10th and 11th October 2002
Ju had been talking about the Ardeche Gorge before we even left the UK. So not even damp weather and the need to get on towards the Alps was going to stop us seeing it. The water was of course of quite high after the previous two days of rain, but nothing like what it had been a month before when 29 people were drowned in Nimes by flood waters from this region.
We passed the amazing Pont d'Arc. Signs proclaimed this to be the only natural arch in the world with a river flowing through it, but my friends in China tell me there are several others there!
The Ardeche river has incredible oxbows, like this:
It is also a fantastic caving area, and the caves contain traces of prehistoric occupation. We visited a showcave, La Grotte de St Marcel:
At the bottom of the gorge we headed for the Rhone valley. In Pont St Esprit we found that holy grail of hungry cyclists on a budget: A Lidl supermarket!
"I'm not sure I've bought enough biscuits"
(we have no association with Lidl, we just like eating the cakes they sell)