27 May – Along the Rhone to Serrieres

27 May – Along the Rhone to Serrieres

I am writing this blog from the balcony of our hotel room, overlooking the Rhone river in the fading light. It is past 9pm but still light and warm – I am only wearing my T-shirt.

Today we only did around 65km and arrived here nice and early at around 3pm.

The Saone river joins the Rhone at Lyon, so we are following the Rhone down south from now on.

Our day started with a detour from the motorway which took us up a long hill climb of around 3km – a bit of a shock to the system after all the river rides. It took us onto a plateau with very prosperous looking farmland and farmsteads. This was the most scenic part of the ride. Kris asked directions from a old codger who was amazed to see us – the first time he has seen cycle tourists up there.

Once we came down the hill we made our way to Vienne  – another ancient town on the river overlooked by a ruined castle on the hill. Here we were surprised to find the tourist office open as it is Sunday – picked up a map of the cycle route south.

The cycle route south was pretty good – off road along the river most of the way to Serrieres.

Highlights

  • Passing through a nature reserve on the cycle route, forest type environment together  with hides for bird watching
  • Walking along the promenade by our hotel in the evening and then having a drink at the local pub
  • Seeing four swans flying together low along the still river at dusk

Lowpoints:

  • Kris breaking a spoke and then Jenny also breaking a spoke in the heat of the day. Kis spent at least an hour fixing spokes today.

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