Day 4 – Via Rhôna – Le Pouzin to Les Sablons
Well, as can be seen from the moody photos, the weather has become much less settled. It was about 20 degrees cooler today than last week as autumn takes hold. Today felt like a long day – 97km fighting a cold, strong, northerly headwind.
We continued to meander along the banks of the Rhone and its many backwaters and tributaries, many of which are really lovely, and we’ve crossed these waterways on more bridges than we can remember. There is also the impressive presence of CNR, the Rhone hydroelectric company. The river is dammed in many places, with a complex system of gates and locks, somewhat scary as you cycle across one of these and a siren sounds!! The infrastructure is incredible with a huge investment in the ViaRhona bike path and all the levees protecting the land from floods.
We counted ourselves lucky this morning, managing to dodge many showers. This afternoon our luck ran out as we crouched under a tree attempting to have a civilised lunch of baguette and red wine. It took most of the day for our fingers to thaw so we were over the moon to find a bath in this evening’s resting place. It also has an amazing restaurant so we’re looking forward to a treat.
We’re not sure what tomorrow may hold – it’s minus 5 and snowing in Ste Foy
.
100cm of snow in Nendaz too. Does that trip to the train station mean the end of your cycle home?
Well spotted! See our next blog; the cols have closed and we have decided that cycling in the rain is not such fun, especially when we only have T shirts and cycling shorts!