Cluny

Since the last entry I've been to Dijon, back via Beaune onto the Voie Verte...or Green Path for cycling along thru the vineyards of Beaune Haut Cote stayed the night before last at Santenay then last night at Cluny. I've booked to go to a concert here tomorrow night.

The trip from Beaune to Dijon was along a beautiful valley with limestone walls, too narrow and shaded to grow grapes. I detoured off to a town called Cormantin because the rest of the day was a flat ride along the Canal de Burgoyne ;too easy. Cormantin was 10 km away and had a chateau thought the sign didn't divulge that useful information about the distance. Slow long grind up hill in the heat then an amazing down hill run (but what goes down fast has to go up again.. very slowly) to the chateau. As I rolled up to the gates they slowly but surely shut... automatically..not even someone to plead with or yell at. The garden was shady and nice and the boulangerie still open so I ate my tart de framboise took some photos and ..well ..."it was just another chateau"...rode painfully and determinedly (is that a word?) back up the hill. The Canal de Burgoyne was very pleasant though rather thick and green until it got to about 7 km out of Dijon when it accopanied a freeway. It did lead to almost the centre of Dijon which does seem quite large.

Dijon camping park was full ..really .. so I ended up staying in a boring Ibis hotel right in the centre. It is the capital of Burgundy and Burgundy was independent until the 16th century so it has quite a few heritage buildings and looks in the centre like a little version of Paris. These days the mustard is made from seeds imported from Canada and there is no regional licence for the name Dijon Mustard.

The ride from Dijon went via the quaintest little villages in vineyards via a low frequency traffic road specifically for cyclists which then joins a cycle track along disused railway all the way the Macon. There was vineyard after vinyard but the best thing I did was stop at a very old castle at Bevrey-Cambertin at 10 am . Noone else had arrived for the guided tour so the lass did it in English for just me. Like most old things in France most of the castle had been dismantled during the french revolution but it had then been bought for the remaining vineyards and partly restored and then kept in the same family since. It had a secret passage that lead to the church, a dungeon (called an "oubliette"..where you put someone and forgot) and a food cupboard where the lord put his food after it was tasted by a servant ; in case it was poisoned then waited . there was a second cupboard where the food waited in case of slow acting poison. Lucky I didn't live then. I wouldn't have the patience to wait. The best bit was the cellar where I got to taste a few mls of the Grand Cru Pinoit Noir..to die for. The grapes are handpicked.

That night I stayed in a B&B in Flagy Echezeaux but I could have stayed in Gilly La Citaux in a junior suite at the Chateau Hotel for 496 euro so I didn't. The man who ran the B&B made creme de cassis (blackcurant liqueur) and insisted we have some along with the vin rouge that his friend made while myself and a Dutch couple sat enjoying his beautiful garden.

The day following I headed off along the Voie Verte through more vineyard and higher up so that there were beautiful views of the valley. The riding was easy and I have little recollection of what I did. I ended up at the Santenay camping ground where I sat in a playground listening to a gospel choir in a tent next door belting out old favorites. I went into the town and had a very delightful dinner which I took photos of. I have had some really aweful food so this and the vin rouge were a pleasant change. The chef must have been off the plonk. The Dutch family who arrived at the camping ground at 11pm and whose teenage boys giggled until 1am did rather spoil the effects and I wished I'd had more than one glass. Grumpy old woman I am I was shushing away with absolutely no effect.

Well I'm staying in Cluny for a few day while my knees have a break. I went to Taize and I might go back to find outwhat its about. Its touristy and medieval. then I'm catching the train from Lyon to Aix en Provence to fill in the week before Kate arrives. A Bientot