Ardeche

The last three weeks didn’t exactly go according to plan for us. We figured we’d be in Spain by now but this trip had different plans for us. We’re currently in the Cévennes region, a bit South of Alès! It was hard leaving Camping Robert and its private beach at Lake Paladru, but we did and continued riding west. The Isère region was full of excellent riding, full of little pilgrimage and GR trails. We quickly reached Valence - gateway to the Ardèche region - where we had our first warmshowers host! Warmshowers is a community of cyclists that offer each other just that: a warm shower and a bed or place to camp. Perfect for bigger cities like Valence that don’t have any campsites. It’s also free! Funnily enough, our host wasn’t home so we didn’t get the full-on social experience, but at least we had a place to pitch our tent. After a mix-up with the address, we finally arrived at the right house, rinsed off with a very cold garden hose shower, and enjoyed the garden all to ourselves — tucked away from the buzz of the city. ...