Bike: Valence to Le Cheylard, 40 miles, 3900 feet of climb
Accommodation: Chambre d'hôtes de la Riaille 400 m de la dolce via (Booking.com); host Miriam. Guest house half a mile from Le Cheylard. Twin room with terrace, wifi, pool, garden and mountain views, private bath, refrigerator, microwave, beverages and snacks, no kitchen, no washer. Continental breakfast included, dinner can be ordered for an extra fee (15 euros per person for charcuterie plate and wine, 25 euros per person for full meal).
Dinner: at the guest house
Today we followed the Rhone River south along the border between the Ardeche and Drome regions. At Beauenastel, we turned west, up into the Ardeche, and started leaving the traffic and congestion behind. The farther we went, the more beautiful the scenery, the smaller the roads, the lesser the traffic. By early afternoon, we were really enjoying the ride.
We joke that we have some kind of radar for picking out accommodations at the top of the highest hill in every location. This was no exception. As we pushed our bikes up the last steep incline to our guest house, we were delighted to find ourselves in a nice little courtyard with a secure new bike shed, a separate entrance to our suite, our own terrace with a table and cushioned chairs and lounge chairs....In fact, the suite was immaculate and supplied with absolutely everything we could think of wanting, including snacks and cold drinks. Our host introduced herself and gave us all the pertinent information about meals and so forth.
Our first thought, after showers, was to just lie on the lounge chairs and enjoy the view. But then we realized we did not have enough cash to pay our host for dinner, so we hiked down to town. At the ATM, we met the high school Latin teacher. On our way back through town, we found ice cream, and ran into the Latin teacher again. We sat on a bench in the park to eat our ice cream, and the Latin teacher walked through the park and waved. On our way out of town, we went into a co-op to buy sparkling water--and there was the Latin teacher. Small town fun.
Our dinner on the terrace was prepared by our host and her mother from local ingredients, including caillettes (large meatballs made with pork and greens), sausage made by the host's uncle, and tomatoes from the mother's garden. Incredible.
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| Maza Villa, built by an industrialist who owned a garment factory. |
