Bike Holiday Day VIII – Ardèche and Chartreuse

Final bike day – a long trip ahead, I left our ‘base camp’ hotel in Cocurès at seven, before sunrise, to get a really nice view across the Northern Cevennes when the sun finally came out. I made good progress and reached the famous Gorge de l’Ardèche, including the Pont d’Arc, as the first set of canoers passed underneath. Still, the large crowd was still absent, and based on the many warning signs of heavy traffic, straying sightseers and congestion I can only imagine what this looks like later in the day.

After that, a long motorway stretch to north of Grenoble to find some curvy roads again passing through the Chartreuse Natural Park and cutting off some more motorway riding, too. Then entering Switzerland, it was mostly stop and go traffic from Geneva to after Bern, where I lost my patience and tried some other sets of backroads to at least get out of the stifling heat and the queues. Almost 3000 kilometers since last Friday!