April 21, 2018
Day 26: Roussillon to Valence
It was really pleasant just having the bikes stored on the patio in front of the house. All we had to do was walk out with our bags, throw them on, and go. But before going very far at all, we stopped off to see the frogs that had serenaded us in the evening and early morning. The gites was located just on the edge of an ecological restoration/preservation zone. We have seen several like this on the ride. They are areas that are not directly part of the river, but they are affected by flooding and the river ecosystem. Typically they have a lot of otherwise hard to find birds, insects, plants, and yes, frogs.
Our route for the time being is a pretty much straight shot south along the Rhone, bumping into a nice town every 15 km or so. The biking surface is generally great, and with the usual glitches so is the signage.
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With everything in blossom and afternoon temperatures above 30, being cold on this ride is now a distant memory. And with the path right now being so nice, it is all pure pleasure.
We stopped at a bakery to stock up on things for lunch, and as usual I ducked quickly in for a peek at what they had. After that, I was fairly confident that another pig would be in the bag. After all, they seemed to be multiplying! But no, my lot was tuna pizza. Actually, it was quite good!
Back standing outside, I once again could observe goings on. Two men, obviously friends, met and started to converse. That's not remarkable. But what I noticed was that their personal space limits were a little tighter than usual. That seemed good enough for a photo.
Andance was typical of the towns we came to. It looks like this:
Of all the towns that are strung out along the river, four are extra special. Avignon and Arles, further south, are just so special it hardly bears mentioning. But closer to us there is Tain l'Hermitage which we reached today, and Montelimar - which will be tomorrow.
What makes these so great? Well Tain is the home of a chocolate factory and Montelimar is nougat central!
The chocolate factory in Tain is called Valrhona. The first time we were here we bought a ton of their stuff, mailed it home at great expense, and brought it out for the family at Christmas. It actually got a rather ho hum response. Maybe it was because there is a lot of chocolate at Christmas, but also the extreme exotic credentials of this chocolate are majorly eroded by the fact you can buy it any day of the week at Trader Joe's.
None of this experience stopped us from going back, even if we had to cross the river from Tournon to do it, and take a chance locking our bikes on the sidewalk in front. The thing about Valrhona is that they have about fifteen basic types of chocolate, and offer unlimited free samples of each. Each one is designated as to its cacao percentage, and also has a flowery write up about its taste. Because this is after all the "Cotes du Rhone" area, where gourmet tasting is the rule, they designate their varieties as "Grands Crus". My favourite was a 40% number called "Jivara", while the more refined Dodie preferred the 72% "Araguani".
Now if truth be told this prestige chocolate does not really do much for me. I would rather put my euros on a Ritter Sport, or even a Nestle or Milka crispy rice bar. You can see that low brow tendency in the fact that even today I bought my Jivara in the form of a coated marshmallow bar. The checkout lady was very polite about it, though she did throw some quality chocolate sample bars in my bag.
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There is a lot more to Valrhona than we actually explored. For example they have a restaurant featuring chocolate based dishes. They have a museum covering chocolate history and company history, you can take a 2 hour to 2 day course in chocolate pastry making, you can tour the factory, etc. etc. But with our bikes out on the sidewalk and the trail waiting for us, we called it a visit with the marshmallow bar.
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Out on the trail, by the way, pretty much everyone passes us. We could see part of the reason - they start cycle training young. This kid was one of four being coached along at high speed by two adults.
Valence was our final stop, with hotel St. Jacques booked near the centre of town. Valence is quite a big place, with some downtown streets being quite the broad boulevards. It does have some nice old churches and some elegant apartment buildings, but overall it did not blow me away. In France, it takes some doing to be a standout town.
Our two star hotel did not have much curb appeal and seemed quuite jammed in on a busy street. But inside the door the space was generous, and our room, though not grand in size was cool and airy, and had a bath tub! Our bikes went into a very tiny room, but at least they are secure. With a marshmallow bar in hand, a bath poured, and the bikes happy, things are looking pretty good!
Today's ride: 73 km (45 miles)
Total: 1,641 km (1,019 miles)
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