To Valence - Seven and Seven: 2025 - CycleBlaze

May 14, 2025

To Valence

You're the top, You're an Arrow collar; You're the top, You're a Coolidge dollar. You're the nimble tread of the feet of Fred Astaire.  You're an O'Neill drama You're Whistler's mama, You're camembert!

You're a rose, You're Inferno's Dante.  You're the nose on the great Durante.  I'm just in the way, as the French would say, "de trop".  But if, baby, I'm the bottom you're the top.

I'm prone to capture by earworms, and I've been stuck on Cole Porter's song ever since we arrived in Menton two weeks ago.  It's the Camembert that triggered it.  The tune will go dormant for a while but then some cheese will appear with the cold cuts at breakfast and soon I'm whistling it as we cycle along some relaxed stretch of road again.  Fortunately it's a song I love, especially now that I've heard the composer sing the complete original version.  In case you missed it the first time or have forgotten, here it comes again: 


And before getting on with today's events, here's a bit of news I'm sure you'll be interested in: 

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Andrea BrownThat's great!
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1 month ago
Gregory GarceauAs a Minnesotan, I know he paid extra for the black license plate, and then another extra for the personalized wording on the plate. In my opinion, that's a great demonstration of your son's love for the car. Oh yeah, and for you too.
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1 month ago

About the ride though.   It's pretty similar to yesterday's, really.  The day begins with nearly the same script as yesterday's: there's still no one staffing the hotel or offering breakfast so we start with instant coffee brewed en chambre with the help of our immersion coil, and then Rachael walks down the street to that same bakery we went to yesterday to pick up pastries (and thanks, Rocky!  The knees appreciate it).  After that we leave for another flat, lazy day along the Rhone, crossing back and forth from one bank to another.   Like yesterday we're time-boxed, needing to get to Valence in time for our 1:00 lunch reservation.

So, more of the same.  With what's likely to be a busy two week stretch just ahead where it will be difficult to keep up with the blog, this is a good spot to push this entry out quickly and keep current.

Just outside of Le Pouzin we cross the Rhone again. There's too much traffic to take the lane, and the sidewalk is too narrow for us to bike comfortably, so we walk. As do others.
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The northern outskirts of Le Pouzin.
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Looking south.
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On the east bank, biking between the dike and a small lateral canal.
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We're on the Via Rhona.
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Crossing the Drôme.
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Another Rhone crossing, at La Voulte.
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Swans, I think. I could stop to zoom in for sure if we weren't concerned about making lunch.
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The bridge at La Voulte.
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La Voulte, yet another village that looks worth an overnight. We could come through here again some year and pick a completely different set of villages to sleep over in.
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The view east.
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At the Beauchastel Dam we pass this freighter just leaving the lock and race it for the next several miles.
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Such a long vessel! I wonder if it's challenged by any of the bends in the river.
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Crossing the Eyrieux, the latest in the series of small tributaries we cross today.
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Towering above Valence from across the Rhone are the impressive ruins of Crussol Castle.
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Sound track: Once in a While, by Clifford Brown and Art Blakey

We left Le Pouzin a half-hour early so we'd have plenty of time to make our 1:00 lunch reservation at La Cuisine; and it's a good thing we did, because we needed all of it and then some, arriving at 1:02.  And it's really a good thing we did because they're shutting down already when we arrive and we're the last customers seated.

A new brew, at La Cuisine.
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Here's a treat I'd like to have again - an apricot-almond bar. It comes encased in a white chocolate coffin-shaped box. Death by white chocolate!
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We're in the rose room at our hotel in Valence.
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Today's ride: 24 miles (39 km)
Total: 685 miles (1,102 km)

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