Even if I don’t really like big cities, even I will admit I rather enjoyed my overnight stay in the Hotel Royal (one of the cheaper ones central ones, as not en suite facilities, but lovely room and bed) and the general wandering around in the sunshine yesterday. I had lunch at a bakery close to Châtelet-les-Halles, and then jumped on the RER train to Charles de Gaulle airport. All very easy, and hardly any more expensive than going direct to the airport from Valence, thanks to the cheapness of the Ouigo train.

Saint Sulpice church was definitely a good place to visit – very impressive with lots of features to see, and though I’d not call it ‘beautiful’ in the way I find Exeter Cathedral, its still amazing. Seeing the restoration work going on at Notre Dame is also extremely interesting – the scale of it is astonishing. But probably the greatest pleasure was just in the wandering and taking in sights along the Seine and elsewhere.

Anyway, suffice to say, I’d not rule out doing the same again. But the next trip will be via Lyon airport, with friends, and a hire car, at the end of May.

I’ll have various photo catch-ups to do when I get back to Devon: I left Romeyer yesterday, and stayed in central Paris overnight. After some sightseeing this morning, my flight back to Bristol is this afternoon.

I’d thought about going back into the amazing medieval church of Sainte Chapelle, but with its cost of entry and all the security for the whole area, decided to view from outside. Even just that is stunning!

… and more splendid weather made it a good one to head south on the bike for a longer (75-mile) ride. The route is a fairly standard two-col one – Prémol on the way south, and the Pré Guittard on the way back to the Roanne valley. But this time I took a DIY filled baguette (paté and tomato) for lunch, and stopped in the lovely la Charce for a proper photo session: I realised I’d never done this super little perched village properly. And very rewarding it was (and the baguette was splendid too). All in all, a lovely day.

Tomorrow will be a gentle morning, followed by the usual Valence TGV to Paris journey, this time stopping in central Paris overnight before a Thursday afternoon flight back to Bristol.

The countdown to departure (Wednesday) has definitely begun, so I’m mapping out the remaining days to make the most of them, without overdoing it (and needing a holiday afterwards). After yesterday’s exertions, just the ‘standard’ short walk round the block this morning, then a there-and-back ride to Cirque d’Archiane this afternoon.

I can’t remember if I’ve been there in the spring – certainly I’ve been there in June, August and October, and if I have paid an Easter visit, I don’t think I’ve seen it look as lovely as it did today, with the river full & clean, and the foliage that’s appeared really luminous. A corker of a day.

Well, to be honest (always a good policy), it was a ride and a walk, as I cycled up to ‘le Château’ at the top of the Meyrosse valley to get to the start of the walk… that took me the best part of an hour, as it’s a steep (and rough, in places) 500m climb. Then on foot the climbing continues to Pré Peyret at 1600m. The nice thought though was that nearly all the climbing was done before my lunch with a view!

As usual, I took way too many photos, so here’s a selection. But I think you’ll see why I took way too many, and why I’m still grinning now.

I returned to the 300-year-old wisteria in Crest today: just ten days ago it was weighed down with snow, and today it was resplendent! After that, I went a short distance west to the famous Pivoines Rivières, the most amazing collection of peonies you are ever likely to see, and lots just come into flower. If the evidence of today is anything to go by, they can cope with a strong wind (being close to the Rhône, they will often catch a Mistral), but the owner said they need to be in sun at least half a day in order to thrive. And they aren’t cheap either!!

All in all, a lovely (and flat) ride. The Drôme is looking good, and it was very pleasant to make frequent short photo stops: it’s a delight to see spring really springing here, with all its vivid colours.

No, it’s not someone I’ve bumped into, but the mountain the other side of Die which overshadows that town, and gives it very early sunsets, especially in the winter. More to the point, it’s a cracking walk up (two hours) and down (one hour), and since I’m entertaining friends tonight, and needed a few things, it provided an excellent diversion on the way to U Express. The views are stunning, and really give a bird’s eye view of Die. And I saw more vultures and lizards than people. And it’s now 26C.

I’ve not been up to Vercors since last summer, so with a perfect forecast for both doing a load of washing this morning, and, once the air had warmed up, getting onto Vercors without several layers to keep warm, today was definitely the day! You’ll be pleased to know that the gentle breeze did indeed dry my washing, but didn’t turn into a howling gale up on Vercors!

This morning was market and meeting some English friends (planned) and Flemish friends (unplanned!). After lunch I’d planned just a little walk of roughly two hours in the hills to the west, but in the end the weather was so glorious that I kept on walking towards Die, which happily meant I came across some beautiful wild tulips, a real feature of the area. After 4½ hours walking, I still had to start cooking from scratch (chicken in tomato, bacon, onion, garlic and wild thyme) when I got home, but it was very much worth the late sitting!

Even if the sun was shy today, it did gently sneak through the cloudage (it was more like an elevated mist all day), and encouraged me out on local walk up the Ravin des Charoses before lunch, and the to Col de Pennes on the bike this afternoon. I think for the first time I descended by the Pennes le Sec route: I’m glad to have done it, but it confirmed why I normally descend via Aucelon – altogether more scenic, and a much gentler slope down, after the first bit, and consequently much more enjoyable not being on the brakes the whole time!