D73 - D144

Donzère

From Montelimar, we would be cycling close to the Rhone for a day and half. But this part of the Rhone valley is occupied by a lot of industrial activities as well as the N7 and the Autoroute du Soleil. Apparently there is a plan to develop a cycle touring path using the river towpath (chemin de hallage) and minor roads but there is no sign of this as yet and the towpath is too rough for touring cycles. So we had to sort out our own route on minor roads. The route we followed entailed climbing several hills but we felt it well worth the effort.

Leaving Montelimar on the heavily-trafficked D73 we sought parallel roads through Cheval Blanc but were forced to rejoin D73 as far as Donzère. There we joined the completely deserted D144 which starts as a very narrow street passing betwen village houses before climbing to a narrow plateau on elevated ground forming one side of the défilé de Donzère and then descending to Chateauneuf-du-Rhone. This road was our prizewinner of the day.

D541 - D572

la Garde-Adhémar

After briefly exploring Chateauneuf-du-Rhone we continued on a slightly indirect route avoiding major roads and towns of the Rhone valley and came upon la Garde-Adhémar, a spectacular village perché (hilltop fortified village), just as the parents were appearing with their 4x4's to collect their precious offspring - the same as in most other 'advanced' countries. At least the kids have bikes which they keep outside the school (presumably it's too steep to cycle up every day).

D158

St-Paul-Trois-Chateaux

St-Paul-Trois-Chateaux is another fascinating fortified town with a huge bastille church which is part of a former abbey. At last we were feeling ourselves to be in the south of France. Sunshine, little or no wind and the unmistakable feel of ancient southern french towns all conspire to make us feel more relaxed and contended.

minor - D26

Mondragon

Gard, 30

We crossed the canal that parallels the Rhone here and took a tiny road (marked only 'GR4' on the map) across the neck of land that lies between the canal and the river to the eponimous bridge at Pont St Esprit.

D44 - GR4

Pont St Esprit

56 km

A town with charm that has seen better days. No doubt in the summer it has its passing tourists, but on the Monday we reached it there were few if any visitors. Nevertheless the young proprietors of the Hotel du Commerce gave us a good welcome in one of their simple modernised rooms, and helped with parking our tandem indoors. We had arrived early again; this time the warmth and the interest of the surroundings justified it and we used of the time to explore the reverside and town centre with its myriad of lanes and alleys leading down to the fast-flowing and wide river.