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
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Beaune
Tomoz heading off to Dijon for a round trip back to Beaune through the vineyards.. then south via a route I came by..The Voie Verte or green way which appears to be a bike and rollerblading path which goes all the way to Macon and possibly to Lyon..though that is a different area about which the Burgundian Tourist info has no information.
it sounds perfect and I have now 19 days to get to Lyon which even for and old chook sounds pretty easy.
Beaune
Moulinet
I struggled on and up through forests and timber mills and came across this group of old houses with this tower. It was "Propertie Privee" so I didn't get to find out what it was all about. It was probably a grain storage facility. As usual it was in the middle of the day when everyone retires for lunch, shuts their shutters and its like I'm the last person on earth. Its also annoying that when you feel like dejuner , the shops are shut. I'm smart now and get to the boulanerie early , then stick my baguaette on the pack rack. AVERY sad thing occurred just after passing here...my Chablis from Chablis fell of the back and broke.I'm in mourning..it had surveved one fall and 250 km...boo hoo.
Chateau Sully
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Autun
Autun
Autun
Mt Beauvray
Today was the big climb day. Up up then very steeply up to the summit of Mount Beauvray. Its more of a hill but quite steep so I had to get off and walk. It was found to be the site of a Gaul city so has been dug up and bits put in a very beautiful EU funded museum. The city and the museum are called Bibracte. It has very good models and diagrams of the fortifications , the lifestyle (men killing things and others and making jewellry), women cooking it. Dates from 300 bc or b4 and the Gauls lost the plot when the romans came and civilized them round 200 0 years ago. The top of the hill is cleared and has been used for 1800 years for country fairs..which one can imagine with all the shady trees around.
Chateau Chinon
This a Chateau Hotel 4 star which I didn;t stay in. I headed further south into the Morvan. It is really out of the way timber country ...sort of like the Dargo of Burgundy. There are adventure sports , lots of mauled forests , pine plantations, bugs and its cold. So much for the light weight sleeping bag because France will be so hot. Ha ha. Froze my buns off at St Brisson.. a town of very little food or merit.
Chablis
Burgundy Landscape
Vezelay
to Vezelay
The Vallee de Couzin
La Tente
Noyers
Auxerre
Bugger, got the wrong one and not sure how to erase. Got up early Friday after a good nights sleep.. ..the wine helped me ignore my neighbours.. and got on the train for Auxerre. Its about 2 hrs from Paris in the south east direction and part of northern Burgundy (Burgoyne). its on a river..name escapes me.. and is a base for canal boating. Its also old with cobblestone streets and half timbered houses.
Exhibits at the Palais
Wandering round in Paris
At 9 pm you dont have much choice in hotels. I headed to the area of the Gare du Lyon and the hotel Viator which we stayed in last time. Its gone a bit up market since then and I think the sight and smell of me was reason enough for them not to have any rooms. Next few I tried likewise. The the 2 star "Hotel De France" with free wifi could give me a room for the exorbitant price of 75 euro per night ...BUT...It was a room sort of on the first floor which didn't really need the elevator...too bad if I was unable to climb the stairs with my 10 tons of luggage b'cos the elevator didn't stop on that floor. AND...workman would be in to repair the flooring at 9am the next morning. They didn't mention that the wifi didn't work and that the walls were so thin that the couple somewhere in the vicinity "enjoying themselves" would go on half the night...plus the hole in the false ceiling with wires hanging out. I am just a grumpy old woman! Had to do a deal about the wifi to get free brekkie the next morning and headed off feeling somewhat vindicated. I've seem most of the big tourist attractions in Paris (except the sewers..not my cup of tea though Bryan raves about them) so I decided to buy a novel and get a ticket on the boat that goes up and down the Seine ..I could admire the city from the boat and wouldn't have to move unless I felt motivated. Sometime round lunch time I thoght that a trip to the Orangerie, whic I'd missed last time , would be interesting. It was closed for lunch first try so I had lunch in the Tuileries Garden then trotted off to wait in the inevitable queue. The collection of impressionist paintings was pleasant and familiar but it doesn't have the breadth of the Musee Dorsay. Very nice collection of Modiglianis though and some lovely Renoir's. After that I thought I'd look for the museum of modern art that I saw from the river. I was crossing the road to get back on the boat when someone called out "Sue!" It wasn't the usual auditory hallucinations that you tend to get on your own after a while..it was the whole Bongetti family, who had spotted me. Le monde est petit alright. We ended up having tea and spurred on by Andrew's bravery I had esgargot...little grey curly things swimming in garlic butter. I did get to the museum of modern art but went in the wrong bit to the "Palais" which had very modern stuff...
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Back in France..Paris actually
There is both commercial and pleasure traffic on the river and some bicycle pathways. The area is called the "Ardenne" Just the odd nuclear power plant peeping over the hills. Finally got back to France and caught the train to Paris last night . Trying to do some washing ( and there's the matter of the hemhorroid which has made the cycling a little bit more painful..yes too much information) and recover before the next ride which will in Burgundy from Auxerre to Dijon then on to Lyon to meet Kate.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Bikes in Holland
Utrecht
Amsterdam
The Wedding Crasher
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