Unlike Spain which was much more frugal and where I lived within the monistic and frugal alberges of el Camino. In France it has been the more refined jetes. The jete system in France is truly unique. Each one is very different. Some small and private, some very elegant, some very communal with shared baths, some with meals and starched sheets, some where you need to bring your own bedding and towels, but all clean and friendly. The jete last night was just a lot of fun. .......a summer camp for family's, complete with organized outdoor activities, dogs, games (I held my own at foosball but lost at a card game I didn't quite understand) a movie at night for the kids, big communal dinners with wine served like water.
This was the jete as I approached. It was entire once abandoned ancient village that was renovated into a summer camp for families .... high-up on the top of a plateau pretty much in the middle of no where.
My room was on the one on the 2nd floor with the 2 windows and the curtains drawn.
.... bustling with activity, I got a huge cheer and "Bon voyage" from the crowd as I set off this morning.
The day began high up on the plateau with a beautiful descent for about the first 10+ miles.
I was on a beautiful but empty well maintained road; what in the US I would call a State road (it had a white line down the center and generally a wall or stone barrier for protection on the cliff side), when I decided to be adventurous and take a less travelled, more like a county or town road that ran parallel.
It was fun for awhile but a learning experience. If I took this road on a climb it would have been fine although rather than a maximum 9 or 10% grade on the state road this on at times exceeded that by quite a bit. Though always paved on this very steep descent I had to look out for stones on the road and the surface could be like a roller coaster, and there was rarely any type of stone guard rail. I learned quickly that I had to keep my speed down below 25 mph.
All this being said It was fun. Amazingly even here there was, all around, incredible stone work in the bridges and retaining walls.
I got the feeling that the area was once more populated since often there would be a stairway or terraced stonework in the middle of no where with no house or habitation around.
Through much of this sometimes hairy descent I felt completely isolated and miles from any civilization. If I had ever let my speed get unchecked around a hairpin curve or hit a stone or big rut ...... well lets not go there. I was very glad to have Helen my touring bike with front and back disc breaks rather than Nellie. I eventually got safely back on the main road and the descent led to some inhabited towns and civilization.
...... in this case a medieval walled city.
I rode along some rolling flats for awhile until I got hungry and it started to get hot. In the charming village of Largentiere at about 1:00 I stopped and visited the local tourist office. The young lady was just leaving for lunch but told be where to go for .......
........ lunch ...... and a swim
When I returned to her office she had a great place lined up for me in a old historic village about 30 miles down the road. The little old lady who owned the building was there to see le Americano en bicycle and the both posses for a photo.
The day ended with a longer ride than I had expected, but partly because I had to pass through a more urban area .........
.... France has its share of commercial strip roads and malls and even a McDonalds I passed. No picture they look the same in France.
Then I had 2 long climbs and a longer day; 75 miles, than I had expected, before tonight in a jete in Alba- la Romain a very old village with Roman ruins.
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