Delights of the Ardeche, Heights in the Vercors

A cool cloudy day saw me labouring up to the top of Mt Aigoual passing a lean bare chested cyclist who arrived in a surprisingly short time after me at the 1567m summit. From there I descended to Florac and then left the Cevennes to enter the Ardeche region staying the night at Vosgues with its illuminated chateau. On the Tuesday (22/10/19) after the rain eased I took the VV down to Grosspierre the 40 mile trip being accomplished just before the weather closed in again.
I followed the Ardeche gorge through some torrential rain and dramatic thunderstorms before heading over to Le Cheynard where an empty lakeside aire was to be my base for a couple of days.
Sat almost at the junction of a Y shaped trio of VVs it was the perfect setting with just below me a massive weir resonating with the roar of the flooded river pouring over its edge.

However the next morning the storms had passed and a hot sun emerged encouraging me to cycle up to Lamastre on an enchantingly beautiful route.
Another fine day on the Friday gave me the opportunity to cycle right down to the swollen Rhone - a lovely almost constant descent through the gorge but of course a long uphill return.
On the Saturday I nipped in to town to get laundry done at the supermarket auto laundrette which even offered the option to be texted when the cycle had finished - is this the 'internet of things'?
Leaving the washing to dry in the van I then followed the 3rd arm of the trio to climb relentlessly up to St Greve, the reward being a 9 mile descent at a steady 18mph with no pedalling, I guessed this is what an electric bike would feel like so perhaps - one day. Current reservations around this move centre on weight - especially when lifting on to the rack and the need for mains power to charge up as an inverter off the leisure battery would soon stuff it!

Talking of weight I have been trying to minimise the overall weight of the van as it is near to its MTPLM figure of 2800 kg so left the spare larger and rarely used table and leg at home, some items of clothing, unnecessary books and other odds and sods but really I feel I am down to the minimum as I also carry quite a few 'get out of jail free' items such as the power pack, 12v winch, bottle jack, axle stands, trolley jack, generator, tools, service spares and the like. However I shed another few kilos by disposing of an unused insert cushion, replaced by a spare pillow and dispensed with one of the overhead bed boards that merely acted as a restraint for items in the overcab storage. I also now keep a few packets of dried food for emergencies rather than tins and endeavour to keep both water bottles full of clean water rather than keeping a litre of bottled water in the cupboard.

Over the years I feel I have refined the art of minimal living and feel confident that my low impact way of life is pretty environmentally friendly. My weekly water usage is about a tenth of the amount used per person per week in an average house, much of my electricity is from the solar panel, I tend to shop very locally producing little waste, most of which can be recycled  and whilst my gas costs are relatively high this is due to the exorbitant price of LPG rather than excessive consumption. Heating the van on the rare occasions it is required uses a very small amount of diesel and with the insulated windscreen and side window screens I stay very cosy. When cooking I tend to grill most food with saucepans sitting on the hob getting most of their heat from the grill below and much of the fridge power is generated whilst driving, although when parked up it uses a very small amount of gas. All my lighting is LED and the various devices I use are 12v USB rechargeable.
My annual mileage is slightly higher than the UK vehicle average but with an average MPG well above 40 in very mixed driving I feel that is acceptable as I have no other home based emissions.
My returns to the UK by air twice whilst away are hard to avoid, mainly as they are a condition of my post MI health insurance but I generally use Easyjet as they operate one of the most fuel efficient fleets and of course during those returns the van is sitting still.  I have looked at train travel but as an example Milan to Sheffield would cost £260 and take 20 hours each way - might be fun to do it one day though. Ironic though isn't it that I can fly home from Milan to Manchester for £20 but a train to Sheffield is then £28 and airport parking around £80....

Anyway that is for the future and after a very pleasant few days at Le Cheynard I moved down to Tournon back on the Rhone from where the Petit Train de l'Ardeche followed the gorges and valleys back up to Lamastre on the initial leg of my Y shaped cycling itinerary. The venerable steam engine was hissing away as people took photos and settled in to the wooden seating on the original carriages - I was glad to have brought a sit mat along although there were some very plush first class carriages available. In fact I rarely sat as you were able to ride outside on the carriage access which gave the best views as we climbed steadily through the mountains. The rhythmic clacking of the wheels and sedate pace made for a memorable journey with a half hour halt at the half way point. Here the bizarre velorail participants were waiting for us to clear the single track line before in a rather amusing and good natured convoy they all set off to pedal some 8 miles down hill in adapted carts.
Up at Lamastre we had 3 hours to explore the pretty town and enjoy a meal. I chose a smart bistro in the sun and later walked up to photograph an old Citroen I'd seen previously that looked similar to a friend's Morris Oxford.

The return journey was equally enjoyable and at the halfway point we stopped again and the mystery of how the pedal cars return was solved - in the funniest scene imaginable all the passengers return in one of two diesel powered rail cars with the fifty or so carts all linked together and trailing behind.



After a superb day I moved on towards the Vercors where at St Jean en Royans I stayed amongst 100 acres of walnuts at a free on farm aire where the following day I bought some walnut oil from the well stocked shop.
A stunning road through tight tunnels took me up Combe Laval to the Vercors plateau and my base for the next few days Font Des Urles a small village that has perhaps seen its skiing heyday.

I set off to walk over the limestone escarpment to the Ambles pasturage and took lunch at one of the mountain huts in the area. Similar to our much loved bothies back home these refuges are run by the local Department and provide free basic accommodation with a stove, compost loo and eating/sleeping areas. A generous supply of wood is provided and the interior felt very cosy as the previous night's inhabitants had had the stove lit. Across at the edge of the plateau was a simple shepherds hut - an A frame of timber and corrugated tin - but at this time of the year most of the flocks have been taken to lower pasture and the patou guard dogs with them. Thus over winter walkers are allowed to take their dogs to the area but only on leads as there is still the natural fauna of boar, chamois and deer to be protected.
I returned after 13 miles to the van where the solar panel had done its job leaving me with fully charged batteries and the prospect of a cosy night with the Eber needed for a couple of hours as we were at 1500m.
The following day was sunny and cloudless so I set off to a distant ridge and then its end summit with stunning views across the Vercors ranges - I had been here 30 years ago to tackle the Gouffre Berger away to the NE, at the time the deepest cave in Europe. I was lucky enough to capture a glimpse of a small group of chamois and a pair of eagles and returned as a chilly fog descended after 12 miles of energetic walking.

Yesterday I moved on to La Chapelle en Vercors to enjoy a lesser walk of 10 miles that took me up to a grand vantage point over the Grand Coulets - an impressive gorge with a now closed road that passed through more tunnels and under precarious overhangs. On the way down a cluster of fly agarics looked surreal under the pine trees. I had intended to stay at Lans en Vercors but when I arrived the aire's water and waste services had been removed so I returned to Villard De Lans and filled up from a very inefficient water pillar that required the use of an old washing machine flexi adapter sourced from a shop in Chefchaouen, Morocco. Down in the village the main run of shops was looking very festive with a combination of Halloween, All Saints Day, the onset of the winter ski season and Christmas all contributing to the scene.
I have now dropped in to Sassenages near Grenoble as unsettled weather has returned and seems likely to hang around over the holiday weekend. I hope to move up in to the Chartreuse when it clears as there are some 2000m peaks to be done but may squeeze in a bike ride along the Isere Valley tomorrow.
My intended visit to a friend's goat and bee farm in Italy may have to be delayed following damaging floods in the Alessandria area but if necessary I will call in after my return from the UK in mid December.
Beyond that we intend to visit Sardinia in the New Year as I continue a steady drift south.

Plenty more photos here and the odd location here.

Toulouse and the Haut Languedoc

After a pleasantly quiet aire mid way between Bordeaux and Toulouse and having followed the course of the Canal Du Midi I parked up alongside the Aircraft Museum and Airbus production facility and spent a few hours enthralled by the Museum's exhibitions. Two retired Concordes (one an original test aircraft largely kitted out with monitoring equipment and just a small section fitted out as passenger accommodation) were on display plus a military spec Airbus and an early A300. Perhaps the most intriguing exhibit however was the enormous Airbus Skylink, a modified Airbus that was hinged to allow transport of various Airbus components from around Europe. This has now been replaced by the Beluga which will be bringing wings from N. Wales that are currently shipped over and along the Canal du Midi.

The Airbus factory tour later that day gave us an insight in to the logistics behind such a pan European project with major components moving a number of times across the continent before final assembly in Toulouse. Whilst the A380 project has fallen well short of its planned sales the A320 has become the mainstay of no frills airlines such as EasyJet and future hopes are pinned on the A350.

I stayed the night and was lucky enough to see the Beluga taking off the following morning as I left for the Space Centre.

This provided a very entertaining day with mock ups of the MIR space station, lunar landers, and a Soyuz space capsule interspersed with an informative hour in the planetarium and a film covering the Apollo 11 moon landing.




Medieval Fanjeau en route to Carcassonne provided a spacious aire and a pleasant village to walk around and I spent time (to no avail) trying to rectify my squeaking bike brakes. In fact all pressure evaporated so the following day I dropped it off at Mondo Velo in Carcasssonne for their expert attention and returned to Fanjeaux to give Mandy's bike a good clean and check over as it will see less use over the next few months.



The following day I moved on to Mirepoix which has a superb galleried centre and was the starting point for a voie verte down to Lavelanat which gave me a good 53 mile ride interspersed by lunch in the sun at a small cafe run by a French/English couple.
Saturday morning saw me doing laundry at the supermarket machine and enjoying the food market in the village where a clever bike powered apple juicer caught my eye. 

Then it was a return to Mondo Velo where a new calliper and lever had sorted the issue for around £100. Later I disassembled the old calliper to find that one of the ceramic pistons had lost a section preventing the pads from retracting and the particles had damaged the seal.

A pleasant drive over the Montagne Noir through chestnut forests where hunters and their dogs were busy peering in to the mists brought me down to La Bastide for the night. Another VV took me west to Mazamet one day and then east to Bedarieux the next passing the start of the Gorge D'Heric to which I returned the following day for a spectacular walk up the deep gorge to a small buvette at Heric.

This inspired me to then tackle a walk up to Mont Caroux and across to the hamlet of Douch before returning via the gorge once more. The ascent was steep initially and then eased off as the plateau and a simple refuge were reached. At Douch there was a lovely bee hotel and an enormous stone slab made an impressive table alongside the village's communal bread oven that was available to all.









It was time to move on again and after passing through more stunning chestnut forests I reached Montclar above the Tarn where the tiny hamlet had provided a free aire with electric hook up and a panoramic view. However there was little else although at dusk I walked up to the water tower which served as a viewpoint over the rolling countryside and after sunset was beautifully illuminated by blue spotlights.

The next day I went back in time as I entered the small village shop which I had missed the previous day to be served by an elderly lady who wrote down all the prices and used a wooden drawer as a till. There was a very limited range of products but I emerged with bread, saucisson and some Breton cider that ensured a snoozy afternoon.





Heading along the impressive Tarn gorge I reached Peyre which clings to the cliffs above the river just short of the graceful Millau viaduct. The old church is partially built in to the rock as are a number of houses and at this time of year I had the place largely to myself.

In Millau I stocked up on food and gas before following the Dourbie gorge towards the Cevennes and pitched up at Alzon from where I decided to combine two local walks in to one larger undertaking.
Initially I climbed steeply in to the Cevennes NP on a foggy day meeting a few hunters whose dogs sported collars with transponders. I then dropped down on to the Causses and walked in to Homs and over the dry barren limestone before returning to Alzon after almost 18 miles.

Today I have only moved on a few miles as torrential rain and impressive thunderstorms seem to be set in and have thus taken a days additional internet access (£5 unlimited) as my regular bundle isn't due to renew for a week. Using the internet has really opened up access to the walking, cycling and accommodation opportunities available - a far cry from soon outdated guidebooks and maps.
www.af3v.org provides an excellent interactive map for planning traffic free cycling (and in English!), www.ceventrail.org has  provided a number of walking ideas and the excellent Camperstop app has enabled me to stay in some memorable places at no cost. 
Campingaz is quite a large part of my outgoings at around £2 a day as a 907 cylinder at around £20 lasts 10 days. Diesel is a little cheaper than the UK although I am covering less than 40 miles a day on average and I use the Total Excellium which does give extra mpg and should prolong the working life of both diesel injectors and the Eberspacher which has seen only a little use but no doubt will come in to play as winter beckons.
I have a flight back home from Milan in a month for 3 weeks so now head across the Cevennes and in to the Vercors before veering towards Italy.

Other piccies sit here and I will start using the SPOT device occasionally so check here for random locations.

Along the Loire and South to Bordeaux

A quiet aire at Le Thoureil on the Loire provided an unexpected opportunity to watch what we thought initially to be beavers but turned out to be coypu fishing, washing, playing and relaxing around an old boat that had been moored out in the shallows to act as their lair. We cycled in to Angers stopping en route for lunch at a small restaurant with a sunny patio. It was the young couples first business and we enjoyed an excellent meal so hope they do well.

The castle at Angers was well worth a visit - the beautiful formal gardens lying at the base of the impressive walls whilst in a huge display area the remarkable 600 year old Apocalypse Tapestry depicts scenes from the Book of Revelations.





Further along we cycled in to Saumur to admire its castle and enjoy a Thai meal in the old town before heading south to Bressuire at the junction of 3 cycle routes. Here we got our first soaking as we returned from a ride but the Eberspacher soon had us and our clothing dried out.
The following day was much brighter so we headed south on the old railway line towards Parthenay then cut west to join another line that returned north to Bressuire passing at one point a huge barn roofed entirely in solar panels - it looked very neat and must surely be part of our low carbon future.

At La Rochelle the conveniently placed Aire de Pont Neuf provided secure parking with hook up for £10/night so we walked down to the main part of town to see the three towers that were part lighthouse and part defensive structures before enjoying the old streets lined with arches that provided shade to the many shop fronts. A display of pink umbrellas as part of a blood cancer campaign adorned one area whilst back on the harbour front buskers played a variety of music and we were amused at how the many cyclists and pedestrians just adapted to the traffic in a random manner. We dined well as the sun set and walked off the excess back to the aire.
From the aire we cycled over a graceful bridge to the Ile de Re and took traffic free routes right out to the lighthouse where for £3 we climbed the amazing spiral staircase to the observation platform for spectacular views out over the Atlantic. Ice creams in the cafe below set us up for the return journey which after a detour back to La Rochelle's marina added up to a hefty 63 miles.

South of La Rochelle we parked at Bourcefranc Le Chapus which used to be the quayside for the island boat and has Fort Louvois standing prominently a few hundred yards offshore. From here we cycled over another lovely bridge to explore the Ile D'Oleron which is a centre for salt production and again cris crossed by numerous cycle tracks. It was a sunny day and we stopped for a while on the west coast at a sandy beach before returning as we had a ferry to catch.

This was the link from Royan over to the peninsula north of Bordeaux between the Gironde Estuary and the Atlantic. It was a short crossing and would avoid passing through Bordeaux itself later in the week and we were soon parked up in a new aire alongside the marina at Verdon Sur Mer. As this is a popular summer destination camping is very much controlled to protect the sandy dunes and pine woodland so aires are charged with a barrier system and card payment but the rates are reasonable enough.

Moving on down to Hourtin we cycled through the woodlands and dunes out to Hourtin Plage where a vast expanse of almost empty sands stretched away in both directions. Some kite surfers were enjoying the roaring seas and we enjoyed the warm sunshine before returning to Hourtin via the shores of the large lake.

So yesterday was the final day for Mandy on this part of the trip. An easy hour took us to Bordeaux airport from where Easyjet returned her to Manchester for the train back to Sheffield. I tracked the flight as in two hours it retraced the route we had taken over the last month and passed over the Peak District where we have walked and cycled many times. I will return in mid November, probably from northern Italy but will now enjoy six weeks heading generally east now I am down near Toulouse. 
I am booked an the Airbus Factory tour later today and will also visit the Space Centre tomorrow before heading to Castres for more cycling opportunities and then down to the Canal du Midi.

Photos sit here.