I’m following the valley of the Isere river. The motorway and the railway go up this valley too. So, though most of my route is on farm tracks I’m often within earshot of the roaring traffic.
What amazing things motorways are for economic development, there are industrial estates all along this valley, existing I guess mainly because this main European artery passes nearby. This experience is similar to walking the North Downs Way where the M25 is never far away, the volume of commercial traffic that road carries – must be among one of the most productive public investments ever.
Here and there the valley widens out and I get a more peaceful ride along back-roads, this is a big fruit farm, when I reached the church along the valley it tolled 10 am, what a doleful sound. “The tolling of the iron bell, brings the faithful to their knees, to hear the softly-spoken magic spells”. Pink Floyd being irreverant. How powerful rhyme is in English, the echo of “bell” in “spell” evokes mystery. Alpine golden delicious.A kind of a bulbous church.Little lizards are all over, they run into the bushes, from basking on stones, as the bike approaches. DH Lawrence had a thing for reptiles, tortoise and lizard particularly. perhaps a bit over-gendered for today’s culture.
Lizard ran out on a rock and looked up, listening no doubt to the sound of the spheres. And what a dandy fellow! the right toss of a chin for you and swirl of a tail!
If men were as much men as lizards are lizards they’d be worth looking at.
Basket-ball and country music, sides of French culture.ProgressLunch, bread and prunes.Progress. The mountains close in on all sides and are now behind me too, getting taller. What did Hannibal think as he came this way with his elephants? It’s one of the likely routes, though the favourite is a bit further south – he seems to have followed the Isere for a while though. He was probably an arrogant sort, confident, not scared of a few big hills, he had to fight his way up too, against hostile tribes, though tribes on the Italian side were anti-Roman, so friendly to him. He arrived in Autumn and had to get over before winter, it was snowing. Rather him than me anyway.
