30 June St Hippolyte to Malbuisson
Fine meal on the terrace last night (marbre of trout and veal in red wine sauce for Norm, dinner of champignons and free-range chicken in veloute sauce for Vee) but breakfast only served inside, and it was warm. The ride started in the valley of the Dessoubre, which we have cycled before, but we exited by via the defile des Epais Roches past a pretty waterfall and had a worker's plat-du-jour lunch at Orchamps-Vennes for 9.50 euro with a 25cl of rose for 2 euro! A small pass of 958m followed by a lovely ridge road into Pontarlier, where we sheltered on a cafe terrace from the regularly scheduled afternoon rainstorm, then Cluse de Joux, with a castle and a fortress frowning down from the two sides of the valley. A bit of exploration in the area of Lac St Point, looking for good accommodation - stayed at Auberge du Caude, just south of our usual haunt of Malbuisson which was a bit over our budget. 107 kms of fairly hilly cycling. We had an aperitif in the garden, snails in pastry followed by a saddle of hare for Norm, colourful vegetable terrine and coq a la bier for Vee - all yummy. Excellent chariot de fromage (Rodney, we were thinking of you) with a very well informed waiter advising. Guess the patissiere must have been on holiday - 3 chocolate turds on a plate for Norm, airy overcooked creme caramel all garnished with cream bomb.
1 July Malbuisson to Oyonnax
Excellent breakfast with more cheese and off along the high valley of the Combes des Cives. Stopped at Chapelle des Bois for coffee where the water source was marked "non-analysee" because the mayor was tired of complaints from visitors blaming the water when they'd had too much sun or alcohol. Spectacular downhill with lots of railway viaducts to Morez - an unexpectedly pretty town where we spent 5 euros for our picnic lunch, got deafened by the mid-day siren and found another candidate for our favourite-road-in-France. This was a one-lane, road closed to motor vehicles on the weekends and unused during the week, through the Gorge de la Bienne which threaded its way between the legs of the viaducts and along the rocky hillside then another swoopy downhill to St Claude, which we had considered as a stop but was unappealing, so we continued up the Crete de Surmontat with lightning and thunder (again just after 3pm) on the horizon before a slight up and another long swoop down to Oyonnax at Hotel Bouffard - a four generation enterprise a bit down at heal now, but good value. We really overate tonight - large salads for entree, (Vegetarians skip the next bit) then a shared cote de boeuf, perfectly grilled - a little char on the outside, through pink to rare in the middle - with dauphinoise potatoes accompanied by Mondeuse. Sleep of the dead.
2 July Oyonnax to Chindrieux
Down the valley on a superseded main road to the pretty lake at Nantua, before our morning hill-climb to Col de la Cheminee (925m) on a surprisingly busy country road and swoops again to the valley of the Rhone. We decided to limit the day to 90 kms and looked around for a hotel near the canal which connects the Rhone to Lac du Bourget. Our first attempt in the charming little waterside down of Chanaz was foiled by an unfriendly hotel-keeper, but we landed on our feet at a little roadside hotel on the Aix-les-Bains side of the lake. Very friendly and charming owner and a good looking menu. We snoozed the late afternoon away and now it's time for an aperitif!
A delicious meal but too large - Norm suffered for it later. Norm had jambon cru, a fish mousse, lamb chops, Vee had lavete (a lake fish) with almonds and fruit salad, accompanied by a bottle of the local wine, Chautagne.
3 July Chindrieux to St Pierre de Chartreuse
After many visits to the west side of Lac du Bourget, we finally cycled the east side instead. As there is only a red road on this side, we always thought there would be too much traffic, but not so. It's a lot flatter on this side and there were lots of cyclists, including a man our age who couldn't understand why he couldn't catch what appeared to be a girl with luggage - he was surprised when we finally hit a hill and he caught the tandem. From Chambery we were in familiar territory. We have climbed Col du Granier at least 4 times and this was the hardest. Either the road is steeper or we are less fit! It was certainly hot. We had a light lunch at the cafe at the top, then dropped into the gorgeous valley of the Entrements before the also familiar and also harder than before Col du Cuchoron. We didn't stay at the hotel at the top of the pass as we had done before, but dropped into St Pierre de Chartreuse where we found a very deluxe but inexpensive Chambre d'Hotes owned by two very fit and active octagenarians. A more modest dinner of salad and beef accompanied by a Cotes de Rhone.
4 July At St Pierre de Chartreuse
The hosts talked us into staying another night with suggestions of good circuits we could do from here. We took the light-weight choice of cycling down the Gorges de Guires Vif and back up the Guires Mortes. I can't say one was more lively than the other, but both were beautiful. It still amazes how well France can integrate a road into a difficult canyon without compromising the scenery. One answer is: they don't make it too easy to drive. It would require a driver's full attention even without 18m long logging trucks. We arrived back early and had a relaxed afternoon watching the first time trial of the Tour de France. Tonight we feel like pizza and salad at the local bar.
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