise thwarted by Alpine snow conditions

Curse this year's ample snow in the Alps. Oh, it may have looked pretty. It may have crunched seductively underfoot and yielded beautifully to skiers and snowboarders. But here's what happened when it melted:

This is taken from the window of Peter Deilmann river cruise vessel Princesse de Provence, which I'd joined for a short trip down the Rhone. It was forced to stay in Vienne, a short drive south of Lyon, for two days.

Disappointment all round, obviously, but nobody could blame Deilmann - a big stick shoots by at 0:22, and the threat of such stuff damaging the propellers is just one of the reasons boats can't depart when the river misbehaves. And the Rhone was clear of traffic, so other operators will have had the same problems.

To their credit, Deilmann staff coped with a difficult situation well, and although apologetic to the press contingent were demonstrably more concerned about getting clearance to depart and keeping passengers happy than they were about what we journos were thinking. Which is as it should be.

Here's more evidence of what the meltwater did, this time taken further north at Tournus on the river Saone:

Nathan Midgley, web producer