Day 60: Tournon-Tain to Baix

November 5, 2022

Heart

Comment

With a market scheduled for across the street from us in Tournon, and a larger one across the passerelle in Tain, we had our hearts set on some of that yummy BBQ chicken and potatoes. Most times that we have seen this, we either already had lots of food on board or it was the wrong time of day.

Somehow we forget about that time of day thing, because we popped put of our hotel at 8:00 a.m. and naturally looked at the chicken man just setting up. Oh.

We went across to Tain and found there a decent but not huge market. That means to us a lack of giant woks, filled with strange creatures, and a lack of exotic prepared foods. Even so, we enthusiastically went around looking at the cheeses, sea food, and such like. Dodie had read a humourous description of market people arguing over how to display the product, when they do it the same way every week. We immediately noticed a debate over setting up a tent, and chuckled.

Breakfast at the hotel would have been really skimpy, so we'll make our own.

Figs and muscat grapes - not often seen in groceries at home.

Last time in Normandy we passed about 20 km north of Pont l'Eveque, and I regretted missing out on their cheese. But here is my chance. This trip, we were in NeufChatel but just did not get any cheese. I asked the cheese lady today for it and she said it is too costly, so they do not stock it. Hmmmpph. With this Pont l'Eveque, the box alone will be worth the cost for me.

Back on the Tournon side, we noticed the large number of tour boats moored near the town. And indeed, the place was filled with people being led around by guides holding signs on sticks aloft. One big attraction here is the church of St Julien. Uncharacteristically we did not check it out - too focussed on chicken today!

Here is a tour boat passing in front of the church on the Tain side.

Yesterday I had thought that the street in Tournon facing the water was the main or maybe only street. But there is an old town behind that, and we did a quick circuit of it today. The market in Tain had had only one small baker, so we were in search of something more. We found a place with a great selection of brioches, plain ones, one with chocolate chips, or my favourite - with praline. I was so tickled to have something of such supreme quality, here on its home territory.

As we cruised happily by the river, on the great trail and approaching Valence, we had the (for this season) rare pleasure of meeting another touring cyclist. He pulled up beside us and spoke in nicely fluent French. But we soon discovered that this was Chris, from northern England, and we were more than happy to carry on in English.

Of course we exchanged and answered all the Usual Questions, learning that Chris had been touring in France for several years. We talked about equipment, maps, blogging, and so much more that you think to say while pedaling along for some time.

Having struck out on chicken in Tournon and Tain, we had reset our sights on Valence. We read up on it and had put a flag in our GPS for the market square. As we entered Valence, we pulled over and prepared to say goodbye to Chris, and then to set off on our chicken hunt. We were doing this, when two more cyclists pulled over! These were Yannick and Nicolas, from Freiburg in Germany. Yes, yes, more UQs.

Yannick and Nicolas were headed for Cape Town, yes, South Africa. They would hit the Mediterranean and proceed into Spain, then cross to Algeria and point their bikes south into the Sahara! Naturally I asked if they had been following Peyman and Matilda on Youtube, as these did the same route. The answer was yes! Small cycling world.

Chris, has exactly the equipment we would (did) choose for extended touring.

We have been asking ourselves what word could best be used for a clumping of touring cyclists exchanging UQs by a roadside. We thought of dozens of words, settling on a "serendipity" of cyclists. What do you think?

Nicolas stepped back to take his own photo of the group. He was nonchalant about that injured knee, attributing it only to a "bike accident".

Our three new friends head off down Via Rhona. We will hunt chicken instead.

Dodie led us unerringly to the market square, and was just about beside myself to see the people pouring in, and the number of stalls.

The market had two BBQ chicken vendors, both with long waiting lines. Dodie joined one line, leaving me parked expectantly with the bikes over to the side. Dodie had almost reached the front of the line when the vendor declared himself sold out. Whaaa. We went over and lined up at the second vendor, but when Dodie reached the front there was only a small chicken that maybe no one had wanted, and four small potatoes. She went for it!

Dodie returned to the bikes a lot less exuberant than when we had reached the market. Still we found a bench and ate our little chicken, sort of. Dodie squirreled half for later. Can't squander such a prize! But we were still hungry. We found a stall with a lot of varieties of spring rolls, and bought a pile of those (squirrelling some again for possible future hard times.) Ok, we also bought really super candied fruits, fresh fruits, and more. It was great!

Never seen a pomegranate that outside colour before.

My brioche had more praline, but this looked good too.

Moules! might be good with frites, maybe.

We had concentrated mainly on the market, but we formed an impression of Valence as a fairly large and sophisticated place, with many buildings that seemed almost Parisian.

We had had a lot of fun with the various markets, and our new cycling friends, but the (excellent) signs told us we needed to get on with it!

Looking across to the Ardeche, impressive cliffs.

A square by the river, on our way out of Valence

Now it was time to focus on cycling down the river. We crossed and recrossed, on windy bridges that were a bit scary. We crossed the Drome, after which the region on the east side of the Rhone is named, and we saw various ruins above towns. It was a bit of a blur, because now, as is becoming usual, we wanted to avoid being caught in the dark. Dark now is coming at about 5 p.m.

We crossed a lot of windy bridges today. On this one, we had to take the lane.

Near Le Pouzin we came upon these twin Ibis hotel buildings, one labelled regular and one budget. I took this photo because the scene was so familiar -we had stayed in one of these, in 2018, I think. I would have to check the blog to see if Grampies 2018 went for Budget or not.

Our spot for the night is in Baix, not much further along. It is a real budget option at 47 euros, but is a semi hostel kind of place. One advantage of this is an available kitchen. This gave us a chance to prepare some of the treasures we got at the markets. It struck me that every single item we have - chicken, brioche, grapes, baguette, cheese, pears, chocolate, is the absolute best you can get in these items, in the world! And it was all here with us in our hostel kitchen.

Look at that baguette and cheese. Just so very great!

Today's ride: 72 km (45 miles)
Total: 2,661 km (1,652 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	10
Comment on this entry	Comment	0