Sunday 19 September 2010 - Valence
Eliza B
Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Mon 20 Sep 2010 18:40
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----- Original Message -----
From: Ron
Howard
To: mailasail blog
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2010 7:35 PM
Subject: Sunday 19 September 2010 - Valence We left Lyon mid-morning on Friday
10 September, after watching a large hotel-boat squeezing itself under a
low bridge. It took some minutes and only appeared to have about 5 cms to
spare. We then stopped at the fuel barge to top up our tank.
  About 1 km south of Lyon we passed the
Saone-Rhone confluence and joined the Rhone and then passed the entrance to
a very large dockyard which is catering for the growing barge trade. This
meant that we had to be prepared to give priority to anything that was moving -
fortunately, nothing appeared. The weather was bright and sunny although the
wind was quite cool.
 We had to wait at the first Rhone lock to
allow a very large hotel boat - which we had first seen at Chalon-sur-Saone - to
emerge. We then cautiously followed another small boat into the very large
lock and fixed Eliza B to a floating bollard which, as the lock emptied,
went down with the water. Just as well since the drop was over 9 metres
and it would have taken a lot of rope, and nerve, to hold on to a bollard at the
top. In reality, it was very smooth and very easy although Eliza B felt
very small in such a large lock.
   The Rhone is a much wider river than the Saone but
very pretty and has larger barges; there are also more of them.
We continued south, passing Chateau d'
Ampuis a beautiful modern chateau on the right bank. This is the
centre of the well-known Rhone wine producer, E Guigal. Also on the right
bank there are the very steep sunlit slopes with vineyards and notices
proclaiming the home of Cote Rotie and Condrieu. Most wine-drinkers are
aware that Condrieu is the spiritual home of the Viognier grape but how many
people know that Cote Rotie allows some Viognier to be added to the Syrah
(unlike the rest of North Rhone reds - more later).
 We tied up in a small port de plaisance at Les
Roches de Condrieu which is on the other side of the river from the village of
Condrieu (joined by a suspension bridge).
 The next day we explored on bike but we
were distinctly unimpressed - it was just a small French village with
nothing to mark it out as the home of the two famous North Rhone wines -
especially as they cost about 25 Euros a bottle in the supermarket and nearer 75
Euros (and upwards) in the restaurants. Apparently the vineyards are so
steep that all picking and harvesting has to be done by hand and this
'justifies' the price. We stayed for the weekend and went for a walk round
the nearby ski-lake and enjoyed a pleasant dinner at the local restaurant, "La
Bellevue" - but settled for a glass of Viognier and a nice Cotes du
Rhone.
On Monday morning we continued south with the
intention of stopping at Tournon and Tain l'Hermitage. Unfortunately the
Halte Fluviale at Tournon looked most uninviting - with no bollards to attach to
and questionable depth of water. After motoring past a few times to
inspect the area closely, we decided to continue our journey to Valence where we
discoverd a large, fully-equipped and very friendly port du
plaisance. By this time the wind had increased and was blowing about a
force 5 down the Rhone. So we were pleased to check in. It was very
peaceful - except for the rolling wash created by passing peniches - and stayed
there for a very pleasant week.
On Tuesday the wind had decreased and we cycled
into the town centre, about 3 km, to explore the town on foot.
Apparently, Napoleon as a young lieutenant spent about a year there completing
his artillery training before going on to greater things. There is an
interesting mix of old buildings and narrow streets and some newer open areas
and wide boulevards. There is also a bandstand named after the cheeky
cartoonist Georges Peynet, but I didn't discover the connection as I thought he
was Belgian.
   Wednesday was spent visiting the local supermarket
and then preparing to entertain Serge & Mireille for supper on the
boat. We hadn't seen them for many years and it was good to see them
again.
 On Thursday we caught the bus to Valence and the
train to Tournon. We then spent the day wandering around Tournon and Tain
l'Hermitage (the other side of the river), exploring the centre of the North Rhone industry. After a very pleasant
lunch overlooking the river and the historic suspension bridge. The bridge
was built by Marc Seguin who discovered that steel wire (composed of many
strands of thinner wire) could be produced with sfficient strength to suspend a
bridge. There are many bridges like this on the Rhone.
   We then visited Marc Sorrel, the well-known
wine-maker who was in the middle of his white grape vendage (Marsanne) but
he allowed us to taste the grapes; to our surprise they were very sweet
(honeyish) but small grapes with large pips. The next stop
was Valrhona, the home of the best (or most expensive) chocolate in the
world. We also managed to find the Cave Cooperative of the Tain and
sampled red wines from the four north Rhone appelations of St Joseph,
Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage and Cornas. (All, of course, from the syrah
grape.)
 This picture shows
the wine slopes of Hermitage - again requiring hand picking - and, at the top of
the picture the original hermitage which has been refurbished by its famous
owners, Paul Jaboulet.The rains returned all day Friday and we
stayed on the boat and started to install the wiring for two solar panels we had
purchased before we left the UK. (Well, we've been too busy before!)
In the evening, it had stopped raining and we went to visit Mireille and Serge
at their home at Crest and enjoyed supper with Philippe and
Anne-Marie.
The rain came back overnight and on Satuday morning
but had cleared by lunchtime when we were collected by Serge & Mireille who
took us to visit the impressive Chateau at Grignan, some way south of
Valence. It dates from the 11th century and dominates a hill on which the
old village is built around the castle. It has incredible views of the
Drome region.
  Later in the afternoon we went to a smaller hilltop
village nearer to Valence, Mirmande, where we attended a piano concert (as part
of their Patrimoine festivities) given by a brilliant young pianist by the name
of Antoine de Grolle. Afterwards we joined with Anne-Marie and Philippe,
who live in the village, and dined in the local
restaurant.
  On Sunday the sun was shining brightly but it was
windy and cold - autumn is arriving - so we stayed on the boat and continued
with the solar panel installation. In the
evening, we enjoyed a bottle of wine which had been produced in Mirmande
and kindly given to us by the local Mairie. We toasted our visit to
Valence and to the renewed acquaintance of Mireille & Serge
and Anne-Marie & Philippe.
Ron & Elizabeth.
 Ron & Elizabeth HOWARD
Eliza B, Moody 36
+ 44 7768 816 579
+ 33 (0)6 11 66 79 08
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