We’ve long moved on from France and I’m playing catch up with the blog at the moment. Heavy and prolonged rain was forecast over most of the country and it was that which prompted us to leave Jura and head south on the N7 towards San Raphael. From there we’ be better placed to run for either Spain or Italy once the bad weather hit. Tournon sur Rhone was on the N7 and Vanya had found a campsite close to the town centre which would suit our needs for a day or two.
Tournon sur Rhone sits on the right bank of the Rhone. I was advised it once straddled the Rhone here but that better wines (i.e. Hermitage AOC Wines) were produced on the left bank of the river and so those people living on the left bank renamed their side of the river Tain L’Hermitage. I’m not so sure that is true, especially since Tournon is in the Ardeche department of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes while Tain is in the Drome department. Whatever, we elected to stay two nights so that we could take our time to properly explore both Tournon and Tain.
The first sights we saw as we entered the town and drove along Quai Gambetta and on to the Quai Charles de Gaulle to the camp site were a splendid cable suspension bridge over the Rhone and an equally impressive World War I memorial carved into the rock on which Tournon Castle is perched. I subsequently learned that the bridge is an 1847 replica of one built by Marc Seguin in 1824 and which is believe to have inspired the design of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge. The 11 metre high war memorial created in 1922 by Antoine Sartorio, himself a French soldier during WWI, is carved into the limestone rock underneath Tournon Castle. It features Nike, the Greek Goddess of Victory delivering the victor’s laurels to those named on the memorial.
There are various ways to explore Tournon and the surrounding areas. Most tourists will use the local tourist train which also takes in part of Tain and the Hermitage Vineyards. There is also the Two Towers walking path that follows the route of the old town walls which once connected the two observation towers still standing at the back of the town. There use to be 12 such towers. This route follows a small part of the Sentier GR42 (i.e. the Sentier de Grande Randonnee 42) and offers panoramic views over Tournon, Tain and the Rhone. For those wishing to go further afield there are frequent boat trips along the Rhone with the Compagnie des Canotiers and/or there’s the Chemin de Fer du Vivarais (more often than not called Le Mastrou or the Train de L’Ardeche) a 100 year old narrow gauge steam train which ferries train enthusiasts and tourists up and down the Doux Gorge.
I started with a stroll along the Two Towers path (leaving it at one stage to descend directly down through the very steep vineyards which form a backdrop to Tournon) and then; over the course of the next two days, I simply walked Tournon and Tain until I had seen pretty much everything. The Two Towers path is easy walking and there’s an orientation table along the way which helps identify many of the features in this part of the Rhone Valley. The most celebrated feature is Tournon Castle, parts of which date back to the 10th century although; it was constantly being added to by the Counts of Tournon. It has been a museum since 1926.
For my part, the most impressive building in Tournon is the early 14th century Eglise de Saint-Julien. This former collegiate church was built on the site of an earlier 11th century church which, before that, was occupied by a Roman temple. Saint-Julien was a Roman centurion who was beheaded for his Christian beliefs during the reign of the Emperor Diocletian. This imposing Gothic style building is filled with treasures including, in the Chapel of the Penitents, some interesting and renowned 15th century murals.
That first night in Tournon we ate at a small restaurant just outside the church; with Vanya (not really knowing what she was doing) ordering two dinners for herself and me ordering the most unusual pizza ever – a snail pizza. A great deal of our meal was left uneaten. The pizza was so awful even Beanie refused one of my snails.
I like Tournon although I was disappointed that one of the sites I was most interested in seeing, the Jardin d’Eden, was closed and; it appears the closure is permanent. Time will tell.