St Malo to Nice

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Thursday 26th September 54 miles

Breakfast was upstairs from our bedroom in another lovely room very artistically put together with some very old things. Florence had got me some gluten free bread and there was home made stewed apples, yoghurt and jams.

We bought 'trois fromage baguettes ' and yoghurts before setting off. The guide book had said there would be no shops for the next twenty four miles. We had to walk through the market that was on and there were lots of lovely local produce for sale including cheeses, meat, honey, olives, hand made soaps, scarves and jewellery. If we had been in a car I could have easily have bought lots of things. Most French towns have these markets and they always seem busy.

Out of town and towards the gorges. The Pont d'Arc was only about six kilometres into the journey. This is a fifty four meter high arch that has been carved out of the limestone rock and is the gateway to the Ardèche Gorge which is thirty kilometres long.

Soon we were climbing steeply which we had expected but it went on for far longer than we thought. We did see a few other cyclists but they were either on mountain bikes or e-bikes. Occasionally there would be goats at the side of the road but they seemed very used to having people around.

There were no picnic sites or branches so yoghurt and nuts was sat on two rocks by the side of the road in the shade. It was very hot by now and mainly out in the open. We always look to check for ants and other creepy crawlies, and spray with insect repellent, and all seemed fine. Until I had a shower later and found two huge bites on my 'derriere '. Ouch. The road continued upwards until we were high above the gorge. Every now and then there would be view points to stop at and admire the view. Then it was undulating for the next twenty miles until we descended into St Martin d'Ardèche. This was our overdue lunch stop. Across the river, perched on top of the cliffs we could see Aigueze with its castle and fortified buildings. There are caves in the limestone cliffs where humans have lived for over three hundred thousand years.

Then it was flattish till Pont D'Esprit which historically has been a major crossing point of the River Rhône.

Nine years ago we stayed at Pont D'Esprit on our way to Nimes. We arrived late in the afternoon and stopped for an orange juice. There was a very loud funfair on and tables were being set up outside for a meal. We were told it was a special local celebration and that there would be no restaurants open that evening. We would need to go to the next town. We asked if our hotel would have a restaurant and was told it wouldn't. Part of the funfair was a roundabout consisting of real donkeys walking round and round a pole while children rode them. How cruel. For once we were glad the hotel was some way out of town and delighted when it did have a restaurant. We later had a very nice meal sat outside and we couldn't hear the funfair.

Then we had twenty four miles down the Rhône which was relatively flat and there was lots of shade. We had a second yoghurt and nuts sat watching the boats on the Rhône as I had had to buy four yoghurts. (Many supermarkets don't sell individual yoghurts). At some point we passed anothe Lafarge site. (Arnold you need to extend the area you cover).

The B&B was very nice and was an apartment in another cavern. It was owned by a man who is a therapist so it was quite quirky with buddha statues and oriental touches. There was even a sauna in the bathroom. After showers it was out to dine and we enjoyed a lovely meal and some wine as Chateauneuf-du-Pape calls itself the most famous wine village in the world.

Pope Jean X11 chose Chateauneuf-du-Pape for the papal summer residence in the fourteenth century. He had vines planted and at first the production of wine was kept secret. However, word began to get around that it was a very high quality wine. The ruins of their fortress can still be seen high above the village.

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