Day 39 - Vallon Pont d'Arc to Saint-Etienne-la-Varenne (510kms)

It was hard to say goodbye to our beautiful campground on the banks of the Ardeche river this morning, but move on and closer to Paris we must.  The drive to start the day was a bit of a double edged sword.  Absolutely stunning, but it filled my heart with regret that we/I didn’t paddle the canyon and lower reaches of the river yesterday.  

From the road above we could see the river snake it’s way down through the bottom and the very steep valley.  Much of the lower section of the river had a couple of hundred metres on vertical rock wall and extremely steep mountainous terrain on either side of the river and it was just stunning to look at.  I can only imagine the peacefulness and sense of tranquility letting the river do the hard work of moving you through the canyon with nothing to interrupt the peace and beauty of your surrounds. The road is so high above, I’d doubt you’d hear traffic - just the occasional French airforce jet in the distance, although no sightings today.  

It was a long slow drive back down to the town of Les Granges, as I had to stop at nearly every lookout on the way and snap yet another photo of the gorge and river from a different angle. The girls gave up getting out of the van at every stop, well before the end of the drive along the river.  From Les Granges it was time to hotfoot it toward the Alps and eventually Paris. I know I’ve said it many a time before, but time was no longer on our side, and at best we were only going to get one mountain pass in, in the Alps. Having to be back in the suburbs of Paris tomorrow night is reluctantly forcing our hand. 

It felt almost anticlimactic to get out onto open plains again.  Straight away I missed the mountains and the water.  Tolls, tolls and more tolls, stopping for fuel and more cash along the way (to pay for the tolls), we passed by Grenoble and headed straight up the valley toward Alpe d’Huez.  I was determined to see at least one Alps climb before returning to Paris and the excitement quickly returned when we saw the Alps.

From the valley floor the climb started quite quickly and then aggressively. The climb from Le Bourg d’Oisans in the Romanche valley to the summit is 13.8kms long with an average gradient of 8.1%. Those familiar with Le Tour de France will know that it consists of 21 hairpin bends and gets as steep as 13%.  I had to drop to 1st gear at a couple of the hairpins as the corners literally turn back on themselves - like making a u-turn.  Not much fun in a 7.5m long van, all while sharing the road with some big heavy trucks.  As we learnt when we got to the top, there is a lot of construction going on in the village.

Part way up we stopped at a pretty church and cemetery of the side of the road.  No town as such, but a beautiful location with a little park and toilet, called Huez on google maps.  The park had notes, heart shaped ingots and messages hanging in many of the trees.  If I had to guess I would say they were tributes to people that had past, but other than that the significance was not clear.  There also was a couple of cyclists resting in the park admiring the view of the valley below.

Eventually we arrived in the village at 1860m without much fanfare.  A sign welcomes you to the village and there was another large steel bike statue similar to those on the Col de Aubisque, but in the village itself, no obvious Le Tour landmarks.  Despite the village predominantly being a construction zone at the moment, you can see from looking and reading that the place would be a very busy place in winter and over the summer vacation period.  The village would be at least twice as large as any Australian ski village and there is plenty to see and do in summer or winter.

The kids played in the playground for half an hour and then it was back down the mountain the way we came up.  The descent a little easier on the van, but probably more spectacular, was you could really see the gradient in the road and each switchback looked so dramatic.  With zero time left, that was our whirlwind visit to the Alps - much to my disappointment.  So much for a few mountain passes, Chamonix, and the Switzerland.  With all the time we took on the Iberian peninsula, we had to head for Paris.  Our holiday all but over.

Back through Grenoble, and peak hour traffic, we drove for another couple of hours and decided upon the Beaujolais region and the tiny village of Saint-Etienne-la-Varenne as our camp for the night.  The camp4night app told us about free camper van parking beside a church with facilities and electricity.  Gold.  

It was pitch black by the time we got to town and the church, and finding our way on dark hilly unlit rural roads was a challenge, but we made it safely and I was very relieved to see the city limit sign.  The church was beautifully lit - as it seems every church in Europe is, and it was positioned to the side the what seems like the town square.  It’s ironic, as we are spending our last real night on the road in a pretty like non-description village like ones I’ve tried to describe previously. From the Eurostar on arrival in France, and again when we hit the road in the camper van after Disneyland.  Just a bunch of cream off white simple brick buildings, built around a central plaza or square. Beautiful flower boxes on window sills and around the church and town square, and you can see just feel the simple-ness of life in an uncomplicated place.  

After having to find and fix a blown fuse in the van - stopping the water pump (kitchen, bathroom and toilet) from working, we had dinner and then a short walk through the towns only 3 or 4 streets.  We get the impression that we are high on a hill and will have good views of the surrounding areas in the light of day tomorrow.