After enjoying our cycle tour in Italy so much and with a good weather window in France we decided to explore a few sections of the ViaRhona from Vienne (just south of Lyon) to Pont -St-Esprit. It seemed to make sense to park near Pont-St-Esprit at Bollene and get the train to Vienne and then cycle south back to our car over the next 3 days.

We had a good drive down and made excellent time, but then had a bit of a wait at the railway station as there was not enough time to really go anywhere and search out a café, the train was also 20 min late. Then it was a bit of panic stations as we were not sure which end of the train the bike carriages were – typically I chose the wrong end so had to jump on the bike and cycle down the train platform. Then chose the wrong (closest) door to get onto the bike carriage as I was worried the train was getting ready to depart. Mike got on at the right end of the carriage. We ended up moving my bike at the next stop.

Once we got settled we found we were next to a very friendly retired couple from the US who had just spent 2 months bike touring. They seemed to be much more hard core travelers than us,. However, they were also carrying much more kit on their bikes. They mentioned that a favourite area from this trip for touring was on the bike paths round Annecy so that will be something to research.

On arriving in Vienne we had a short cycle to our hotel on the edge of town. We had booked into a small apartment suite (Aux Jardins de Lisle link to hotel ) which was walking distance to a top rated restaurant Mike had chosen for the start of our gastronomic experience. First however we needed to get some breakfast supplies and I also needed some warmer clothes as it was much colder than we had expected. At least I had room in my paniers!

The restaurant we booked into was at the Pyramide Hotel, (www.lapyramide.com) we had not realised but the main restaurant has 2 Michelin stars, we were in the less formal l’espace restaurant which was excellent. Mike had a mushroom terrine with caramelised hazelnuts and pickles to start. Naturally I helped him out a bit. For our main meals I had a roasted pork dish which I really enjoyed and Mike had Tournedos of beef. We finished with a chocolate mouse and caramelised figs. Did not feel that we had earnt such a wonderful dinner but really enjoyed the whole experience. If we come back to Vienne at some point I would definitely return to this restaurant. The town also would be worth exploring. Neither of us were sure what the cycling would be like over the next few days as from the train the views of the Rhone valley were fairly industrial and the countryside looked fairly monotonous. We were hopeful that we would be pleasantly surprised which we were.

In summary, for a large portion of our ride over the next 3 days there were a few stand out views, however my abiding memories of the tour thinking back a month later are:

  • beautiful wooded sections where the interplay of light and water on good quiet cycle paths gave rise to a feeling of peace and just enjoying the rhythm of cycling
  • many wonderful bridges of all designs across the Rhone
  • excellent resturants
  • the sensation of the Rhone valley becoming much broader (along with the river) as we travelled south. At Vienne it was really quite narrow but by the time we reached Bollene we could not see the hills marking either side of the plain. I also enjoying the feeling that we have cycled up to its source on the Furka Pass. It inspires me to want to cycle the full length of the Rhone in stages.
  • the thought that has gone into designing this cycle path which passes through nature reserves, industrial (hydro) areas, historic towns, farmland with the River central to all our riding.

See below for a quick video of the start of our tour