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.