The Via Rhôna, cycling in the Ardeche

Our circuit in the Ardeche

Here is part two of our Ardeche cycling adventure. Part one (see here) saw us take the Train de l’Ardeche steam train up to Lamastre and cycle back to the Rhône on the Dolca Via. To complete our circuit back to Tournon-sur-Rhône we joined the Via Rhôna from La Voulte-sur-Rhône and followed the mighty River Rhône. While not as dramatic as the Dolce Via it is a flat, fast running, cycling superhighway from Lake Geneva in the north to the Mediterranean in the south. The Dolce Via had been so beautiful but now we had reached the flat, busy and industrial banks of the Rhône, and it was a vast contrast.

We detoured into La Voulte-sur-Rhône to find a bar, but it was a little uninspiring, so we made our way to the river and cycled along the road until we found an access point to the cycle path. I remember noting how full the river was and how close it was to bursting its banks, but didn’t think too much about it. The Via Rhôna path soon left the quayside and disappeared into a leafy green section, the river to our right and dense undergrowth to our left. We could hear a main road somewhere but we couldn't see any other signs of life. 

Flooded, muddy Rhône

We hadn't gone far when we came across a short flooded section of the path. Adrian bravely led the way and it soon became evident it was rather deeper than we had first thought and as we peddled, we got wet feet. Hoping this was the only wet bit, we carried on until we found a section that had been flooded, but the water had receded leaving the pathway muddy. Again, this turned out to be deeper than we thought and hidden in the grey silty mud was gravel that stuck to the mud and then stuck to the bikes. I made it out the other end to find thick mud and grit jammed everywhere; wheels, brakes, gears and frame. The only option was to pick it all out. Adrian wasn't so lucky. The mud and grit had locked his back wheel and bent the bracket that attaches the derailleur to the frame.

The mud, after attempts to clean it off

There followed a moment of panic when we truly thought we might be stranded. There was no exit from the cycle path; it was either carry on and hope there was no more, or return through the evil mud and at this point we didn’t even know if Adrian could free his back wheel. We made use of the prolific Japanese knotweed (first use I've found for it) and used the large leaves as wipes to clean the bikes as best we could. After a roadside repair, Adrian managed to select a gear that didn't seem to be causing any more damage and his wheel turned once more, but changing gear was out for him for the next 20 km at least. We were warned by a German cyclotourist (who we persuaded to turn back to avoid the mud) that there were a few more flooded sections up ahead, but no more impassable mud.

We limped on slowly, using the wet sections to wash the bikes. One very deep flooded section looked too much for me to cycle through, even though two Dutch cyclists sped through as we were dithering at the edge. We waded through calf-deep water, which meant very soggy shoes and socks for the rest of the day. To say it was a relief to find the end of this isolated section was a bit of an understatement. It really took the edge off what had been a fantastic day on the bikes.

 

Le Cèdre de Soyons

We had planned to detour to see some sights, including the village of Beauchastel, but we abandoned that idea and headed slowly and carefully straight for our hotel. Our hearts sank when we saw the elegance of the villa we arrived at. We were hot, sweaty, mud splattered and my shoes were squelching with every step and caked in thick, grey mud. However, Le Cèdre de Soyons is an accueil vélo hotel and the young couple that run it couldn’t have been more helpful or friendly. They showed us straight to a workshop where the bikes were stabled beside their immaculate Harley Davidson. Adrian was given a box of brand new bike tools and bits, and told to use whatever he needed to try and fix a temporary repair on his gears. I was helped to our room with all our mucky bags and the owner wouldn’t hear of me removing my shoes and socks, so embarrassingly I dripped grey sludge all the way up the stair carpet.

 

My pear and almond dessert at Le Cèdre de Soyons

The bedroom was beautiful and bright thanks to three large windows, and the bath was perfect to help us relax and wash off the grime from the day. Dinner, served in the hotel was delicious and good value and we both agreed we couldn’t have stayed anywhere better.

 

Morning coffee in Valence

The following morning we left fully refreshed and despite Adrian only having one gear we made good progress and detoured into Valence for morning coffee. From Valence to Tain l’Hermitage, the Via Rhôna is decorated with steep vineyards and is much more picturesque than further south. We crossed the Rhône via the impressive old footbridge back into Tournon and went straight to Tournon Bikes, where the damaged bracket was straightened and Adrian could once again change gear.

 

Tournon sur Rhône

Our little tour of just some of what the Ardeche has to offer for cyclists was over and we were sad to be leaving such a beautiful area of France, even if cycling along the Rhône had lost some of it’s appeal.

This post has been linked to Dreaming of France. See here for more France posts.

The Dolce Via, my cycling heaven

Le Train d'Ardeche

Today I am going back in time; back to the days of steam, letting the train take the strain and do the hard work, on a tourist cycle route anyone, (who can ride a bike) can enjoy. Let me introduce you to the Dolce Via a voie verte (green route) in the Ardeche, that has to be the prettiest and most tranquil cycle path in France.

I was a little nervous about cycling in the Ardeche, as it is a pretty hilly region of France and very different to the flat lands where we live, but I needn’t have worried. There are plenty of challenging road bike routes that climb the cols (mountain passes) and then drop dramatically into the valleys, plus over 200km of mountain bike tracks, but there is also the Dolce Via, where I found my cycling heaven.

The Dolce Via is a new cycle route that uses an old steam railway line, that was abandoned following the removal of the rails in the 1970’s. Thanks to a remarkable bit of recycling that has restored it’s tunnels and viaducts, a new lease of life has been given to this secret route that runs along the River Eyrieux for 75km from Saint-Martin-de-Valamas to La Voulte-sur-Rhône, where it joins the River Rhône.

On the Train de l'Ardeche

We spent the night in Tournon-sur-Rhône at Les Amandiers and cycled the four kilometres to St Jean de Muzols where we waited excitedly on the platform for the Train de l’Ardeche, a tourist steam train, that would do the climbing and take us up the Doux River gorge to Lamastre. I'm a secret steam train fan and my levels of excitement were off the scale with the prospect of an hour and forty minutes, in an open carriage, surrounded by stunning scenery and the smell of steam.

For the first half of the journey, you steam up the craggy gorge, looking down on the River Doux tumbling over the rocks as it makes it’s way to the Rhône and it is breathtakingly beautiful. Our neighbour Pierrette gave us the top tip to sit on the right hand side, as you get a better view, and she was right. After a short water refill stop, the scenery becomes more meadows and forests and having had a few early morning starts we both felt rather sleepy with the gentle motion of the train. However the weather had other ideas, as the closer we got to Lamastre, the heavier the clouds looked and eventually the rain arrived. This was not much fun in an open sided railway carriage.

By the time we waited for our bikes to be unloaded from the goods van and left the station, it was pouring with rain and our plan of a lunch in a bar was out of the question as there was nowhere dry to park the bikes. Thankfully Lamastre has a good boulangerie that sold warm, savoury snacks as well as bread and patisseries. We found a sheltered alleyway and bought two hot cheesy baguettes to tuck into while waiting patiently for the rain to ease, which it did after about half an hour.

Our detour to St Julien Labrousse

Soon after setting off again the sky cleared and luckily the sun returned for the rest of the day. The Dolce Via will soon be open from Lamastre, but we had to take the roads so decided a detour to St Julien Labrousse was a good idea. This small mountain village, where we spent a week on holiday in 1998, didn’t seem to have changed at all and the only sign of life was the sound of Boney M being played loudly from an upstairs window. 

A tunnel on the Dolce Via

The route Adrian had planned involved a steep descent from Saint Julien Labrousse into Le Cheylard, on a ski slope rather than a road. It even had a sign saying do not use in snowy conditions – I’m guessing this is because skiers would be using it. I am no skier, so we retraced our steps to Nonnières where we found our first glimpse of the Dolce Via after a steep downhill path took us from the village to the old railway line below. This brand new section with long tunnels, gravelled pathways, wild flowers on each side and pretty much no pedalling for the 8km into Le Cheylard was perfect and so easy.

We stayed the night at the Hotel des Voyageurs, an accueil vélo hotel, who provided secure storage for the bikes, a cold plated meal (as we were in town on a Sunday when all the restaurants are closed) and a filling breakfast that included homemade cakes using the local chestnut puree.

River Eyrieux, Dolce Via

Almost immediately after leaving Le Cheylard and picking up the Dolce Via again, we found ourselves stopping to look at and photograph the scenery; the River Eyrieux, the steep sided gorge, the ironwork and the forests, it was all so beautiful and the blue sky and sunshine were the icing on the cake. To begin with we were treated to a tarmac path and as it is a gently descending route all the way to the Rhône (48km away), we could have cruised along at quite a pace, however we were as slow as snails. It was just too beautiful to rush and we wanted to it to last as long as possible.

Cycling the Dolce Via

Sometimes we meandered around the gentle curves of the river, other times we disappeared into rock cuttings that silenced the river and were home to collections of ferns. The sunnier, open stretches gave us wildflowers, cherry trees and the odd remote houses and gardens to look at. It was almost effortless and would have been if we weren't on road bikes, (it does state in the brochure that some of the surfaces are not suitable for road bikes). However, while we did have to be careful in places and it wasn’t always the most comfortable ride, we didn’t have any problems. The surface changes regularly from gravel to tarmac, as there are some sections shared with cars (limited to 30km/h) where access to houses is necessary, so we weren’t always on rough tracks.

River Eyrieux gorge

We have always been attracted to gorges on holidays in France, picking them out to include in our itineraries for our road trips in Gizmo our Mini Cooper. The steam train ride up the Doux gorges, with no traffic to get in the way, seemed to me the perfect way to see a gorge, until I found the Dolce Via. We had no traffic, no train passengers, in fact no interruptions at all. Every corner showed a new vista, that needed yet another photo. We cycled over restored viaducts, through dark, damp tunnels and at times felt we were the only two people on earth. We could see nothing but trees and the river, hear nothing but the birds and the river and we had no phone service, it was bliss.

When we reached the end I didn't want to leave and was tempted to turn around and go back up, which would have meant an uphill climb, but been totally worth the effort. However we had an itinerary to follow and that meant swapping the tranquil beauty of the River Eyrieux with the industrial flatlands of the Rhône and cycling part of the Via Rhôna. Our dream day on the bikes was about to turn into a nightmare. If we'd have known what was to come we would have turned around.

This post continues here and has been linked to All About France at Lou messugo. Click here to read more about France.

Book Worm Wednesday

For today's Book Worm Wednesday I am going to review two short but fun holiday memoir ebooks I picked up for FREE on Amazon: Three Yorkshiremen in a Boat by Christopher More and Going Bare!by John David Harding.

I have already read a couple of books set on France’s waterways, both of them traveling from the north to the south and on into the Mediterranean, in Three Yorkshiremen in a Boat they are making the return trip north to the UK. Captain Dave, Jade (the boat) and his fiancée had spent the summer cruising the Mediterranean but having over wintered the boat in Aigues-Mortes, Provence, time is running out to get her home before their wedding – she is stocked up with reception booze so has a vital role to play! This book is the journey Dave, his father Jack and brother-in-law Christopher make to return to the UK in Jade.

Written by Christopher with the help of the diary Jack kept this is a short, witty account of the trip that has loads of Jack's great colour photographs too. I enjoyed the style of writing and it was a quick and easy read that kept me entertained. There is also some useful information for anyone thinking about making a similar journey, but if you were I’m sure you would need to do some more research too. For me it was nice to be back (virtually) travelling in the east of France as it is an area we used to holiday in frequently before moving to the west of France. I also spent some time near Maçon on a school French exchange many years ago and one day I really will get to Lyon in person. Although this was no life changing adventure, it would be true to say that having returned to the UK none of their lives were ever quite the same again – but you will have to read the epilogue to find out why!

Me on the Rhone in Tournon the home of Hermitage

Going Bare! is another holiday account, but of a very different type of holiday. It tells the story of a family's first taste of a naturist resort, written by the husband (whose idea it was). He admits his wife was not too enthusiastic, but was happy enough to give it a try. Their chosen resort was on France's west coast, just south of Bordeaux, so not too far from where we are. Although we have never holidayed in a naturist resort we have thought about it and are happy to spend the day on our local Atlantic coast naturist beaches. For this reason I was quite interested in this book and looking forward to getting some useful information on what goes on and is the 'norm' on resort. I know being naked in public isn't everyone's idea of fun, but it doesn't bother me or Ade, but being stuck in a resort and not knowing the form or what to expect does! It certainly reassured me and it seems so long as you pack large towels that you keep with you at all times (to sit on), everything will be fine. We may just give it a go as there really is nothing quite like the freedom of nudity, especially when swimming.

Please note that although I picked these up for free on Amazon, they may not always be free.