22nd of July leaving the city of Chalon-sur-Saone north we were able to join this time a different type of “voie verte” (green way) not anymore following railway tracks but this time along the “Canal du Centre”. We immediately had some Netherlands associations and the slope along the canal is only rising at the locks. The closer we got to the vineyard hills and their castles and villages the more we were reminded being in the French region of Burgundy.
In general we chose to use good old paper maps for better orientation and a backup by komoot and Garmin. But to be honest these devices can’t cope with the reality. They work in a world of optimisation and efficiency. They always try to show you the fastest and shortest ways and offer not a choice for what’s the most scenic or the off beaten tracks, if there’s a tree lying in your way.
So you get used to ignore the warning sign of making a U-Turn at the next possible option to get back to the route the digital world wants to lead you by satellites and computers. But this time the canal itself made a huge long stretched U-turn at the town of Chagny leading us south-west and we were suddenly having head wind against us. After a few kilometres I luckily found a picknick table to unfold the map because we were on the edge of what I could still read. Good I did see now the complete region and realize we had taken the wrong “Voie verte” for a few kilometres.
The next “Voie verte” we were supposed to follow was instead of the Central Canal again an ancient railway line. So we had to cross some field roads to catch up on our planned route. Driving through many small villages you don’t see a shop or a bakery, nothing. Finally at Nolay we discovered some bars or restaurants open, but at 2:15 pm most of their kitchens were already closed. Only at the central place nearby the ancient “Halles aux Grains” still standing since the XIVth century in front of the church of St. Pierre, we found a place that would make us at least a salad. You think a salad would be quick, but it took more than a ¾ hour until two hungry bikers were fed. A lot of baguette helps to fill the stomach.
If you want to join the ancient railway tracks it looks easy on a map, but most of the roads crossing the line are on a bridge or underpass and offer no way to connect the different heights. So sometimes you are forced to make detours to catch up on the ancient railway track. Just taking a photo of Robert on one of the tallest viaducts I suddenly heard something crack and my bike fell. It was the kickstand which finally broke after the first 1.000 km of our tour under the heavy weight of our luggage. Still hadn’t found the less-is-more-luggage solution to minimalize the charge on our steel horses. Well from now on I needed walls or fences to take photos with our bikes like the Chateau Sully offered.
The original plan was to make tonight our first French Rotary encounter at Autun, but the last e-mails were not answered anymore by the actual president. I had received once a welcoming answer, which didn’t have any address or telephone number, only saying greetings from Saint Hubert. So I thought we go and check for Pauline at the road with the name Saint Hubert. It was a very short road and we could only find grandma Paulette with her daughter and her granddaughter who tried to find us Pauline by phone. We found her but she was not in town and had mixed up the dates. So I tried to find a bed and breakfast as quick as possible, because we still wanted to reach a bike shop before they closed. The hosts we found were not very charming, but we had solved problem number one. For problem number two we needed some more research, because the first bike shop recommendation already was closed. But we were lucky and found “Cycles Tacnet” by the church of Notre-Dame still open. They were willing to help us and had the right replacement which was strong enough to fit our needs.
Back to the B&B to unload our bikes and back into town to solve problem number three and find some food for two hungry bikers. At restaurant Augusto they had still place for us and we were very happy. Their name already brings up the old history of their town. But more about this tomorrow. We just wanted to go to bed and get our and the bike batteries charged, but the hosts didn’t allow us because their fuses weren’t made for that as they thought. No discussion – just to bed and sleep like a rock.
