27th and 28th May 2025
This section, completed over 2 days (Day 8 and 9), sees us finish Stage 2 of our journey to the source of the Loire. We now crossover into the Ardèche hills from the Rhône Valley. The hills are like mountains when you are cycling uphill! The first day from Valence to Privas is a modest 411 m. However from there to the source of the River Loire our ascent is 1369 m elevation! Phew!
On Day 8 of our cycle trip we leave Valence behind and head south alongside the
River Rhône, which is an enormous river. We’re heading eventually towards the Central Massif and the source of the River Loire, but before we get there we’ll have to make a stop, because the overall ascent from Valence to the source of the River Loire is too much to do over a distance of about 100 kilometres.
It’s a very pleasant day, and we have the wind behind us and the sun is out, but not too hot, so it’s ideal cycling conditions. Until we turn inland to the hills, we are cycling along the ‘Via Rhôna’, which is a long distance cycle path, and I guess automatically it would eventually take one to Marseille and the Mediterranean coast.
The cycle paths are excellent and have proved their worth for us as we have travelled from Grenoble. The markings of the cycle paths are very clear, and if you only had to follow the ‘Via Rhôna’ it could be done without a map or without any form of electronic assistance. I’ve seen a lot of cyclists on this route today. A popular route! One thing you have to be very careful of in cycling this river route is the wind when crossing the long, high bridges. We had to do this a number of times. The following win became a ‘cross wind’ I had to go very slowly on a number to avoid literally being blown over!!
When we turned off the river path and went inland we were lucky to be blessed with a cycle path on an old railway line, which took us almost to our destination. The old railway which was built in 1862 to transport the iron ore from the Privas hills toward the blast furnaces on the River Rhone ready for shipment via the Paris-Marseille’s railway. Being a railway enthusiast I enjoyed seeing the Alissas viaduct, straddling the Combier stream, which is the largest along this rail line at 178 metres long at 18 metres high and with 12 arches.
Day 9 was altogether something different, a long and seemingly unending climb up through the Ardèche hills (really mountains!). I nearly gave up and returned to the hotel at Privas because it seemed too much for me. I did finally make it to the source of the River Loire! Phew, that was tough!! I had virtually run out of battery but thankfully the lady at the Information Office kindly let me charge up my battery while we had a look at the spring of the Loire. The ascent from Privas (283m) was 1,369m (4,491 ft) and the highest point was 1483m (4,865 ft)!
The source of the Loire is at the foot of Mont Gerbier de Jonc (1,551m), which is a mountain of volcanic origin. The Loire is France’s longest river. Here is the main spring:
