Heading South from Lyon

On Wednesday, Mike, Helen and I picked up new rental bikes from an agent in Lyon for part 2 of our cycling France adventure. Our latest bike model is pretty good except for the coaster brakes. ( the kind that engage as soon you pedal backwards - like when you were a kid). Evidently, not uncommon on European rentals but what a pain in the derrière and a hazard they’ve been. We still have handlebar breaks so we just have to remember not to back pedal. Hard habit to break. We’ve had a few rather sudden stops.

Our first ride south out of Lyon was brutal with shed loads of traffic, detours and a muddy trail that was virtually impassable.. We wondered what we were thinking doing the Via Rhona. But after our first night, we have joined the main river cycle paths and it’s been pretty smooth sailing ever since. We had an overnight in the old Roman town of Vienne. The Romans founded several important settlements on the Rhone River and so there are Roman ruins along our route. Unfortunately, the massive Roman amphitheater in Vienne is under repair so we only got a quick peek through a chain link fence.

In Vienne, we did manage to hit a quirky local bar where the owner - for the second time on this trip - asked us to watch the bar while she popped out. (We must look very trustworthy). Anyway, the local brasserie dog, Pitou, saddled right up to Mike because he is a dog whisperer, as many of you know, and this dog refused to leave Mike’s side. The lady returned to the bar but little “ Pitou” still refused to leave Mike’s side even as the lady admonished him repeatedly to leave Mike alone. Finally, Mike explained in his best French, “ Madam, I don’t believe your dog speaks French”.

My favourite time to ride during these trips is first thing in the morning. Riding by farm fields you can smell the damp earth and there are also whiffs of liquorice and mint in the air because anise and mint grow wild. Besides ancient Roman ruins and château’s, we’ve seen a number of huge nuclear power plants ,wind turbines, large hydro dams and solar farms. The country is a leader in producing renewable energy, however,70% of French electricity still comes from the nuclear industry and they need the big rivers to cool things down.

Occasionally ,we meet fellow travellers. Yesterday we encountered a guy walking from Berne, Switzerland, all the way to Marrakesh. He was pushing a modified shopping cart, which he named “Molly, the shopping trolley”.

A great benefit of travelling in Europe is getting to taste all the wine varieties that we don’t get a lot of at home. We’ve had a Roussanne ( white) and a white Cotes du Rhone that were really good. Looking forward to the next few days as we transit through famous wine areas. The food has been pretty good with some outstanding meals. I thought of my friend Sharon the other night as I tucked into moules frites - her favourite. The French don’t add cold milk to their coffee and Mike was trying to get some at McDonald’s. The poor young kid didn’t quite know what to do so he opened the fridge and added whipped cream! Picture enclosed.

As always - or at least often - we celebrated Helen’s birthday on the 26th. She’s been a real trooper this week keeping up with my blistering biking itinerary while fighting the cold from hell. Lucky for her, she’s traveling with 2 completely out of date pharmacists with enough French to make significant medication errors. [Was that quinine or quinidine you wanted?] We did give her some Tylenol for symptom relief and now she’s worried her children will have autism.

Tonight we are stopped in Orange (as in the fruit). Helen is planning a full on “ architorture” tour for us before dinner. Tomorrow, we bike on to Avignon ( as in people dancing on the bridge). We’ll detour to Chateau Neuf du Pape and pick up some wine to enjoy once we safely arrive.
That’s the news for now. Hope all is well chez vous!

Love Heather ( Mom/ Grandma)
PS safe travels JonRead more