The reason that we had chosen Yzeron was that it was close to the site of the longest acqueduct that the Romans built in France. The Gier Acqeduct was built in the first century AD to supply Lugdunum (Lyon) and is an incredible 53 miles (85km) long. There were overhead and underground sections together with tunnels and syphons - an amazing project, especially in Roman times. The engineering involved is quite mind boggling - an average drop of 0.1% (1 meter in every kilometer)! The remains are very well preserved and the best place to see a raised section is at Chaponost and we made our way there.
They are carrying out some preservation work on the acqueduct and are going to build a visitors centre. It didn't affect our access but they had, for an unknown reason, removed almost all of the information boards. It really is a fantastic site and well worth a visit.
The rest of the journey today was a compromise. We started going down the Rhone valley avoiding the motorway but quickly realised that it was all through built-up areas and was no fun. This was a case where it was much better to use the faster and busy motorway.
We headed for the ACSI site of Camping le Parc de la Bastide in St. Remy de Provence. We decided to spend two nights here, found a good pitch and sat in the sun enjoying mugs of tea.
Photos: The longest section of the acqueduct at Chaponost; A close-up showing the channel in which the water flowed.
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