Both
us of sleep badly despite the secluded appearance of the Aire. All night long
the bloke next door was driving up and down his gravel drive. On top of that
someone decided 5am in the morning was a good time to start up their digger.
After a quick trip round the local supermarket and a session on the wi-fi in
Mcdonalds (wi-fi spots are surprisingly rare so thank god for Maccies, I’m
lovin it – ahem) we move on.
We
drive north out of Montelimar, surrounded on all sides by the mountains. Thankfully
the road goes straight through the middle and is totally flat, quite a pleasant
surprise.
Poor picture, taken from onzo on the move, of the Rhone!
We
quickly pick up the Rhone and a very straight forward journey sees us arrive at
Andance where we stop for a quick lunch. It’s all very pretty, but there is
nothing happening and the weather isn’t great so we decide to push on towards
Annonay. Annonay is big and sprawly, but just north we find the village of
Boulieu and a very convenient Aire. Being Monday absolutely everything is
closed...
Even the locals can't find the boozer! Genuine graffiti.
The
village is lovely, but completely dead – really nothing going on at all, pas de
pub, pas de personnes, rien du tout, but it’s no chore to stay and sun
ourselves and attempt a bit of admin and life planning over a glass of red. We
nip into Annonay in the evening for a bit of wi-fi and a bite to eat and return
to the Aire without getting lost once. Honestly. Ahem.
The
next day dawns somewhat overcast, but we are cheered by the unbelievable
friendliness and charm of the lady at the Maison de la Presse who helps us
print and fax some stuff off to the UK. If the world were populated by people
such as she then it would be a happy place indeed, a more perfect example of
helpfulness and reason surely does not exist.
The weather finally closes in and rain threatens, this is a perfect
chance to throw Onzo at, what is hopefully, his last big hill for a while.
Bye bye Boulieu..
