KYQ4: Ardèche Encore

Our place in the sun

We had a day to kill before our rooms at Malataverne by the Ardeche Gorge became available so we travelled across to Les Vans, a town that is the gateway to the Ardeche Regional Park. It was a late booking made whilst in France. It was worth a visit to this busy town that sits aside some wonderful limestone country in the Ardennes dissected by deep gorges. It was also the weekend after the Bastille Day celebrations and as such part of a long weekend for the French. The hotel was more of a motel with a small pool spilling over with children, bikers and hikers. Fine for a night and providing a stark contrast to the stone edifices of hospitality that became even more attractive in comparison.

I decided to travel by the D roads, across the country via Lussan, one of the 'Beautiful villages of France'. It is a fortified village situated on a limestone outcrop overlooking the vineyards of the area and a centre for the silk industry in the past. In the morning heat, its closely built houses and trees provided some protection from the sun but we were too early for lunch so travelled on to Barjac. Barjac is a favourite haunt and we had a large salad lunch before the short journey through oak forests and winding roads to Les Vans. It had been a market day and the streets were being cleaned. We explored the centre before arriving at the hotel that was close to the centre and had a pool. We had not figured on 32 rooms and most of the occupants already cooling themselves in the pool so it was slightly disappointing as was the pre-packaged breakfast.

Sunday was exciting as we were returning to our much-loved chambres d' hotes, close to Le Garn on the edge of the Ardeche Gorge. It was only an hour and a half away so we took a minor road into the forests enclosing the Chaussez gorge and spent an hour or so on one of the many trails that included part of the GR4 that runs east to west across southern France. We crossed the Ardeche river at Ruoms and took a back road over a ridge to Barjac where we had a tapas lunch in a favourite square. We phoned to see what time we could arrive at our accommodation at La Bastide de Muriers. We were told to come now and we arrived at 2:30pm. Evelyne and Jean-Pierre, the owners had become good friends since we first stayed in 2008 and almost every year since although Covid had prevented visits in the last couple of years. They were there to greet us and provide a welcoming drink and a slice of one of Evelyne's cakes. The next few days were predicted to have record temperatures and it was already 41°C. Unpacking could wait, it was time to head for the gorgeous pool that is never crowded.

The rooms are in an old stone Mas that has been painstakingly converted with a French flair for detail. With air conditioning, it is perfect for escaping the sun and spending some time watching the Tour de France. We had no desire to travel far and in the next five days, we stayed close to the base with just a couple of meals out. Breakfasts are superb with seasonal fruits, bread, local cheese, and homemade cake. There is a small kitchen in an outside stone hut that allows simple meals to be prepared. And that was it. I read a couple of books, watched the swifts that were nesting in stonework outside our room fledge their chicks, swam before breakfast and then another two or three times a day, and watched the last hour of the Tour de France every afternoon. I got through quite a few bottles of Pelforth blonde. My regular 5-mile morning run to Le Garn and around the forests and vineyards was only attempted once in the searing heat and only the prospect of a swim at the end kept me going. It was simple unadulterated bliss. No need to watch the Tory leadership handicap stakes or concern ourselves with the shit show that is the UK sliding into recession and depression.

Five days and nights passed quickly as we mingled with other guests from France and Switzerland and I practised my topiary skills on an Olive Tree for the second time. We visited the nearby village of Organs d'Avens that had been transformed during the lockdown, a new boulangerie, the primary school modernised, a new business hub, and a dozen or so new houses all built in the local vernacular with white limestone walls and spacious gardens and an upgraded hotel that had been run by the same family for four generations. We also visited Le Mouton Noir a restaurant deep in the country near Issirac where a young couple has combined local produce with a modern flavour in a simple but elegant new building.

Jean Pierre had retired from running the family estate that surrounds the Mas that has been converted into five suites of rooms for the chambres d' hotes. His land includes vineyards, apricot, peach, cherry, fig and almond orchards, oak forests for truffles, lavender fields and olive groves. He now helps Evelyne run the chambres d' hotes, although happily not the cuisine that she provides with an amazing skill at utilising the local produce.

We left shortly after midday for the trip to Nimes and arrived in good time for the flight home. More than could be said for the plane that had been held up on the outward flight from Edinburgh airport for 3 hours owing to delays caused by staff shortages. Ryanair made no announcement but did provide a free snack. Every time we land in Edinburgh the trek from the plane to the terminal gets longer and more confusing and the walk from the terminal to the bus stops for the parking gets longer. It would seem that Edinburgh airport is determined to make itself as confusing as Heathrow, the other logistical nightmare operated by Global Infrastructure Partners.