Day 6 - Reims to Troyes

Wednesday, September 9

Reims to Troyes (135 km)

We had a nice, hot day with a gentle breeze - mostly headwind. The locals say that our choice is hot, with a south wind, or cooler and perhaps raining, with a north wind. Getting out of Reims is not too bad and we are in the beautiful vineyards.

Grapes just south of Reims. You can't believe how sweet they were. Have not started the vendage here yet.

As we come to the first town next to the forest, we get in real trouble. The map directs us into the forest up a very steep climb (14% for 300 meters); in 1 more km the road stops and becomes a walking path. We see no way to get through. So, we have to backtrack, which is way around - and still have to do a lot of climbing. After two hours we've ridden 33 km and it is really getting hot. But, we grind on, and eventually go through some pretty forest towns until we're back down to flatter country.

After that it's just a constant, tiring, grind to Troyes, where we get lost several times in this ancient city. There is where they spun textiles in the 1800’s, and now they are into engraving. Our was nice, with modern decor and two towels per room.

We have been over several canals and I understand there are any more. This is a private canal boat south of Reims.

Troyes is on the Seine, but has not been fixed up to any extent. Lots more minorities here at least in our area. We see the kids going to school a lot on this trip and here there are tons of them mostly dark brown and black.

One of the many, many WWI war memorials. Every little village has one with many names on it. Occasionally there are WWII memorials, but never as large or elaborate.

I am amazed at the food on our trip. Even in the small villages we get excellent pastries, cold meats, and plats. Today I had spaghetti bolognaise in a small café in Fere Champenoise, and it was great. The tomatoes are really wonderful, and the salads, in general, are fabulous. I am certainly not losing any weight. One day we did run low on fuel due to the lack of food in the very rural area up north.