pont en royans

We took a drive to Pont-en-Royans today. Along the way, we tried to stop at several historic sites, but were thwarted by the signage. Official signs would lead us most of the way to a chapel, for example, and then all of a sudden the signs would disappear. We did eventually make it to the chateau de la Sone, but it turned out to be closed. The caretaker informed us that we could not even walk on the grounds until it was open in the summer. Nice. It does look very pretty though, so I'm sure we will be back at some point. In googling the castle, I found out that it is a hotel, too! Next, it was on to Pont-en-Royans -- one of our old haunts, and the gateway to lots of excellent Vercors climbing.




We walked around town, and while the park by the river is very pretty, it is apparently the Vercors capital for people to take their dogs to. This wouldn't be a problem if they didn't have the charming habit of letting their dogs shit everywhere and then walk away without cleaning it. As a result, it's a bit of a fetid minefield down there. Perhaps best viewed from afar? Since we had promised Zoe a hot chocolate earlier, we went to a cafe:

then back to Grenoble