Bollène

One more night before we were to check in to our vacation rental and we decided to find a hotel in Bollène, pretty much across the Rhône river from Pont-St-Esprit where the Ardèche flows in. We know absolutely nothing about the place, but it looked big enough to have a hotel and a place to eat.

The old center of Bollène.

As it turns out, Bollène has over 14,000 residents, les Bollénois, and was a nice place to stop. The old town sits up on a hill above the Lez, another tributary of the Rhône on the eastern side. There is a nice park up there with great views of the valley and of the Dentelles de Montmirail, a distinctive chain of mountains to the east. Dentelle means lace in French, and the limestone peaks are cut into fine points that must have reminded somebody of lace...

The view from Bollène, with what I think are the Dentelles de Montmirail in the background.

We walked around the park that evening and took some photos. I have no memory of dinner, but I remember having breakfast in the hotel the next morning as we were heading further south to our destination, Mérindol.