Tournon-sur-Rhône, France

Écluse de Caderousse Locks

The locks are located on the Rhône River (24 kilometers north of Avignon), and as you can easily see, the limited height inside the lock is the primary reason why the River Cruise Ships on the Rhône have to leave the sun deck in the collapsed position. On our River Seine Viking Cruise the previous year, all of the locks were open at the top, so the ships could always leave their sun decks in the upright position during the entire cruise.

Our ship passed through these locks (north-bound on the River Rhone) on the way to Tournon-sur-Rhône.

Marc Seguin Bridge

This suspension bridge was built in 1847 to connect Tournon to the Hermitage side of the Rhône River. This bridge is now limited to pedestrian usage. Please note that this is not the original bridge, as it was rebuilt at some point.

War Memorial Tournon-sur-Rhône

This war memorial attached to the castle lists those local men who died serving in WWI. It was created by Antoine Sartorio. The limestone memorial, cut into a rock, depicts an "angel of victory" ("une Victoire") who places crowns over the lists of those men of Tournon.

Tournon-sur-Rhône Castle

Celeste and I hiked around Tournon-sur-Rhône, to see as much of the village as we could. This castle was originally constructed starting in the tenth century, but what remains today dates from the 15th century and is now a Museum named "Chateau-Musee de Tournon-sur-Rhône".

Saint-Julien church of Tournon-sur-Rhône

Gives you some idea of the age of this village doesn't it? This church was initially constructed starting in 1300.

Train de l'Ardèche Steam Train

We had decided to take the 4 hour tour on the Train de l'Ardèche Steam Train, because it seemed as though it would be fun and it was located in a very scenic part of the mountains near Tournon. Viking arranged it all, and took everyone by bus to the train station where a sufficient number of train cars had to be positioned in order to carry our large tour group.

The bus ride was brief, as the train station is only 5 kilometers from Tournon-sur-Rhône. The geography nearer the river was flatter than the train station area, which was next to the mountains that the train would be travelling through.

Waiting for the Train

And so we hung out for a few minutes, until the train cars were ready for us. Did I mention that it was cold that day?

They have to determine how many passengers are going to take the tour, and then they can have a sufficient number of rail cars ready for everyone. At a point where everyone has boarded the rail cars, the steam engine is attached to the rail cars and the tour commences.

Overlooking the Gorges du Doux

As the train proceeded up the mountain, it looped back and forth over the River Doux below. The entire area the train traversed was geographically interesting. The Doux Valley, is a conservation area where panoramic views appear around every turn!

The River Doux is a tributary of the River Rhone, 70 kilometers in length and flows into the Rhone at Tournon-sur-Rhône.

There were a lot of Bridges

Some additional views of the many bridges that were built to carry the train up the mountain.

There are no roads in this entire area because it is a conservation zone, so all of these bridges were for the railroad only.

Everyone off the Train!

Everyone had to get off the train, so that the engine could moved onto the turnstile to prepare for the return trip. Did I mention that it was cold that day?

The turnstile provided a simple method to turn the locomotive around to prepare for the return trip. Once you remember that there is only a single track here, then you realize why the locomotive needs to be turned around!