Yes, one of those days where the only goal is to get to the day’s destination. It was never going to be a great day; the first third was simply getting out of Lyon and its sprawl. Most of that was okay, on well-maintained separated paths or painted bike lanes, but there was a significant section with a lot of trucks. The drivers were courteous but riding on a road with a lot of truck traffic is never pleasant. 

The factor that made it a day we’d really be happy to forget was the weather. We started off in our rain jackets because it looked like there might be some precipitation and the air was a bit chilly. I added my tights too, since Meteoblue’s forecast “feels-like temperatures were single-digit.

At one point, though, the sun came out (!) and my Garmin said the temperature was 19-point-something degrees (°C of course).  But soon enough the rain started again, hard enough that the road surface was running with water. We were glad we were no longer sharing with trucks at that point.  We were also cold, as the temperature had plummeted. Garmin Connect tells me the minimum temperature was 9°, the maximum 20°, but the average only 13°. Al added more layers while he was waiting for me in a bus shelter and we continued, getting colder. 

As we passed by Artas, I saw a sign for a restaurant. Al didn’t thing the village was large enough to have an operating restaurant, but the sign pointing to “commerces” also indicated a medical clinic. 

The little family-run restaurant fit our needs. They brought us hot tea and the formule du jour, even while they took turns carrying around a small child about a year old.  Outside, the rain was still coming down with varying intensity.

Eventually we had to get back on our bikes. I had taken the opportunity to put on my cycling vest under my jacket and we both switched to our dry warmer (dry) gloves. 

Our accommodation, Sous le Figuier, has a posted 6 p.m. check-in time. Back when I’d booked, I’d asked about early check-in and they said we could be as early as 4 with an hours’ notice. I sent a note on Booking’s system at 3:27 and we were let in when we arrived at 4:20. 

Our host made us hot tea and we retired to our room to watch the slanted rain beat down. We are not going outside again today, even though the rain seems to have stopped as I write this. We will eat the bread and cheese we took from our breakfast tray this morning (no guilt, it was brought to us), having had a hot lunch instead. 

Funny, neither of us took any photos today.