캐롤 최고의 MTB 라이딩 경로

Cozy terrace and inexpensive drinks and plat du jour

Very rough path... MTB with good suspension and good tires desirable...

Marsanne is a very pretty little village where it is nice to take a break in the shade of its plane trees.

When you think of train station buildings in France, you immediately think of magnificent arrival halls. But the reality in Begude-de-Mazenc? Rather rustic. The modest brick building, located not far from the M. Loubet park, served as a train station from 1893 to 1936 - without pomp, but with charm. Passengers waited patiently on simple stone benches for the Petit Train du Picodon, while at least believing they were safe from the notorious Mistral. The municipality had hoped for at least a toilet - they only got a small room. Fortunately, the street was wide enough to allow the trains to cross. Functionality, instead of grand architectural dreams! Part 3 of the Petit Train du Picodon bike tour.

Here we are standing on the main artery of the region's early industry, the Jabron. There is a height difference of more than 600 metres between the source in the hinterland and the mouth in Montélimar. This large difference was used to generate energy. This is why the region's factories, potteries and spinning mills are located on the banks of the Jabron. In order to make better use of the water power, parts of the river were straightened and provided with dams. In some places we can still find them today - but the factories are hardly in operation anymore.

The caterpillar breeders delivered the silk threads in skeins to the "moulinages" on the river. There the silk threads were transferred to spools. The subsequent twisting of the threads increased their strength. At the end, the yarns were packaged and checked before being taken to weaving mills - an important export item from the otherwise economically weak region, alongside the more rustic woolen goods.

Former station of the Montélimar - Dieulefit railway line, information panels and historical photographs of the Association Le Petit Train du Picodon based in Dieulefit (https://www.le-petit-train-du-picodon.fr)

Beautiful view, freely accessible, good footwear strongly recommended. According to a local historian, the walls are the remains of an outpost of the nearby Village fortifié Poët-Laval with its mighty keep. Poët-Laval was built in the 12th century by the Ordre des Hospitaliers de St Jean de Jérusalem.