I’ve not really mentioned the heat, but it’s quite warm in southern France at the moment and for most of today’s ride the thermometer was bouncing around in the low thirties centigrade.

The sky has been cloudless throughout and riding through the middle of the day has sharpened our appreciation of shady spots and tree-lined tracks.

There’s a decent breeze blowing most of the time and today it was in our faces. Which actually cooled us a little, but slowed us as well.

After crossing the footbridge which links Tournon to neighbouring Tain l’Hermitage, famous for its Syrah vineyards perched high on the hillside we once again used the train to bypass a built up area at the start of the ride. The trains are well set up for carrying bikes and mid week you don’t need to pre book a space. But the stations are less cycle friendly, often requiring you to manhandle your machine down into and then up out of an underpass to the opposite platform.

Happily today’s stations had lifts to lighten the load, but they are minute and require you to stand your bike on the back wheel to get it into the lift. No mean feat with a fully laden touring bike.

Riding out of Livron-sur-Rhone, we were soon onto the Via-Rhone cycle way and heading South through a widening valley. Wine production was very obvious on most hillsides, but also limestone quarrying for the cement industry.

It’s a busy landscape, with road, rail and river all carrying a mixture of leisure and industry. The river carries a heavy load of river cruisers, vast barge-like boats with a superstructure like a low-rise hotel and a top deck bristling with passengers enjoying the view, the sun and, probably, an all-inclusive drinks menu.

Sights en route today also included a huge nuclear power station, with immense cooling towers, within the foot of which you could clearly see and hear the condensed water cascading down.

We stopped for lunch at an Intermarche in the village of Le Pouzin and feasted on lovely Comté cheese, bread and fruit. The village also boasted a narrow Roman bridge, miraculously intact and still in use.

Our second break was in the town of Cruas, where a fortified village hung from the hillside above, as we enjoyed a cold drink in the town square.

The Rhone in this area alternates between a single, wide stream and sections where it splits into a wilder form and a parallel “canal”, with barrages and locks maintaining water depth at levels that can support river traffic, even in drought.

The cycle way generally follows the wilder route of the original river, but occasionally crosses the stream and at times wanders into agricultural land, out of sight of water.

At the end of today’s journey, we moved away from the river to spend the night in the village of Ancone.

Last night’s Airbnb was another crisp modern apartment and the standard of this year’s accommodation has been high and somewhat less expensive than that encountered in the Loire Valley last year.

Today’s route

We wrapped up the day with a visit to a local bar cum pizzeria for a beer. As Ancone is very small it was the only option! A very friendly hostess offered us 3 types of beer, a blonde beer, a red beer and a peroni! We tried all 3 then Julie finished with a limoncello. We played skyjo while supping our drinks! a nice finish to the day.