The location of Roanne is marked above. We got there by flying to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, and then taking the TGV train ("Très Grande Vitesse") to Lyon. You can take the train directly from the airport, without going into Paris. We rented a car in Lyon (that we kept for the duration of the trip), and drove to Roanne.

In talking about our trip, we find that some people think we're mis-pronouncing Rouen, a different city near Le Havre (near the mouth of the Seine on the English Channel). Although most of the French probably pronounce Roanne as two syllables (ro-ahn), the locals pronounce it as a single syllable, like the Spanish name Juan, but with the J replaced with a French R.

Note that the Rhône and the Saône converge in Lyon, and the Rhône then runs south to the Mediterranean Sea. But Roanne, only about 30 miles (50 Km.) to the west, is on the Loire, which runs in the opposite direction, north, eventually ends in the Atlantic (after passing a lot of beautiful castles). The five large rivers, or fleuves, of France are the Seine, the Rhône, the Rhine, the Loire, and the Garonne.

For the second part of our trip, we toured Provence, a bit down the Rhône to the south (note Avignon).