April 20 Back to Beaune and beyond

Well I geuss that cycling is not the most efficient way to travel. We are about two hours from Aix on the TGV but we have well over a thousand km on the road since we left Aix. We have seen some of the best cycling ever. Turns out that France doesn't flaten out when one gets north of the Massif Central, as I predicted in the last blog. The rivers have been running through here for millions of years and have carved giant valleys. It seems that the next town to visit is always one or two valleys over. 

We were in Beaune last September and this time we got to see other parts of the town. There were more tourists and more businesses open.

We got rained on again, first day out of Beaune, and had to stop in a bar for hot tea at the end of one of the long cold downhill runs. It was 10 km down into Pont d'Ouche. The ladies at the bar saw we were cold and wet so they lit the fire place up to dry us out before we left. We had to climb a couple more hills that afternoon to visit a couple nice towns and to get to our bed and breakfast.

Turned out we were the last customers of previous owners of the bed and breakfast, so they celebrated the fact with several bottles of wine and champagne. We had to drink the last of the good wine and also had to help eat all of the good food. Confit de canard, every kind of cheese, and lots of other stuff. The lady had the gift of the gab, she claimed that her grandfather said she could "Talk the hind legs off a donkey". By about 01:30 in the morning I was sure she could talk the legs off two cyclists. We had to get up early to ride the next day and when we did, not peep was heard from the owners. Their young son Theo an avid cyclist himself sent us on our way with a fine breakfast.

 We are still in the Bugundy region of France ( La Bourgogne ) but have not seen a proper vinyard for a long time. The area is all about farming and has been for many centuries. We have ridden through towns and villages with histories going back two thousand years and more. The land has been shaped by men and women over thousands of years. Many of the roads we have been riding feature troughs for watering horses on the sides and trees have been planted to shade the steeper sections of the roads. I

Walking through Chalon sur Saône

The fountain was turned on again after the morning market.

San Vincent Church in Chalon.

A rooster singing.

By the bike path we saw a few old chapels that have been converted into homes over the years.

Zigzaging through vignards and entering small towns rich in tradition and history.

Making peace with the "sanglier" wild boar in  Beaune.

A gate to the old part of Beaune.

Walking into a nice neighbourhood we found colourful tile old style homes.

We had a tour in one of the caves "Bouchard Ainé et Fils"

The barrels are used for only three years  then they are replaced.

The corks of their old collection of wines are replaced every 15 years and the process is done by a machine that takes no more than two seconds to avoid getting air in the bottle.

One of the best years for wine.

Canal de Bourgogne

Châteauneuf, cited as one of the most beautiful villages in France. It is worth the climb on a loaded bike.

A small version of an insectarium. 

Inside The château de Câteauneuf courtyard.

A bit chilly at the top of Châteauneuf.

Appreciating the view of the valley from the hill.

Leaving Châteauneuf

We stayed in a b&b in a tiny village called Chadonay le Chateau. This a view from the garden of the chateau owned by an american who bought it so it wouln't turn into a pile of gravel. Apparently is his summer house.

A boat rest stop on the canal of Burgundy. 

One interesting lock keeper's home by the canal.

A pet goat of another lock keeper by the path, the different lock keepers houses and gardens make the canal de Bourgogne an interesting place to ride. 

An old electric barge from early 1900's on display in a marina.

Two of the many little towns we passed today were literally crumbling down. The village in the background is where we got to sleep for two nights to recover from our sore muscles.

The village is called Villeferry.

April 14 On the road through to Burgundy

We rode through the Côte de Rhône and Beaujolais to get into the Bourgogne, a beautiful and different famous wine region. It took three days of riding into the chilly north wind to get to South Bourgogne. We also found some hills to climb lots of hills. Turns out some of the coolest places to visit are on top of the big hills. I think it is going to flaten out because we are leaving the Masif Central behind, we will be sure to let you know.

They say it was windy this day, so we were glad to get here.

A vinyard with all its equipment. A nice hostess and gorgeous views of the hills around.

We ended up staying in a wooden caravan, like the ones from back in the day. La roulotte.

Yoly made us some spaghetti.

Wood spoke wheels and everything, I was pretty sure it was going roll down the hill at any moment but we woke up in the same place the next morning.

The next day, same wind with bigger hills, it was awesome!

The grape vines are starting to flower.

The laughter of children during recess made Yoly stop and think of her friends in Calgary. A Montessori school in Beaujolais.

This wasn't the highest pass of the day, but the only one we got a photo of.

It would be a better view if it was a clear day, but we could make out the Alps in the east and the highest peaks of the Massif Central to the south. The air was fresh.

We ended up going right through the town of Beaujou, after which the region in named.

We stayed in very nice bed and breakfast situated in a castle that dated from the tenth century in the town of Salornay.

A fact sheet from the museum located in the castle itself detailing the history of the area.

This room was used as the court in the region for a period of time.

Some parts of the museum were in better shape than others. In the upper floor.

The shadow casted as viewed from the tower of the castle.

Wooden shoes and many garden tools of all sorts.

The small donkey wanted to adopt Yoly as her new owner, I was pretty sure it was trying to get into her pocket, but last time I checked we still don't have a donkey. The donkeys were soft and very friendly.

Yoly finally seating down after a long day. 

This is the entrance from the farm side. We ended up finding the place from the wrong side but it all worked out in the end.

Yoly preparing supper in the kitcken.

The happy couple in the fancy suite.

We visited Cluny, a very nice town with lots of cycling-tourists and very interesting history.

In The Garden of the Simples apple trees were decorated.

In Cluny we found the Abbey of Saint Hugh. Reminded me of a couple other Hughs we know.

I apologize for the low quality of the picture, it was taken at noon.

This bird could really sing!

We found a bike path in Southern Burgundy that we followed for 70 km. lots and lots of vinyards.

Château Berzé south of Cluny.

Same château Berzé

Part of the bike path was a train tunnel. The tunnel is closed 9 months of the year because it is a bat sanctuary, lucky for us the bat sanctuary is onlly 1.6 km long.

Yoly, brave in the tunel.

This is the old train station, we are riding on an abandoned rail bed that has been changed into a bike path.

The path misses the fancy parts of the towns it passes through, so we have to ride a bit to catch the highlights. One of the old entrances of the Abbie of St Hugh.

Abbey St Hugh was the largest structure in Europe for many centuries currently in many sections and no roof.

Town of St Désert two km from the bike path.

This used to be a small chapel, today is part of a house on a farm.

Entrance of the old part of Cluny

Inside of this building there was a exposition gallery. 

We found a chocolate shop just in time for Easter

Our Easter treats on the park. Famous french rooster and almond/ pistachio egg.

  

Happy Easter! To our family and all our friends. We are thinking of you.