Stage 3 Begins! From the source of the River Loire to Orléans – about 500 km (over 300 miles)

Day 10 and 11: 29th and 30th of May.

We leave the source of the River Loire and Mont-Jean-de-Guerbière behind head down,
bar a few significant hills!! – 937m (over 3000ft) of ascent to le Puy-en-Velay. The actual journey started on the 28th as our hotel was downstream from Mont-Jean-de-Guerbière

The hotel was in a tiny village in a valley amidst the wooded hills. We were rather worried that the hotel didn’t exist since we couldn’t see a house for miles as we cycled down the road.

The next day on the 28th e continued in the remote woodland climbing up with far distant vistas.

Eventually we found ourselves coming down to le Puy-en-Velay

Here Jonathan left me to find his own way back to England as I was rather slow and he wanted to get back earlier than me.

The next day, the 30th of May I set off for the Gorges de Loire. 863m of ascent.

This is where the river Loire flows through some steep-sided gorges creating some stunning views of the escarpments and steep-sided wooded hills with the river flowing through the gorge.

This is probably the most dramatic part of the upper reaches of the Loire.

At Retournaguet I turn off from the gorge as there no paths or road next to the river
up onto the Balcon de Loire. This is a high road which follows the top of the gorge
all the way to Aurec-sur-Loire which is an ancient hilltop town wher the old fortified chateau has a commanding view of the river valley.

I crossed the river on a specially designed suspension bridge for pedestrians and cyclists. Unfortunately there was no accommodation available in the ancient town so I had to content myself with views of it.

I cycled away from the river to the outskirts of Saint Etienne for night’s stay. Quite different from the river gorge, this area was a busy urban area. It was like being in a suburb of London. I had a very nice chat with some people in a pub. They were interested in my cycling trip. Whether stopping for coffee or a beer I found the people on the whole journey welcoming. During dinner a a nearby restaurant my mobile battery ran out which I hadn’t noticed as I cycled away. I got lost but an Algerian couple came to the rescue and gave me directions.

Today, 26th May we start Stage 2 of our south to north 900+ mile journey through France.

Day 7 saw us start out from Grenoble and travel along the cycle path south alongside the River Isère. A superbly well marked cycle path with many good views of the river and steep hills beyond. For most of the 112km, I was following the river path.

This is a very popular cycle route, and we saw many travellers like ourselves. One German cyclist I spoke to said he was hoping to get to Avignon that day!

I passed two hydroelectric power stations where there’s a barrage across the river for renewable electricity generation.

Jonathan had gone on as he’s a lot faster than I am, but he’d given me the route so I could follow it on my Garmin.

I stopped at Vinay, which is a rural town near the river. Once, this was a heavy industrial town concerned with iron ore smelting. At a quintessentially French restaurant/bar, I had the most superb beef bourguignon for €17 euros, including a glass of wine & coffee. All very politely served for me sitting outside by the market square.

After some time, I had to leave the river route and head inland towards Valence. This is a very large city. Over 25 km to centre travelling through industrial areas with heavy road traffic. It might have been best to follow the river even though a longer route.

Day 6 (25th May) of our fundraising cycle ride

This completes Stage 1 of our 5 stage cycle journey through France.

Last night, we stayed at the Hotel de la Poste in Corps. A wonderfully traditional old hotel. The doors to the rooms even had original paintings on them of graceful scenes from the 18th century. I don’t think the hotel dated from that time, but it added added to the charm.

We had a traditional French style evening meal. We ordered the three course meal at €29 but also got a delicious appetiser and escargots!

After breakfast, I chatted to a couple, Marc and Agnes, in the street who had stopped and asked me where we were going. I also told them fundraising for a children’s hospital in Ukraine. They asked for the details of the website so they could make a donation.

We were soon off on our way. This was our final day in the Alps, and it didn’t let us down. Absolutely fantastic snow-capped mountain scenery!

The final run down into Grenoble was a little scary. We had over a 1000m of descent, and that was squeezed into a few kilometres.

Unfortunately, the only way down into Grenoble was via the main road with cars whizzing by. We had to be extremely careful. We stopped twice to let our brakes cool down.

Finally we succeeded in making our way to the city centre! That night, we toasted ourselves at finishing this important stage.

We had covered 395 km (245 miles) and made 5,638m (18,497 ft) of ascent!

Day 3
Castellane to Digne-les-Bains:
Our ride today continues in the Provence-Alpes-Côte region.

I was reluctant to leave Castellane (724 m), which is in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Department. It is a cosy ancient small city set around a central square with its warm sand coloured buildings and light green and blue window shutters. The main feature is
The Roc which overlooks the city.

We started out on a bright sunny morning and cycled up to Lake Verdon. It was created by the hydro electric dam at its southern end.

The turquoise lake is something to behold. We cycled alongside the lake with high wooded cliffs to both sides before leaving the lake gorge and crossing up over a mountain range into the Bléone river valley.

Again, this route reminded me of the vastness of this majestic landscape.

This day we travelled 68km with 749m of ascent