La Molène to Florac

October 12, 2023

A Ride in Two Parts

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We loved our stay in La Molène. A tiny but beautiful village. It was cool this morning when we woke up. It was also foggy. We lingered over coffee and getting ready. The happy result was warmer temperatures and clear blue sky when we started out. We had a short day planned as there isn’t a great deal of accommodation on this route, especially so late in the season and with a big hill out of Florac we felt all the way to Meyrueis in one day would be a bit of a stretch.

View out the breakfast room window this morning.

It was so beautiful and so quiet when we began. It wasn’t a case of light traffic, it was no traffic. We could listen to the birds, stop anywhere that we wanted and it was absolutely unbelievable to have it all to ourselves.

This was interesting as Hauterives describes itself as a village in peril. There is no road access so most goods were brought in by cable car. From what I could gather on the internet, when that system became inoperable there was no political will to fix it, and the village is, well, in peril.

Evidently some Cycleblaze members have stayed here.

This house is for sale should anyone be looking.

We stopped for a picnic lunch in St. Énimie after stocking up at the local Fromagerie. We sat at the edge of the river and soaked up the sunshine. We have seen the forecast and we won’t be enjoying these hot days much longer.

We stopped again at a sweet spot at the side of the road for a cold drink and a view of ancient chateaus across the river.

The scenery started to change and in the second part of the ride the views were still ever so beautiful, but less jaw dropping. This did help our pace of travel somewhat. It took us a couple of hours to go the first twenty km because of picture taking and view gazing. We did the last twenty plus in half the time.

When we reached Ispagnac the traffic picked up somewhat, and we were routed onto an N Road. It was never very busy, just more traffic than we have had to deal with for days. We were stopped at a viewpoint along here when two young people touring went by, Keith suggested we follow the young people and we did. That really made drivers pay attention! Four bikes with bags to go around. We turned right into Florac and they carried on, so it was a wave and we were on our way to our hotel.

Another short day tomorrow with a big climb to start the day. Time to get our beauty sleep in preparation.

Today's ride: 43 km (27 miles)
Total: 959 km (596 miles)

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Scott AndersonThis has to be one of the best rides in France. You sure got a spectacular day for it.
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7 months ago

Carol DunlopWhat a stunning ride!
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7 months ago

Anne MathersHow amazing that you had the whole place to yourselves and glorious sunshine, too. Sheesh, it doesn’t get much better than that.
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7 months ago