Took an old steam train journey through Les Gorges Des Doux one morning. There was much excitement at the station when the steam engines began huffing and puffing in preparation for the trip. The train drivers looked the part as well, with their berets, cut off shirts and coal – smudged faces. Rykersaurus was very excited although worried us a little by referring to the train of the Ardeche as “the train of our death”.  The scenery was amazing and the journey remarkably smooth. A highlight was stopping at the charming station of Colombier le Vieux – Saint-Barthélémy le Plain where the locomotive was manually turned around on a swing bridge.

We escaped from our carriage alive and relatively unscathed apart from our soot-covered faces!