At the aire last night a large six-wheeled German van set up his satellite receiver on a stand, and arranged his plant pots near to it. Talk about home from home.
That's the great thing about aires, always something entertaining happening around you. Joking aside, this aire had been perfect. Beautiful view, nice clean on-site toilet and relatively quiet neighbours.
By the time we departed this morning, just before nine, early for us, at least half the vans had left. Today promised to be yet another scorcher, and by ten after we'd stopped at the supermarket and the Decathlon sports shop it was already 18c. We'd planned a shorter day driving, but our drive over the hills of the Rhone-Alpes was both beautiful and slow. Along the way, at La Clayette, we stopped to look at the chateau de Bourgogne.
It looked stunning, backdropped by a picture postcard blue sky. Soon the pine forests and pretty villages gave way to a fast 'A' road that swallowed us up. As we approached Lyon the signage confused Angela and she took the wrong road. Of course we then had to drive miles out of our way before setting Margery back on course. We have driven through Lyon before. It is busy, congested and chaotic. Eventually the city released us and we found ourselves a couple of miles south just outside the town of Vienne.
Since two, we have been parked in a riverside carpark. The impressive Rhone river silently edging by.
River cruise boats glide elegantly past, whilst men on jet skis and motorised surf boards which emit a sound like an angry wasp, annoy us. By six-thirty the noisy revellers left, leaving us to take stock of the day and plan tomorrow's drive to Avignon. It feels strange to be parked right by the Via Rhona cycle path. We can hardly believe we cycled along here just seventeen months ago. Today the cycle path has been very busy with tourers, and we feel a little envious. It is very hot now, 25c, so once again we will aim for an early start tomorrow, as we're sure the cyclists will want to as well.
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