Day 8 - Avallon to Beaune

Friday, September 11

Avallon to Beaune (130 km)

The day dawned cloudy and cool. We started out in the canyon and slowly climbed east out of it, about a ten kilometer climb. The next 55 kilometers were up and down big hills.

In Avallon we stayed in a very nice hotel. The resturant was a typical, beautiful, French dining room - but the restroom was really unusual.

You opened the door to see the nice sinks. But then, starting high and to your right, you heard water running.

As you looked up, you saw water running down a glass wall to...

...the trough, which is the pissoir! How about that? Very impressive to us men.

Our ride took us through some beautiful forest early in the day. It slowly eased until the last big ridge of hills just west of Beaune. That was followed by another ten kilometer climb, finishing with the swoop down into Beaune past the beginning of the vendage.

Very dense and beautiful forest. No rain on us! Note the ferns.

In total, we climbed well over 5000 feet. The rural roads think nothing of climbing or descending with 8-10% grades for short distances; they are a lot of work! As we rode, the weather turned much hotter, so were stuffing clothing everywhere (ear warmers, leg warmers, vests, long fingered gloves, etc. - you get the idea).

Grocery store in St. Auben

We found a great little country grocery store in St. Auben today. At it, a nice lady cut a baguette, then helped me make a sandwich with a terrine compangne as the meat. Those are really great for hard riding in the hills. Stores like this have been rare in our travels, but are the best.

Well, it's time for some preliminary answers:

It takes one bagette sandwich for about every 40 km. That, with a gel or bar, keeps you topped off.

Approaching Baune

We roared down into Baune with the vendage just starting. We saw a lot of activity and little trucks in the vineyards. Here in Burgundy they typically have stone walls around the vinyards.

Baune is the usual tourist ant pile. You know you're in trouble when most of the signs are in French and English. Still, it is a wonderful, small, French city. Trucks loaded with grapes passed through town, dripping sweet smelling juice on the pavement.

Day 7 - Troyes to Avallon

Thursday, September 10

Troyes to Avallon (108 km)

Leaving Troyes was no problem (how about that?). We are getting better! We shot south to Avallon on a route that was flat early on, then gradually got into some fairly large rolling hills. We had a "favorable headwind" pretty much all day.

An 1800's mechanize loom. This is the main industry in Troyes.

Susan is riding well and stayed with us easily the entire day. She is a real trooper and very positive. Sandy stopped the van at a church and saw a gold plated cresh made in the 1500's. Hey, we came within 200 yards of it on the bike!

Having a nice baguette sandwich (ham and cheese) on the road.

We continue to learn how to steal baguette sandwiches from the petit dejeuner (which is grossly overpriced anyway), and take them with us to eat while riding. They are so much better than gels and bars. We're also getting skilled at finding the patisseries along the way. They often have sandwiches as well. All freshly made of course!

Tonnere all dressed up for the races.

Went though Tonnere where the town was all dressed up for the "supercross" races this coming weekend. Then down to Avallon and old walled town on a bluff above a beautiful canyon where our hotel was. The vast majority of small towns are clean, neat with streets that are great fun to ride through much faster than in the US. Jim and I love to shoot through the small villages where the houses are right up against the highway. We learned it from the watching the cars.

Where is everyone?

Many vines on the houses in this part of the country.

Avallon on the bluff. Ramparts just below a medieval church. Our hotel was in the valley below.

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.

Day 5 - Saint Quentin to Reims

Tuesday, September 8

San Quentin to Reims (123.5 km)

It was a long day with another headwind. Our weather yesterday and today has been pretty hot, according to the locals. The roads were good. Traffic was fairly heavy, but with very good drivers.

Question: Why are the cars so small, but the trucks are as big (or bigger) as those in the US?

At least the truck drivers know what they are doing. They have mastered just where the right side of their truck is. We saw one in Laon navigate a street where he had one foot on the left and 4-5 inches on the right.

A field of chard in the foreground, with a good view of the basillique in San Quentin.

San Quentin and Reims are quite different. San Quentin has renovations underway, but is quite poor. Hence the flee market we saw when we arrived. In contrast, Reims is quite wealthy. We see many BMW's and Mercedes around this part of the country.

The cathedral in Reims.

Not all French churches are old. This country church was built in the 1900's.

We have had some difficulty finding food in the rural areas. I took a ham and cheese baguette sandwich from the hotel petit dejeuner this morning and it really came in handy. I eat quite a few jells also.

Another question: How many baguette sandwiches does it take to go 80 miles?

Answer: Research in progress. I will have an answer in a few days.

I love these vines coming into Reims!

We came over a hill northwest of Reims and it was like turning on a light switch. We rode past acres and acres of vines. From 20 km northwest to 70 km south of Reims there is almost nothing but vines everywhere and they are very well tended. They say this area only has 2% of all the vines in France. Amazing!

We have now visited twenty tabacs. We find that the people never speak English and are always nice. However, today we arrived at 2:05 pm to find the kitchen closed. Usually they close at 2:30 pm. There was no way to get anything, even though they were still bringing food to people and a local appealed to the madam. So, we got a coke and went on. They are very rigid about the open and closed stuff.

I do like the fact that the stores close from 12:30 to 2:30 and everyone goes to the café, tabac, or restaurant. They all seem to have a very good time.

Day 4 - Arras To Saint Quentin

Monday, September 7

Arras to Saint Quentin (87.9 km)

Today was a short day, but very challenging. We had a head wind all day, leaving me exhausted at the end.

This was military cemetery day. We came across British, German, and French WWI cemeteries, all beautifully kept. There were 11,400 soldiers in the German cemetery. The French one was much bigger and buried two to a stone. It's size left me contemplating how many soldiers had died. No wonder the French didn't want to fight again twenty years later. The mothers and wives probably said, "No way."

British Cemetary, with one soldier to a grave, and some very nice inscriptions - most from 1916. Really a tragic, but beautiful thing to see. They were extremely well tended.

Over 11,000 soldiers in a German cemetary. Note how well it is cared for.

A plaque at a German cemetery.

Another very neatly tended French cemetery, with two soldiers to a cross.

We had our first experience being on an N (national) road for about 3 km. There's nothing like an 18 wheeler coming by you at 100-110 k, three feet away and no shoulder on the road. First the wind tries to push you off the road and then the vortex tries to pull you to the center of the road. You have to be attentive and steady. No roads in France have a shoulder except by accident. The road are good and drivers courteous, but just not a lot of room. It's best to be on the small D (departmental) roads even with the LOST problems.

Today we saw a lot of large fields with potatoes and what we think is probably chard. It was very pretty countryside and low rollers. As usual, we were lost quite a bit. I am not sure we are getting lost less or just getting more used to being confused and “sort of lost.”

When we got into Saint Quentin they were having a giant street “flee” market. People from everywhere, were hawking junk of every kind - and a few good things. Gypsies, Arabs, blacks, Italians, and many others, all with stalls made of tents.

We had to get to the hotel, which was in the center of it all. It was next to a cathedral being renovated and didn’t look too good. The Hotel de Ville was very nice.

Jimdoc, Sandy and Jim in front of the Hotel de Ville Saint Quentin

(Rider, Tour director, Rider)

The food is expensive, but good at every level. Every meal we have had at night has been two hours long, and well worth both the time and the money!

The hotels ration everything and charge for any extra they can. A typical room is very small and has one large bath towel, internet difficult to get on and expensive, and poor lighting. However, the people, in general, are very nice.

Day 3 - First Riding Day Boulogne to Arras

Sunday, September 6

Boulogne-sur-mer to Arras (about 75 miles)

We awoke to a blustery day; cloudy with a southwest wind. The temperature was around 50 degrees.

Went down to the quay to a Boulangerie and got a pain ou chocolat and a baguette sandwich with butter ham and cheese. Really good along with the fresh orange juice.

Here we are at the Quai ready to go.

I am with Jim and Susan Sproull from XC06 and XC07

Then to the start at the quay. This is the location of the largest Atlantic fishing fleet in Europe. Off to Arras, and oh my God, the initial hills getting off the coast! Up to 14% several times - each time a slight downhill, then up again. Finally, some giant rollers (similar to Missouri) for 20 miles and then smaller rollers.

At 100 Km a real adventure begins. Going into Arras we get our first taste of a major road into the center of a large town - 1 and ½ trucks wide. A lot of one way streets, but we finally make it. 120.5 K takes 5.5 hours with LOST stops. A great time was had by all, but this is just the beginning of our education.

We saw numerous windmills, but not in large farms. Usually alone or with 3-4 others.

They were working that day. Look just like the ones in the US.

We spend quite a bit of time in the villages looking at the signs to figure out the directions. Often, we go wrong for a short time and have to back track. Overall, though, not too bad for the first day. The roads are generally good, and the people we asked for directions are very friendly. Sandy actually has more trouble in the van because she goes too fast for the twists and turns, signs, and road changes. Lots to asking for her also.

Pig Roast

A small town was having a festival. This is a whole pig with the ears on. It is wrapped in chicken wire which Jim S. says has lots toxic cadnium in it. Everyone was laughing and drinking beer. They were very friendly to us, and loved hearing we were riding across France.

Vive La France!

Day 1 and 2 - To the Start

Friday, September 4

Sandy In Her Chair-Bed for the Atlantic Crossing

(Not like our Grandfathers and Mothers)

Sandy actually got 4 hrs sleep on the flight.

The flight on Air Canada was great. Flew to Montreal and then Paris Charles De Gaul.

At the airport, the problems begin. Moving through it feels like stepping into an ant pile. There were crowds of people everywhere and very poor signs. In terminal 2A, baggage is easy, but there is no ATM and I have trouble getting a phone. I finally got one phone working, but I still don’t know my own phone number. Nobody can understand the operator (electronic of course), even after telling multiple people the number.

At our hotel, a standard room for about ($125) is like the Econolodge in Santa Fe, but the hotel staffers were nice. Car rental was no problem, just expensive ($110 day).

Saturday, September 5

The next day I found a phone store and got my phone set up. Stephanie, the phone store employee refused to accept a tip, even though she did a lot of work that should have been done by the people at the airport. Another lesson; take the time to find a phone store.

My Air Caddy for the bike worked great and folded up so small that we took it in the van, so there were no storage problems.

We had a great dinner at very simple restaurant in rural area outside CDG. I had eggs mayonnaise to begin, then beef bourgongne, and mousse ou chocolat. Really fine food in a humble setting.

We took an easy but expensive trip to Boulogne-sur-mer on a toll road. There we had an expensive and looooong dinner at famous fish restaurant. Boulogne now has the largest fishing fleet in the European Atlantic.

First Impressions:

Everything seems close, crowded and expensive. France also seems to be well organized, have excellent food and NICE service people.

We are slow, disorganized for the day-to-day functions but improving rapidly.