Cycle Touring in France: Heading for the hills

After an overnight stay in the middle of 'Les Dombes', a flat plain with hundreds of small lakes, we headed off west towards the hills where the grapes are grown for the wines of Beaujolais. It was a beautiful clear morning and easy cycling along the quiet country lanes until we reached Belleville, a large town where our first Voie Verte started. These 'green routes' are free of motorised traffic and open to cyclists, roller bladers and pedestrians. They usually follow disused railway tracks or canal towpaths but some of them have been constructed purely to provide long distance routes across France, linking with other countries in Europe. This path followed a river towards Beaujeu where we planned to stay for the night at a Chambre d'hôte. It rained a little in the afternoon and we sheltered under some trees until it passed. The evening turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip so far. Beajeu is in the heart of the Beajolais country and our accommodation turned out to be an large house on the side of a steep hill overlooking the vines. Our room looked out directly over the orchard and valley below. We had dinner with the family and two other couples after an early evening walk around the villages nearby. We we treated to a sumptuous, regional meal starting with a type of cheese tart served with Chardonnay, followed by Lyonaisse sausage, cooked in red wine and red currants, and then crepes with raspberries picked from the garden whilst we were having the first course. We also had a couple of bottles of Brouilly to share and an interesting bilingual conversation with the English and Belgian guests.

Leaving Les Dombes in the morning