Roamin' the Roman Rhone

I cycled from Lyon, down the Rhone, to the sea at Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer - 450 km in one week.

There were dedicated cycle paths virtually all the way.

I had to avoid the Praying Mantis.

As I needed to pass Chateauneuf-du-Pape, I called into the vineyard from which I buy my wine in Basel.

In Arles I booked into a hotel that had been open for less than a week. The decoration was quite special.

I found out it was the work of Cuban artist Jorge Pardo, and commissioned by the hotel owner Maja Hoffman - great-granddaughter of the founder of Hoffmann-La Roche, the Basel pharmaceutical company. She also runs an arts foundation in Arles called LUMA. Pardo painted pictures of himself and Hoffmann on the doors of the hotel.

It inspired me to start a sketch of my own by the amphitheatre - but I was diverted by a beery chat, and abandoned it.