Day 34 of our 'virtual 'bike ride. Valence to Baix. 23.3 miles

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Another decent morning for cycling with a little sunshine and not too much wind. Our route was through Chatburn to Sawley and then round the radio mast, clockwise, back to Bolton by Bowland and home via Sawley and Chatburn.

Our virtual journey would be leaving Valence on the Via Rhona which goes out through the port. On route we see castles perched high on rocky out crops. We pass hundreds of vine-yards and orchards growing every crop imaginable. We are now seeing olive trees too. Approaching lunch time we stopped at a bakers to buy a quiche to supplement lunch. The Baker said to just wait a few minutes. I waited about ten minutes and then was served with two quiches. We found a bench to eat them on but they were so hot, as they were literally straight out of the oven, we had to wait another ten minutes before could eat them safely.

Baix is a large village. It is possible that Hannibal, advancing out of Spain, crossed the Rhône at this place with his elephants in about 218 BC before crossing the Alps. The name of the village then was Batiana meaning "easy passage", a name probably given by a Phoenician colony to indicate the ease of crossing the Rhone in this place (batos = easy or feasible with ana = crossing) thanks to the number of islands in the river at this point.

Photos show lunch spot for eating very hot quiche, castles on hill tops by the side of the Rhone and a view down the Rhone. All 2009.

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