Beauvène

It was a rainy night and morning in Le Cheylard, but we were relieved when the rain abated around breakfast time. Claire enjoyed playing with some new friends at the playground, then we set off down the Dolce Via rail trail. It was a joy to roll steadily downhill for almost 50 km along a 1 to 3% grade trail. The landscape was impressive and varied, starting out as a narrow rocky valley and opening out onto the plains of the Rhône River. Being the last day of a long weekend, even with the cool wet weather we saw many groups of cyclists out on the trail. We arrived at La Voulte-sur-Rhône by early afternoon after an easy ride with many breaks. After much deliberation right up until the last minute, we decided we'd explore the Drôme, so we crossed the Rhône and found ourselves in a landscape of rolling agriculture-filled hills. In Canada we would have had to travel hundreds to thousands of kilometres to experience such diversity in landscapes, but in France it is all in a day's ride!Read more