Sion (I think) to Bex

September 24, 2023

Just kidding, it's Sion

Breaking new ground, no rain today! Cool, sunny - fantastic biking weather. We don't have a destination yet, as we biked a bit further last night than (ahem) intended, and we don't want to stop in Saillon (where we had booked, and then cancelled last night). So I quickly book a small B&B which will be a nice ride today, and makes a short ride to Montreux the next day (30km), giving us time to get to a bike repair shop for my pedal.

It takes a few roundabouts and some strangely busy Sunday traffic to get through in Sion, and then we break out onto a very nice gravel path.

After about 5km of this forest, we get onto a paved pathway with views across to the right side showing criss-cross roads to access their vineyards and fields.

Fox news reports that these zig-zags were built by aliens.

Soon we have those orchards on the left of us, and the path turns to pavement. We bike a long ways along this canal, a portion of the Rhone. Just like on the Rhine, they manipulate the river paths for their uses - here it is mainly agriculture.

Irrigation for the orchards - mainly apples.

We do see some purple grapes, so maybe the reds will get better. We should have been trying the whites, as so many grapes here are white.

Apples to the left of me, grapes to the right, here I am stuck in the middle with you!

We cross the canal a number of times, always surrounded by orchards. Here I had to take a photo of this sign - something we could use in Canmore.

I was wondering how we were going to get across this major highway, but of course the Swiss take care of their bikers!

Marjory is getting hungry, but it is Sunday and nothing is open. We keep "google mapping" Migros and Coops, but they are all closed till Monday morning. We see this Coop in the distance, and decide to take a chance when G-M's says its open. Yay! A hit. So I get a sandwich and Marjory some cheese to go with her crackers. A riverside lunch and we are off again.

This area is famous for its pure water - Evian is pretty close actually (we will bike through it in a couple of days). We stop along this sign which explains where the aquifers are.....

And I decide to try it out. Fantastic! No flavour that I can tell - a good sign - and several bikers and a couple of cars stop to fill up as well.

I even got Marjory to give it a whirl and received a thumbs up.

We wind our way back to the Rhone proper, and notice a small stream coming into it. The contrast between the stream and the glacier-sourced Rhone is clear. Maybe that clear stream is the pure water we just were drinking?

Coming around the bend near our cutoff to Bex where we are staying, and the photo just takes itself.

This could be the Bow River back in Canada. But either way, it is stunning in the sunshine.

We arrive to that little B&B we reserved last minute this morning. Five enormous rooms for rent, each with a little private terrace out back where we could store the bikes. We arrived early, it is sunny and we have a big room. Hmmm, I think its laundry day! The bikes would soon be utilized as drying racks. This place also is renowned for its restaurant, and an apertif is waiting. See you tomorrow.

Private terrace for bikes. 25 sq m room. What's not to like?

Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 200 km (124 miles)

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