@leleaulait

Hier je regarder des articles sur le feu de Voreppe et je suis tombé sur une photo de la chapelle ou moi et Abel on aller au touuuut début qu'on se fréquenté, on était même pas encore ensemble quand on venait pour papoter et refaire le monde ici. Ça rappelle des souvenirs 💖

#Panorama ⛰☀️🌼🦋💗 #BelvédèreDeChalais #Voreppe #Isère #RhôneAlpes #France ✨💗💖💗✨ #Throwback #Souvenir #Memories #Balade #Rando #Grenoble #ValléeDuGrésivaudan #Chartreuse #Vercors #AmazingEarth #NaturalBlues #LetsTakeAWalk #Landscape #View #VueSurLaVille #Chalais #AmazingView #BeautifulView #BeautifulLandscape #Up #AboveAll #MontainLover #TouchTheClouds #MotherNature (at Belvédère De Chalais) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeOIz8Utihd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Tuesday 5 August 1834

6 ¾

12 ¼

no kiss not at all with her  A- better this morning  preparing for cousin breakfast at 8 ½ agree about carriage 15/. everything bonne main and all compris) for the whole of today -  off at 10 20 A- and I (and took George) in 1 horse calêche George and the driver sitting in front – in ¼ hour at and crossed the handsome suspension bridge over the Drac – finished only 6 years ago – the wood bad - taking it up and laying down fresh – kept close along the Drac (north) till after its junction with the Isère – just there 2 boats - 3 pair of oxen to each, the animals one man to each pair, hauling in the midst of the water (above the middles in the deepest part) towards Grenoble - at 11 5 turn left and in about 10 minutes at the village of Sassenage – drove up the hill towards the quarries – very steep and bad got out at 11 25 and left the carriage waiting - A- and I walked forwards – she tired and left her at 11 52 while I went to the top of the hill or monticule, a little above the quarries for the sake of the view – Miss W-‘s bowels not yet well walked quickish considerably the steepish ascent and stony road and great heat (tho’ fine air latterly on the higher ground) and in ¼ hour at 12 7 at the top of the hill – very fine panoramic view of the junction of the Drac and Isère and of the latter almost to Voreppe, and a considerable length of the former - pity the clouds hid in a great measure, the great height of the mountain range to the eastward – the plain or valley of Grenoble Graisivaudan [Grésivaudan] very rich and beautiful – enjoyed the view for 5 minutes then down again to A-  - at 1 40 with one stone for a seat and another for a table she ate her cold fowl and took her Malaga légèrement trempé de l’eau in 20 minutes – we were soon back where we left the carriage – went down the bad road in it and alighted at the hotel des Cuves at Sassenage at 1 20 - The landlord went with us as a guide – this little expedition took us from 1 23 to 2 28 but then we went considerably above the cuves in the wood to where our guide the proprietor making a zigzag walking and is going to erect a pavillon from a nice point of view – he had brought the property 15 days ago, 400 toises  of rock and wood for 370fr. - we had a steepish ascent along the high wall of rock (left) very pretty valley-cleft with a pretty cascade and stream utilisé for a mill – passed an insignificant hole or recess in the rock (yellow hoary compact limestone) then a few yards higher up the cuve a handsome cavern with mouth 2 streams meeting in and forming in it a very pretty cascade – the stream to the left on entering runs along a channel we could have gone up for a long and unknown length of way had we chose and had there not been rather too much water (no depth but not like getting wet-shod) - the man lighted his candle but we declined wading – another recess in the rock a little higher up – the man talked of making a pavillon here too – said he would spoil the place – advised a rustic bench and rustic table –from the intended site of pavillon above looking over a pretty green vineyard on the opposite little high plain backed wood and the out-peeping old tower part masonry past rock of the ancient chateau de Sassenage - I was struck with this little propriété and joked to A- about buying it - Sassenage a very good village- the famous cheeses made at the chalets on the pastures on the rocks above - can buy here (said out Grenoble landlord last night) at ./75 what 3fr. a lb. in London -  off on our return from Sassenage at 2 35 – drove close under the high almost perpendicular rocks – at 3 pass by (left) very rich land vines on frames and under them fine tall hemp - 1200 toises of this land (said out intelligent cocher the owner of our carriage and horses - keeps 12 horses) lets for 100fr. a year - at 3 5 alight at the Barmes (rocks) de Fontaine, a village near - the carriage met us at the other end of our walk, along a good wide double avenued road close under the barmes a perpendicular wall of rock 2 or 3ft. high? a pity the trees of our avenue were too near, broke the rock and spoilt the view - Elms poplars and willows - one of the poplars broken off about a yard from the bottom (blown down?) quite sound-measured from the ground to where they top was cut off, at about 3in. diameter

SH:7/ML/E/17/0069

28 of my parasols long i.e. about 28 yards or 84ft.! was perhaps about near 2ft. diameter at the surface of the ground - to buy the ground (line 6 from the bottom of last p.) let at 100/. one must pay 2000fr. per Stèré [Stère] and 1 Stèré [stère] (as the man pronounced it) = 900 toises carrés - this rick ground produces several crops of hemp for year after year de suite but rests (is fallow) sometimes or grows wheat and produces 3 crops in a year beet and other things - the coarse reedy grass we passed sometime afterwards (the coarse product of wet uncultivated land) called la laiche or perhaps better la banche requires no manure, no care, is merely and made into percés (little round stacks or pikilings with poles run thro’ the middle and sticking at the top) and sells for 80fr. the Stèré [Stère] for manure for the vines (Engrais pour les vignes) is put about the young sources or suckers in much if the weather be fine enough - M. Perrier (a cotton manufacturer and calico printer in the chateau of Vizille 800 people employed but lately only a filature de coton there) the richest propriétaire here - had from 2 or 300 stèrés [stères] - lately dead - his son married a mademoiselle de Lafayette petite fille to the general - the farm on which grew the coarse reedy grass noticed consist of about 200 stèrés [stères] - back at the Pont de fer (suspension bridge) at 3 35 – the river (Drac) and the bridge 410ft. long by 20ft. 8in. wide – the handsome strong pyramidal stone pillars at each end 45ft. high from the surface of the bridge and the bridge about 14ft. above the present level of the water which is now 3ft. deep in the deepest part under the bridge - (said the workmen on the bridge laying down new timbers) – some distance on the right (East) side the Drac before getting in the great high road to La Croix Haute and shockingly we were jolted – it made A- sick and poorly – our cocher said engrais was very dear – people let the engrais of their horses per annum the farmer taking it finding and brining the straw. - the dung of one horse (on these terms averages (not too dear) 25/. per annum) - our cocher for his 12 horses has 300/. a year - the richest part of Dauphiné .:. called le rognon de Dauphine is about 3 leagues du pays from here, at and about Boiron famous for its cloth from 2/50 to 6fr. l’aune - on getting into the route royale our cocher said it rose six ligues per pied i.e. ½in. per ft. - called La Course from Grenoble to Claix - it is a fine double chiefly avenue of Elms, large-leaved maple or small leaved sycamores, poplars - see the pont de Claix straight before us from the moment of getting into the great road - the pont is about the same level as the chateau or Bastille here - a great deal of land this way reclaimed from the devastating Drac only 8 or 10 years ago, and much reclaiming now - the water is drained off into reservoirs, and suffered to deposit its sediment (like our road sand at home) which is spread thick over the gravelly ground that us thus made into good land - this good road by Claix is new and is to go direct to Marseilles - but will not be finished of a few years - the road by Gap is 10 postes nearer than by Valance and this new road will be 10 postes nearer than Gap - they are working too at the road to Bourg d’Oisans [Le Bourg-d'Oisans] meaning to make a good carriage road this way to Briançon - good now to B. d’O-  but not beyond there - the driver tried it 2 ½ months ago - had the carriage to take in pieces to pass and so much damage done would not engage to go way again - 36,000 [âmes] in Grenoble - principle trade Ganterie, but not so celebrated for it as formerly - Claix a good little village - new - only 2 houses here 10 years ago - the valley (called Les isles) beyond the bridge not in cultivation till 30 years ago - ascend the hill (would be 5 or 10 minutes walking) and at the Pont de Claix or down the hill a minute or 2 beyond it, chez Fournier, restaurateur, at 4 40 -A- so sick and tired and afraid of fleas in the house would not get out of the carriage – I went to see the bridge then went back and persuaded her to go – fine bold arch, from rock to rock – not of very large street and built with cement mortar so did not strike me as being Roman Architecture tho’ they say it is - the outside line (particularly the northern) of the arch is not quite straight - as if the arch might have been built from each end and made it join in the middle - off back again at 5 ¼ and alighted at home at 6 20 - hay this year sells at 5/. + some sols the quintal ordinaire i.e. 50 kilos (the quintal metrique = 100 kilos (or kilogrammes of which one = 2lbs.) - the quintal of hay used to be from 2/50 to 3/. or 4/. wheat should sell for 6/. the bushel to pay the farmer it now sells for only 4/50 - so bread cheaper than hay and give the horses soldiers bread - good perhaps 1/3 or 2/3 rye [?] the wheat - a horse has sometimes 6lbs. a day of this - can only go in a carriage about or not quite ½ way up to the chateau or Bastille -  dinner at 6 ½ to 7 ¾ dawdling with Miss W- her bowels grumbling and she wanted petting from 9 ¾ to 11 ¾ wrote out today - very fine day - F69° at 11 50 pm.

J - 03 : été 2022 : l'été de la "bascule" pour le climat ? L'été 2022 restera dans les mémoires. 2 mois de canicule, 3 mois de sécheresse, des incendies importants dans des lieux hier sécurisés (Voreppe, Vif ...), des menaces sérieuses de ruptures d'alimentations en eau ... : que de chocs brutaux face aux habitudes. S'agit-il d'une "exception historique" ou de la "bascule" dans un nouveau climat ? C'est l'une des questions qui va mériter un examen détaillé dans les prochaines semaines pour

envisager sérieusement l'adaptation éventuelle des politiques publiques.

29 août 2022

Jean-Alexis Achard Voreppe

2021 Voreppe, l’Isère

La petite cascade enchantée pendant notre balade de dimanche 😁 heureusement qu’elle était là pour compenser ! (à Voreppe, Rhone-Alpes, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLm-0ubFqWX/?igshid=lyqn9bvky0kp

every thought danny has seems incredibly disjointed from the last but he’s on an elite level of that game where you start on a random wikipedia page and your task is to get to the most completely random and unrelated wikipedia page through seven clicks of links from that first page. the link is there it’s just buried deep deep deep deep deep down like the link between advecation fog and voreppe, a lovely little commune in southeastern france. vague and a stretch that will hurt your back

1834 August Wednesday 6th

I fear the enormity of this entry made for a transcribing pause. AL has now applied the new measurement unit of parasols to accacia trees. We and AL learn far more than is necessary about fruit farming, land measurement, holiday rentals and chimney top making. By the time AW objects to the flea ridden auberge both her and I have lost it. Make of this encyclopedic entry what you will. Frankly, I’d have barred the bedroom door after today’s info onslaught.

no kiss not with her at all - fine morning - F68 in my back room at 10:10 - breakfast at 9 - Ann still poorly her bowels no better - had our host M Bernard - he fancied the 11 minerals I had left out of the box = 20/. so I took only 4 for 6/. – quartz upon chaux carbouté 3/., cristaux de quartz 1/., spath pésante, bartye, d’annouay 1/., pierre ollaire 1/.

he calls set-e-ra is what our cocher called stèré – a setĕra = 900 toises carrés but they commonly go here by the journal (plural journaux) = 2/3 of a setĕra or 600 toises carrés - terre à chauvre is worth 3000 francs a setĕra - terre with vines and bled = from 2000/ 2400 francs a setĕra - tear de vigne = francs 1800 to 2000 francs a setĕra - the vine-hills (as at his own campagne) are what they call mi-côtes (i.e. demi côtes) - M Perrier has no land that he (M Pérard) knows of but at Vizille and none there but what belongs to the Chateau and may have from 60 to 80 seteras - but it is the Chateau which makes the land valuable - in buying land one has to consider where it is terre battie, or not; that is, terre with a good house on it, or not - where there is a very large quantity of land, the house is generally given in - where there is not much land, of the house is a consideration - the chateau at Vizelle valuable as being a large manufacturing - filature de coton and employing now 200 to 400 oeuviers - wheat is sold by the boisseau weighing 42 lb + or - according to the goodness of the wheat - it is now 4/50 per boisseau should be 6/. to enable the farmer to pay his way comfortably - M Perard gave 22,000 francs for his campagne (has 17 setĕras) and has laid out from 36,000 to 40,000 francs - wants 10,000 francs for all the trouble he has had the 28 months since he bought it, and asked 70,000 francs but his wife does not wish him to sell - he will assure the estate producing 100 louis = 2400/ per annum without making anything of the house - it is situate in what is called the Beauplan –

took a guide, and out, (left Ann although) at 11:50 to the chateau fort or Bastille on the high compact limestone rock north of the town - had got a considerable way above the engineer’s house when he himself came and I was obliged to turn back and ask leave of the commandant - vexed enough - but could not help it - went back the engineer with me - and shewed my passport - made my story good - the commandant very civil asked me to take bev[erage] en eau sucré and this the which I declined - went a good way up with me - gave me note to the lieutinent in command at the top, and asked me to stop at his and take something on my return and I promised to call - I counted above 350 steps and forgot to count those perhaps 20 or 30 to the very top, and the others lower down - besides all that traversing I certainly mounted 400 steps - very fine views of the town

about halfway and at the very top at 1:30 magnificent view of the valleys of the Isère and Drac - the former winds near the town in large folds - very beautiful - staid 10 minutes under the boiling sun enchanted with the view - the Graissivaudan valley at the apex of the angle stands Grenoble a very fine rich (deserving all of its praises – the fine high Savoy mountain snow-ridged on the east rather hid by clouds but the range hills of hills beautifully thrown together with pointed round elongated all shaped tops - everyone should go to the top of the chateau - from the higher mountain above it the town would be marked by the castle – heated as I was, I was well repaid –

down at the old tower, where lives the engineer and his wife, at 2:30 - very civil - hoped I should go and see them again - gave me a nice little nosegay from their flower pots on the top of the tower - he lost his right arm in Spain at the taking of Valentia (Valence) and - has 1500/. a year pay and 300/. gratification and lives, rent-free of course, in the tower – a taker of roads came in - said the new road to Marseille by Claix, Vizelle etc would be finished in 4 or 5 years as also the new road to Italy by Bourg d’Oisans, Grave, Madeleine, Lauzet etc to Oulx and Exilles and Souza would be done in 5 years - 10 leagues done - 30 more to do the road is done to beyond Bourg d’Oisans- 1/4 hour at the engineers ‘Mr de Matheis, Garde du Génie, Chevalier de la legion d’honneur, à Rabot’ – born at Turin - gave me his address written very well with his left hand –

and returning went to the marbrier, near the good stone bridge ‘Bernard fils Marbrier, rue du no.12, pr��s le pont de Pierre, à Grenoble’ - 1 chimney piece very pretty dark coloured ground much veined with yellow - found in a ravine near Grenoble a - no quarry of it - called brêche de tez, la cheminée conte 150/. transport to Paris 12/. and 15/. to London perhaps 30/. would engage it at 50/. - but what would be the duty? - could furnish 10 or 11 specimens of Grenoble marbles, or marbres du pays of the Dauphiny alps 3 1/2 inches carrés 1/4 inch thick at 3/. each –

home a 3 1/2 - paid all and off from l’ hotel des Ambassadors, Grenoble, at 4:35 – A-[Ann]’s bowels indisposed all the time – the town too low, and near the river - so glad to be off - like the neighbouring hills exceeding for living on - not at all disappointed with town or country - the town a good provincial town, though not handsome - had no time to see the musée - beautiful drive along the river winding tolerably near for some distance - at 5:35 having driven a very high by-road alighted at Campagne of our horte of a vignoble about 1/4 mile from the road (right) - formerly belonging to the Chartreux - shewed us the cave and the great 2 or 3 fontres (casks that 30 men could stand in at once) they left there, and the wine press - still perfectly good (of oak) though a century or two old – rez de chausée a good salon with cabinet for two beds at one end, and two other pieces [rooms] (small) – au 1er distribution with kitchen above, a bel? to be let – the [fermin?] under the same roof and the kitchen and 2 or 3 pieces reserved for his wife’s father and mother - I asked if the tenant could have a garden - no! But M Pernard would give him half the produce of the garden - this rez de chausée 1er well furnished for 1000 francs a year – for la belle saison May to October exclusive – everything really very nicely arranged –

find 7 1/2 foot parasol (in English umbrella) accacias, planted last November looking beautiful - had them from Martin Burdin Chambéri, at 24 sols per tree - and all sorts of rose-bushes at 12 to 16 sols each - find large 7 1/2 ft blueberry trees at 10 sols each – would he sell them to me at that price – M Penard will get and send me off to England as many as I please at the price he himself paid - the leaves of a fine young well headed mulberry tree sell for 20 to 30/. for the season – manure (engrais) (horse manure) very dear - had just 6000 francs worth into his land – but vines a hot thing themselves and did not do with a hot manure - wanted a cold one – la laiche bauche the best - the coarse ready grass (vide line 6 p 128) - too much horse dung bad, too hot -shewed his pavilion with great pleasure - pretty painted in fresco -an Italian from Turin did it and him and two men 2 1/2 months doing it for 600 francs - Ann sadly tired of so much talking she did not understand - but liked the place very well –

off again at 7, and at Voreppe (fine beautiful drive as before) a shabby little town at 7 1/2 - in the rough road coming away had lost the shaft’s bolt or staple - the blacksmith having waited for me (I was bargaining with the woman of the Inn, but she was trop exigeant and 36 minutes were lost) - off from Voreppe at 8:06 sorry not to staid the night but Ann thought we should have fleas in such a looking auberge and I determined not to give the woman more than 21/. for the night and breakfast tomorrow as though had little to give us for dinner and wanted 25/. - a pity to have to drive in the dark - fine rocks high and perpendicular we passed close under soon after leaving Voreppe, then fine shaped-hills and wood were dimly seen - alighted at l'hotel des Cours, chex Bearne at Voisin, at 9:40 - very good large room with two cabinets à un lit, at the end of the room - very comfortable - the master of the house very civil and reasonable - would object to nothing - would have all to me - and take my price - nice little supper- very fine day at 11:40 till about 5:00 p.m. then a shower and afterwards a few drops F70°at 12:10 tonight Not with her tonight

11 août 2019 / Voreppe

Voreppe, Isère 💙

#Panorama ⛰☀️🌼🦋💗 #BelvédèreDeChalais #Voreppe #Isère #RhôneAlpes #France ✨💗💖💗✨ #Throwback #Souvenir #Memories #Balade #Rando #Grenoble #ValléeDuGrésivaudan #Chartreuse #Vercors #AmazingEarth #NaturalBlues #LetsTakeAWalk #Landscape #View #VueSurLaVille #Chalais #AmazingView #BeautifulView #BeautifulLandscape #Up #AboveAll #MontainLover #TouchTheClouds #MotherNature (at Belvédère De Chalais) https://www.instagram.com/p/CeOHouut8Iv/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Saturday 2 August 1834

8

10 25

no kiss tho’ she came to me for about half hour at six this morning lay very quietly fine morning F67° at 8 am - breakfast at 9 – very well satisfied till the bill came – and then I said the being charged 8/. a night for our double bedded room and the 2 servants rooms was ridicule – however the man said I had agreed to pay 19/. per day for all and everything and he had distributed the price so as to come to that – that fact is, I have a good lesson - according to his valuation I now see what dinners and breakfasts ought to be in little town like this - off from les Echelles [Les Échelles] at 1 5 having previously agreed with the postmaster for the horses at 3 at 1/50 and the 4th at 1/. per poste, and paid him - telling the postilion I should only give him 1/50 per poste - alighted at the grotte, on the other side of the tunnel, at 11 39 – walked down the bottom of the old road and back in ½ hour - In descending the 1st natural cave (on the left) is of considerable extent – the curé a little while ago during la grande sécheuse went on ½ hour in it – sometimes on hands and knees  - a little lake at the far end of the cavern – the large cavern just on this side of the inscription of honour of Charles Emmanuel and a little lower down (right) now the water course, was the original road along which people made use of ladders to get up and down the inequalities and from which the neighbouring town was called Les Echelles [Les Échelles], on account of the ladders being left there - The man at the grotte would have accompanied us but he was not well and we could not now go into the cavern on the account of the late rain - but during sécheuse one could go thro’ the cavern and it is very interesting - off again in 33 minutes at 12 12 – a few drops of rain as we drove along from the grotte – on reaching Saint Thiebault de Coux [Saint-Thibaud-de-Couz]  found there was a capital most picturesque new road just opened about 2 months ago direct from Les Echelles [Les Échelles] by Voreppe where 2  good Inns – 6 ½ postes from there to Grenoble – 10 postes to ditto by Chambery – should save 2 postes by turning back - would have done so but for the torment of a little douane on entering France (vid. yesterday) - this road just going to be entered in the livre des postes - at present the postmaster charged the 1st stage postes, but it was not really so much - at the cascade de Coux [Couz] at 1 ¾ and alighted at La Parfaite Union, Chambery at 2 25 – tired – had ½ hour’s nap in my chair – then A- and I out at 3 ½ put into the post office my and A-‘s letter to my aunt Shibden – written last night and dated at Les Echelles [Les Échelles] – would be in Paris in 3 days and paid 6 sols français - put in the p.o. also my letter 2 ½ pages to ‘Lady Duff Gordon, Poste restante, à Munich, Bavière’ dated as today at Chambery - paid 1/. - will be at Munich in 8 days - then went to the nursery garden - saw Frederic Burnier - went about with us very civilly - told him to give the habitat and temps du floraison locally where  and time when gathered of each specimen - sauntered about the town – went to the castle – saw the Sainte Chapelle – fine painted glass windows – loft groined roof – exterior handsome old gothic except the modern Greek front to the castle yard – old ruined empty partly square and partly round tower singular but picturesque - Home at 5 25 – dinner (very good one) at 5 40 - had a Lavaret (salmo lavaretus) excellent sort of fish the fishermen on lake Bourget, at Hautcombe, asked us 4/. a piece for - as large and .:. 1lb. weight the 1st time I remember to have tasted this fish - melon brought with the veal steaks cutlets - sat  long over dessert – till 9 25 wrote all the above of today – a few drops of rain at the grotte and afterwards occasional showers during the rest of the day - F69° now at 9 25 pm - the drive from Chambery to Les Echelles [Les Échelles] is certainly very fine - Chambery a very nice town but one most marchander with everybody - I ought to have done so with my garden botaniste Mr. Frederic Burnier, but I never thought of it at the time - he said they had here 64 journals of ground in nursery - a journal = 4000 French ft. carrés - sometimes (in the spring and autumn and now when much work to do) 250 workpeople - have given up the establishment at Turin- but one at Lyons and Grenoble, the latter newly established -  with her twenty minutes before getting into my own bed

Dimanche 11 août 2019

Réveillés à 7h par Louis nous déjeunons au calme puis allons lever les grandes.

Une fois tous près nous prenons les voitures et allons jusqu'au monastère de Chalais (celui-là même où les sœurs dominicaines font les biscuits de Chalais : 380 kg par semaine !). Nous n'allons pas visiter la chapelle mais prenons le chemin du belvédère. Il a été dernièrement aménagé et ponctué de petites activités comme écouter le bruit de la montagne, toucher différents troncs d'arbre, voir le panel de couleurs vertes de la nature, admirer loin où à ses pieds, rêvasser sur un banc...

Le belvédère pour finir, entièrement sécurisé avec table d'orientation, plots pour prendre de la hauteur et vertige assuré. On voit à "une centaine de kilomètres sans tenir compte du relief", bon, il y a quand même sacrement du reliefs mais le plus à l'Est c'est le hameau des parents d'Isabelle (on voit le toit de la maison !) Et le plus à l'Ouest c'est l'entrée de Grenoble. Au loin les Alpes, Belledonne, le Vercors, les chambarans, devant, le Grand Ratz et derrière, la Chartreuse. Au pied, Voreppe et en éloignant le regard on a l'impression de voir une carte en relief de la région !

Sur le retour Marc et Zoé font le crochet par l'Aiguille de Chalais, le chemin qu'ils choisissent demande à Zoé un peu d'escalade mais le retour se fait sur un chemin plus accessible. Tout le monde les attendaient en regardant les vaches au pied du monastère. La descente en voiture se fait en usant freins et frein moteur (certains passages sont a 16% !).

Le repas de midi se fait avec le soleil. Christian a eu le temps de couper toutes les pelouses et le jardin est très beau. Plus l'après midi avance en plus le ciel se couvre. Les filles n'ont pas dormies à la sieste, elles ont une fois de plus retourner la chambre. Pour le goûter nous partons chez François et Cindy qui sont rentrés dans la nuit de leurs vacances à Saint-Malo ; lorsque nous arrivons c'est le branle-bas de combat pour rentrer ou protéger tout ce qui risque de s'envoler. Nous mangeons un gâteau au chocolat et les filles sont ravies de retrouver leurs cousines.

Zoé et Céleste regagnent la maison de Mamie Rolande en fin de journée. Nous restons dîner chez François et rentrons à Lyon dans la soirée non sans avoir rapporté du jardin d'énorme victuailles (des courgettes qui ont attendu sur pied une semaine par exemple). Merci !!!

Louis a crié tout le long du trajet et s'est endormie dans les bras après un câlin réconfortante à l'arrivée.

People are amazing!

It. Is. Sweltering. We’ve been cycling through through the French heat wave and have paid the price. Man down, man down! Liam is experiencing heat exhaustion, we think. On reflection, there is no wonder. With regular highs of 42 degrees Celsius, and it not getting cooler than 21-25 on a night, cycle touring through the heatwave has been an inhospitable environment. However, we’ve still managed to have a lot of fun along the way.

The rain.

We departed from our rest spot 11 days ago and had two days of rain and storms. In our little green nylon fortress, we could hear the rumbling of thunder for an hour before the lightening struck overhead. Then the rain arrived, wailing, merciless, startling rain, nearly collapsing our tent onto us. It felt like we were in the eye of a hurricane! And then, as fast as it arrived, it passed. Just enough water to guarantee that our tent was soaking for when we had to pack it away in the morning!

The following evening, we once more had rain. This time we had constructed a bivvy spot next to a large bush in some wildlife reserve land next to a major road into Montpellier. The campsites were too expensive to stay in and we decided to brave the elements and trust our gear. As the sun set, I flicked ticks off my camping mat, batted mosquitos away, crawled under a nylon ground sheet tarp, into my hot sticky bivvy bag, and cried. I was doing exactly what I wanted to do, but it was so hard. As it goes, I slept extremely well, and our system worked perfectly because we both woke up dry despite the rain all night. Of course, all of our gear was damp from the condensation! For added amusement, the busy road had turned into stand still traffic in morning rush hour, and commuters looked at us in bemusement and bewilderment as we stood on the scrubland brushing our teeth as the traffic crawled slowly by. I felt like I was an animal in the zoo!

Finally, the last night of rain… we splashed out on a campsite because we were depleted by being splashed on. The rain spat down on us all night in our tent, and the mosquitos circled menacingly. We, and most of our posessions, were damp. However, the sun was on its way! We rejoiced.

The heatwave.

Oh, just how much we would miss the feeling of cold air on our face, we did not quite appreciate. A new kind of dampness was in the post. A heatwave bringing 40 degree heat to most of France hit us in the face, and soon we would be battling with stifling, relentless heat. A blanket of exhausting warmth that did not fade even with the evening sun. Being constantly covered in a layer of salty sweat, turning us into desperate shade seekers, with a mortal fear of running out of water.

Our tent, definitely dry now, became uninhabitable. We abandoned it in favour of stringing a mosquito net underneath trees and sleeping outside looking at the stars, with no need even for a sleeping bag.

Litres of water, teaspoon after teaspoon of salt, we struggled on. Getting up early to cycle until 1pm because by 4pm, you could not cycle. By the late afternoon, the heat became totally unmanageable and fatigued.

We struggled on, I had more tears sheltering under a walnut tree at lunch time. The heatwave warning said a danger to human life. How could we carry on? Oh, but we did. Maybe a little foolishly, we bashed out 80km days, 1000m altitude climb days, long days, hard days… and we were only 150km away from our target when Liam became unwell from suspected heat exhaustion. Which brings me to my overwhelming memory of the past 11 days.

The kindness of fellow humans

It started with a stranger giving us a bottle of fresh mineral water along the Meditteranean Sea near Sete. It continued with two couples making us a coffee at a campsite in Saint Gilles, seeing us struggling with our stove in the rain. A Danish couple also gave us chocolate! Chats about the Lake District with an English couple replenished our spirits. Playing with some Spanish Children in the town square. And then, there was the free glass of wine the Wine Bar owner bestowed upon us, after seeing the Gendarmarie move us on from sitting on the steps of the Church in the town centre. So many cheers from French people and road cyclists - ’Bonne Voyage!’ ‘Bonne Route’ and my favourite - ‘Bonne Courage!’. So many offers of help with directions, or just general cheerful and heart warming interest in our adventure. We’ve been powered by human kindness.

The kindness overflowed when we stayed with three Warmshowers hosts in Valence, Chateauneuf-sur-Isere and Voreppe. Warmshowers is a network of cycle tourers who host other cycle tourers - and we were lucky enough to meet three amazing sets of people. In Valence, we met a woman who regularly cycles 200km days and is entering a 1200km race! She let us pitch our tent in her garden, fed us, washed our clothes and we swam in her swimming pool! Our next host fed us raspberries from the garden, and we listened to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack from our comfy bed. Our last host let us stay very last minute and arranged it from London… and also washed our clothes! We had such an amazing time with each host, learnt a lot about French culture, had really interesting conversations, incredible food, lots of laughs, and shared stories of travel and cycle touring. These hosts saved us from the heat! We realise now, just two days of camping in the heat and Liam fell ill. Those nights of shelter allowed us to keep going.

On the last day of cycling, a French woman flagged us down to offer to fill our water bottles. And then, when Liam got sick, an amazing woman accepted our Couchsurfing request. I cannot imagine how she felt when she received a message saying ‘my partner has vomitting and diarrhoea, can we stay with you?’… but she accepted and even came to pick Liam and his bike up from our campsite. She also took most of my things, and I just had to cycle a light bike 10km to reach shelter. We’ve been resting in her home today and she said we can stay as long as we need for Liam to get better. Even though she has family staying from England right now, our ex-pat Mancunian hero Angie, offered us a place in her home. People, are just amazing.

That brings me to the next bit of amazing. Our Workaway hosts that we’ve been racing to get to, have been so understanding of Liam’s sickness. They said as long as we can make it to Geneva (40km away), they can pick us and the bikes up. I am just blown away!

The cycling…

When I think of everything we have achieved over the past 11 days, it makes my eyebrows raise a little. We’ve cycled nearly 1300km now, and the last 7 days have been particularly amazing. Up impeccable cycle tracks, along beautiful rivers, past castles, Chateaux, Nuclear power stations, wetlands, parklands, sunflower fields, apricot trees, vineyards, apple trees, cherry trees, walnut trees, beaches, historical market towns, churches and through forests. We’ve swam in rivers and picnicked anywhere with shade. We’ve mostly been on the Via Rhona, the track along the Rhone River to Switzerland. However, we’ve taken a few detours to make the route quicker.

The route is getting hillier and hillier, and we’ve had to push up a few of the hills due to the gradient! This is no easy feat - my legs are much stronger than my arms! Most of the hills we’ve managed though, in low gears, grinding on, with regular gasp breaks.

The treats!

We’ve also gotten a little better at treating ourselves. We realised that our adventure had become a Cycle Tour of Suffering! So, we’ve managed to relax our budget a little, and stay in a few more campsites and have a few more bottles of wine. A particular favourite during the heatwave was buying a 2 Euro for 4 box of magnums and eating two each! We also love having strawberries and cream. We’ve absolutely needed to treat ourselves a bit in this weather!

What next?

So, we are due to start with our Workaway Host on the 2 July. However, we have to see how Liam recovers. We are a bit gutted not to finish our cycle adventure into Ogens - visions of triumphantly cycling over the Swiss border and arriving at our workaway host on bikes, have been shattered. However, problems are all part of the adventure. We remain upbeat, and feel blessed to be staying with the lovely Couchsurf host. We turned the disaster into part of the adventure. We will wait until Liam is well enough, then get a train to Geneva and be collected by our Workaway hosts, or get a train directly to them.

The verdict? What a bloody adventure we’ve had!! Cannot wait for the next few weeks… looking forward to being indoors and our Workaway Opportunity, but we will miss our bikes! So far our adventure has been everything we wanted it to be. The warmshowers, couchsurf and workaway experiences are making it for us a very exciting cultural cycle tour experience of human kindness, learning and exchange.