From Geneve to Lyon

Vulbens, Seysell, Belley, Morestel, Cremieu

Headed down the Rhone on the bike trail. This the Confluence - where the Rhone and the Avre converge. The Rhone is the clear one.Picking up garbage via a horse-drawn vehicle, in Confignon.
This is at the base of a big hill, that took lots of pushing. A the top was the little town of Russin.
These fountains were great - for cooling down, and filling up water bottles.The path went through a large forest, on a rough, hilly dirt road. Tough.
Butter gets an "E" (worst grade) in the screwy food rating system they have here.In the town of Vulbens where we stayed was a castle. Not open to the public or anything, but we could see inside.
Starting off from Vulbens to Seysell. Off in the distance you can see Fort L'Ecluse, which we visited while we lived in Geneva.We had gained some serious elevation!
Another view of Fort L'Ecluse
Beautiful little road, but a lot of hills!
Towards the end of the hill, gravel road section. Whew!
Steep, but a cool castle in the backgroundA fire off in the distance
Entering the town of Seysell, France.
At the park, Peter is fixing a problem with his bike.The hotel
I think this was the first empty fountain we saw. It became a theme...
Dinner at the hotelPeter had fish, I had beef tartare.
Floods through the years
The next day, biking from Seyselles to BelleyThe persistent bike problem
Not quite a castle, but a pretty impressive home.A typical scene. It was starting to get really hot when biking.
Interesting little vacation cabins
A lake area/park along the way.
The town of Belley. There were lots of empty buildings here. Zero tourism, a kind of depressing town.
Also sad-looking dry fountains.
From Belley to Morestel. This bike bride looked great, but was the bumpiest bridge you can imagine.So often on hills next to the river, I would see an old castle. This one apparently was the Maison forte de Quirieu.
Cliffs on the way to Morestel
In Morestel, we were in an old (1880's) house that had been set up as an event space, they were hosting a wedding the next day.
Maison Ravier, the home of a famous painterAt the top of the medieval tower
From Morestel, we biked to Cremieu. It was not on the main trail, but on a shortcut, a gravel rail-trail
Stone table and bench along the way - would have been a great picnic spot, but too hot!
The old train station for the town of TreptApparently a recycling plant?
Another old train building, along the old train track converted to a bike trailArriving in Cremieu
The medieval market hall in Cremieu. It's empty now, but frequently there was a fair bit of activity there, kids hanging out, a little exhibition.At the Cloître des Augustins. I love these enclosed courtyards - so private, quiet, plenty of places to sit.
Our room in Cremieu. Air conditioned! With the temperatures we had, that was important.Another dead fountain.
These depressions are apparently where grain was measured, to make sure you got the right quantity and weren't shorted.France is very unlike the US in that there are little bookstores EVERYWHERE, in every little town. I think I counted three in this town.
The local school (or the equivalent of the local PTA) had a "festival of the senses". This lady had a demo on the sense of smell.We hiked up to the ruins of the priory of Saint Hippolyte.
The view was nice, and the ruins were impressive and beautiful.