31st of July during breakfast Marie-Hélène planned the day with us. At first we had to find out if we could get our bikes fixed. She drove us to the biggest bike shop in Chateauroux called “Cycl’one” and people were standing in line for their bikes to be repaired like at the bakery. As it was our turn we explained to Leo what had happened and that we needed their help. Problem number one: The size of the tire was quite big and he had to find one which worked with this model but at the end he found one. The next problem was the missing piece which I had…

30th of July Jean-Claude Ducray was waiting for us at 10:00 to receive the key to the apartment and we made it just in time. We still had breakfast with him at a little bakery and our invitation ended in a sticky mess as the almond croissants were filled with an extremely liquid filling, which exploded all over. We started finally by 11:30 to be back on our bikes. In the beginning we had followed the recommendation to just continue (“tout droit”) straight on this road out of town, but it was the same situation as we entered the town of Bourges yesterday. We just had to make a U-turn…

29th of July – we were supposed to leave the room early because the area where the hotel was located was supposed to have an electricity cut at 8:45 am. But I was still very slow due to me finishing the blog by midnight and calling my dad for his birthday. Thinking we gained some time by being packed early we used it to even pump up our tires as the hotel had a service station for bikers. Doing so we got to know two sisters on their bikes who got also prepared for their tour. They had been on the traces of their family. Their father was a farmer…

28th of July – today it was time so say goodbye to Clamecy and our friend Arnaud who spoiled us over the last days. He offered us really something like a little vacation in the middle of our challenge. Now it seemed like he would have to take the Monday off for himself to have his own holiday after we have left. He said it with a smile and I am sure he enjoyed his little realm again with his own rhythm. We left exactly when the church tower bells were ringing high noon. We just had turned around the corner of the Rue de Chevroches when Nicolai had already…

27th of July the only project for the day was to get the stamp of Clamecy in our credentials. The tourist office gave us one, but that wasn’t the one from the church. The cathedral of Clamecy was in a very richly carved gothic style. Unfortunately, the figures of the portal showing the life of Saint Martin at the main entrance of the cathedral had lost most of their heads during the French revolution. It has always been schizophrenic to me about mankind, that on the one hand we can create such admirable miracles with our hands, and on the other hand we can be so destructive. When we talk…

26th of July the market halls of Clamecy in front of the cathedral open in the morning and offer a full of variety of fresh products. Arnaud planned to do some grocery shopping. As we were invited for dinner tonight I ordered a tarte at the bakery. It was put aside for the way back after our round tour over the market. It was so picturesque to stroll through the small little medieval alleyways. Just observing the people having their little chats or choosing their products among the opulence of what each stand offered was a joy. Arnaud’s basket got more and more filled over the top and I just…

25th of July started still grey and a bit cold not like summer at all. So we took it slow, after breakfast starting a washing machine. Arnaud offered us to show us around Vezelay, which is one of the Pilgrimage centres and a famous starting point for the Way of Saint James to Santiago de Compostela. The history goes back to the 9th century when a Benedictine Abbey was founded. Probably in those time the relicts of Maria Magdalena found also their way to Vezelay but not before the 11th and 12th century the Magdalena cult reached its peak. During many years the Romano-Gothic cathedral was under restauration and now…

24th of July at the Country house of “ La Grande Sauve” the smell of freshly baked croissants in the oven woke me up. A beautiful table setting looked very inviting and we felt our dreams of French travel coming true. Our metal horses were happy in their dry stable, got enough oat for the rest of the day and I could saddle them. During breakfast conversation with other guests we got some helpful information for our further plans as they were coming from the Bordeaux region. They recommended us to avoid the Landes, which completely lost their pine tree forests through huge forest fires. Even the lady from Avignon…

23rd of July we were allowed to leave our luggage at the B&B to find a place to charge our bikes in the city. There were exactly two posts for doing so at the Town Hall of Autun. They were cleverly built to put your charger inside a box, which one could close with its own lock to be safe against rain and burglary. So now we could use the time during the charging of our metal horses to have a look at the city, which was one of the most interesting places founded by emperor Augustus as “Augustodunum” in the years 16-13 B.C. It was supposed to be a…

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…