Day 59: Le Pouzin to Bourg Saint Andeol

October 7, 2024

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Kelly IniguezNow I'm looking at the map - this is close enough to our intended route this summer, we could detour a little more and visit the nougat factory ourselves!
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2 months ago

The standard French breakfast can be a skimpy affair, and we have been skittish about paying what we see as inflated hotel prices for it. When we booked last night's Ibis stay, five months ago, breakfast was quoted at €10.50. At that price, we were on the edge, but we went crazy at the last minute and decided to go for it. However, when we proffered the cash we found that the hotel now wanted €12.85. That's a 22% increase, over 5 months. We could annualize that at over 50%. Many would react differently, but the Grampies freaked out, scraped their money off the counter, and flounced off. In absolute terms, the sticking point was under 5 euros, so go figure.

This drama unfolded at the breakfast room which is run in common with the two Ibis's on the property. The regular Ibis customers thereby are getting no different food and no different pricing than the Budget ones. Hotels are certainly free to offer rooms of different qualities and prices - like the Bridal or the Presidential suite. But we just find this two independent but not independent hotel scheme weird. Therefore as before it warranted a photo:

From Ibis we crossed the river to once again be on the right bank, the Ardeche side. This is the side which generally has the cliffs and the almost mountains, no so far back from the river. You can see it behind the houses, in the next two shots.Near Baix there is a small passerelle in the form of a suspension bridge. Dodie, who is so good with heights, nevertheless hates bouncy suspension bridges. But this is just the warmup. Rochemaure, further down, had a doozy. Weak hotel internet keeps me from showing it just now.

If you don't like the passerelle, you can take the road. That's the road down there!

The bike way continued excellent, but it developed a new annoyance - barriers. They were everywhere - like a dozen in a kilometer. They were placed at every single access point to the trail. We appreciate the millions that have been spent on the route development, but the installed price of these barriers can not be cheap - why waste the money?

The Ardeche hills here are comprised of limestone and granite. Here below they are processing the limestone. Large pale cuts in the mountains could be seen along here.

Also very much in evidence is the Cruas nuclear power station, with four giant cooling towers. There is a fresco on one by artist Frederic Gracia, I think. If yes, it's one of many he had done on various towers. Internet is too weak here for me to learn more about it. Does it make the thing seem less threatening?

Tricia noted on her trip through here last spring, the conjunction of solar panels with the nuclear station. They are using them as shelters in the parking lot - an efficient use of space.

Every time we travel down the Rhone we make a special point of visiting Montelimar. The reason is that Montelimar is a hotspot for production of nougat. Real nougat is a wonderful thing - concocted of egg whites, honey, nuts, and dried fruits. You can also find a weak knockoff in the form of the Mars bar. We have researched nougat and Montelimar nougat a little, but long ago settled on Savin as being the best. They call the shop Suprem' Nougat.

Suprem' is located on the National 7, which used to be the main drag from Paris to Marseille. It was a summer holiday thing, and the nougat shop thrived from the traffic. Times have changed, but the nougat is now even more famous and exported to many countries. Suprem' however still harkens to the National 7 days, and has a series of iconic trademark paintings (from 2009) highlighting those days. We find them charming.

This one represents the shop, and it accurately shows the driveway that leads to the factory part. We went down that driveway and got a tour of how they make it.

This one portrays the tourists at the Mediterranean, where they can also buy the nougat.

Here is the nougat being sold at the farmers' market.

You can see the shop's devotion to these graphics, which appear as well on their newish truck.

Inside the shop there is of course a focus on all the varieties of nougat on offer. But half the shop is also devoted to Provence type souvenirs. This established Montelimar in our minds as the start of Provence. Provence is a place so staggeringly special that its exact start point in the mind is significant.

Over to the nougat now.

Bags of different flavours. Nougat is offered here as "hard" or "soft" versions.

Not sure how we feel about chocolate covered, vs "au naturel".

Calissons are a Provence specialty with orange jelly and almond flavour.

We got a tour of the factory section, and found it fascinating, plus they gave us a lot of samples!

Whipped/cooked egg whites are a big part of nougat.

The machine at right is mixing honey with other ingredients. The man in the white tee shirt is our guide. He has been here 33 years. The couple talking to him are from Munich.They were really fascinated and impressed by the production.

The nougat gets pressed out into those giant sheets, which then cool.

The man in the back is running nougat sheets through a slicer, that produces the little individual pieces. The man and the girl are separating pieces that are stuck together, and picking out anything that is misshapen. Interestingly, such off cuts are melted back into the egg white mix, so there is no waste.

I think this is a cellophane wrapping machine.

I am not sure what this does, but it looks complicated and expensive!

When we first saw nougat production at this shop I was surprised that is seemed similar in scale to a bakery. But I think now the equipment is more sophisticated than for a bakery. Even so, it remains a typical French "artisanal" operation. The man from Munich, and I, were amazed that we were allowed right up beside the machinery, and to mix in and interfere with the workers. In Germany and in Canada, health and safety officials would have had a fit. On this we say "Vive la France"!

Back out through Montelimar, we bypassed the old centre. We still had lots of distance to cycle, and we had not only detoured but also joyously piddled away the afternoon.

From across the river, we look at Viviers Cathedral:

There are these two unique crags nearby.

Across the water, on the non Ardeche side, it suddenly looks like Ardeche, with dramatic cliffs:

Only the railway runs on that side. There is no road or bike trail.

Where the cliffs are about to end, there is this old suspension bridge. It's called the Pont du Robinet, and is from 1847.

Tricia had written about flooding in the spring, and how water was up to Ken's handlebars before they gave up at one spot.

Tricia had written that there was pavement under Ken's feet as he attempted the crossing. If this was the spot, though, wandering left or right would put you in really deeper water.

This ruined farm building is left as a reminder of a flood in 1796 here, that killed four people.

We arrived in Bourg Saint Andeol, and were pleased to find that our place was the really old Hotel Le Prieure. Dodie observed that it look "medieval", but the owner pointed out it is older - 13th century!

We have been thrown back many centuries. (But the wifi still works!)

We have a patio that looks out onto the Rhone!

Epilog: That "Chiff Chaff" that we saw at the train station in Macon was correctly identified by Scott as a Black Redstart. Here is another shot of it.

Today's ride: 74 km (46 miles)
Total: 2,998 km (1,862 miles)

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Karen PoretGlad you both seem to be doing ok! Hope this continues!
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2 months ago

Steve Miller/GrampiesTo Karen PoretWe generally do just fine. Quitcher bitchin' and get on with it is our motto.
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2 months ago

Karen PoretTo Steve Miller/GrampiesThis IS why you continue to make it! 😉
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2 months ago