In Pont-en-Royans: day one

May 25, 2025

First, an update on the gripping TA suitcase saga. At the time I'm writing this it's the day before we leave Pont-en-Royans for the Lyon airport, where we're booked for two nights prior to our flight home on Friday. Our last update on the suitcase came late yesterday afternoon when our DHL agent informed us that it was still in Bari somewhere, but his hope was that it would make it onto the plane today. So theoretically it could still arrive at this hotel before we leave tomorrow morning. That's cutting it too thin though so we bought a little more time by requesting that it be delivered to our airport hotel instead. So we'll see. We're still hopeful, but I can't say either of us is too optimistic at this point. We're taking comfort from the fact that there's a packaging storefront at the airport that allegedly stocks bicycle boxes; so there's at least a contingency plan for getting us and both bikes onto the plane, even if we have to write off another suitcase and whatever belongings are inside of it.

Now, on to today - that is, the today that's the subject of this post, not the today of that intro paragraph. It begins with the seven of us meeting for breakfast at our hotel, the Hotel du Musee de l'Eau (the water museum hotel). It's a relatively modern building and the largest hotel in this very small town, but it's an eccentric place. Breakfast is particularly odd, a buffet spread with a reasonable enough if overpriced selection of choices but with a haphazard layout that makes it difficult to find what you need. Where are the plates, where are the bowls, where is the silverware? It's made worse by the fact that inventory is constantly running down so you can't find the bowls because there are none out at the moment.

It has three annoyances that stand out though. One is that even though breakfast starts at eight, no matter how early we arrive there's already a crowd seated and half the cold cuts have already been claimed. Another is that there is only a single coffee machine, so wait times are often frustratingly long. The strangest though is that there is only one single salt and pepper shaker pair to share for the entire room, so you have to hunt around to find which table is hoarding it.

You'd think that a place that charges €17/person for breakfast could at least afford a second pair salt and pepper shakers. Other than that though, it's fine. And the company is good.

There are various issues going on affecting all parties in the septet: Suzanne and János have caught the Anderson disease and keep losing things; Susan is still recovering from the aftermath of her fall in Africa and her bout with pneumonia after she returned home; Rachael still shows the effect of her spill a few days ago; and now Jackie has her own worrisome malaise she'll have to fill you in on.

So the upshot of all this is that even though the weather is brilliant today, Jackie, Suzanne and János are all essentially sitting this one out and Rachael's taking a walk again. The rest of us are all hopping on our bikes, but let's start with the slide show Rachael returned with from her 12 mile walk partway up the mouth of the Bourne Goege.

Sound track: A Felicidade, by Cyrille Aimée

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So Susan, Al and I are going biking. Al has by far the most ambitious agenda, a loop up the Bourne Gorge and then south to return to town down the Combe Laval - both of which are about at the top of the list of stunning rides to choose from in the Vercors. Susan wants to take one of the big climbs tomorrow but is saving her legs today with a fairly leisurely loop of the quiet roads closer in to town. Reports of both rides will undoubtedly be coming to a website near you any day now.

And myself? I'm succumbing to the temptation of that V at the throat of the Petites Goulets we saw a photo of yesterday. Actually, this is the entry point for another of the great climbs of the Vercors, but not one you can experience in the traditional way any more, This is a two-part gorge: the lower half is the Petits Goulets and the upper is the Grande Goulets. The most spectacular stretch is the upper part, an astonishing bit of engineering that somehow carved a road out of the side of what must be about a five hundred foot sheer cliff. The upper part was permanently closed some years back though because it was such a safety and road maintenance hazard due to the frequent rock falls and collapsed roads.

You can still bike the whole stretch because about a mile long tunnel was opened - but it's not one I'm ready to take on. I haven't talked about it much but tunnels are a challenge for me. I have a hard time dealing with the darkness alternating with oncoming headlights, but I also have trouble when there's a limited or no shoulder because I'm still learning how to gauge how close I am on the right. It's hard to say, but this might be a permanent limitation for me that will keep me away from longer, poorly lit tunnels.

So my plan for the day is to bike up through the Petits Goulets and then turn back when I come to the tunnel - or at least have a peek inside to see what I think. Before I do that though, I bike the short promenade along the river right below our hotel to have a look at another feature Pont-en-Royans is famous for - its array of suspended houses hanging from the face of the cliff.

I thought I heard Susan's voice outside so I took a peek out the window.

Pont-en-Royans, and the Bourne River. The Bourne Gorge begins just past the rocks on the far side of town.

An add-on for the mother-in-law perhaps.

Looking at the female, it's easier to understand why goosanders are classified as a subspecies of the common merganser. Among other things, she doesn't have such a pronounced hooked beak.

Looking back at Pont-en-Royan, a small place that's hardly more than a village with its permanent population of only about 800.

From Pont-en-Royan it's only a short ride south to the gateway to the Goulets.

The entrance to the Goulets is through the base of that V.

The village of Saint-Eulalie-en-Royans sits at the entrance to the gorge. Today there's an aid stand in the center of the villlage, a support station for some sort of organized bike ride. All the way up the gorge and back I'll be passed by riders pushing their way uphill, all wearing the same green jersey and with contestant numbers on their back.

First though, I have a surprising encounter when I see a familiar face coasting my way. It's Al, returning from his ride. We stop and compare notes for a minute and then he keeps coasting while I start in on the five mile climb to the tunnel. It's a fine ride, good both ways.

In Saint-Eulalie-en-Royans. I'm not sure why I thought this photo of a wash house would be improved with a finger in it.

So here's the entrance to the mile-long tunnel. One quick glance inside convinces me it's not a place I belong - at present, at least.

And here's the old road, permanently closed off to all travelers years ago. I've seen stills and a video of biking down that road from before it was sealed off. Definitely a hair-raising experience.

Descending now along the route I just came up through, but still worth a stop or two.

In the Petits Goulets. It's only five miles each way, but definitely worth the detour.

I finish off the ride with a few miles along the flats below the gorge, an area well worth exploring in its own right. That's a nice thing about the Vercors - it really offers a diversity of cycling experiences.

When I bike up into the village I'm surprised to look up and see Susan just a block ahead of me. When we arrive at the bike garage at exactly the same time I ask her how her ride was and she reports her metrics: 19 miles, with 1,700' of elevation gain. I make a quick check of my Garmin and see that we match exactly. Odd.

A good perspective shot, looking across the corn field to the entrance to the Goulets on the right and the Bourne Gorge on the left.

Another look at Pont-en-Royans and the entrance to the Bourne Gorge.

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Today's ride: 17 miles (27 km)
Total: 894 miles (1,439 km)

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Kathleen JonesSuch a beautiful place. Wonderful ride and hike.
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2 months ago

Lyle McLeodThat is a great ride. We took that route up when we rode the Comb Laval in 2023. I guess I was so blown away by the Comb Laval that I sort of forgot how beautiful this part of the ride was too. And as for the tunnel … it was OK but we had very light traffic. I also had my own eye issue I was dealing with, a paralyzed nerve controlling one of the muscles in my left eye that made my left eye see everything at a 15° angle compared to my right eye. I could use both eyes for distance, but only one (either one, but just one) to read or see anything close up … like a curb! I got this condition just a few weeks before we left on the trip and my Doc’s said that it would likely resolve in 6 - 8 weeks … which it did, somewhere in the Pyrenees!
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2 months ago