Day 44 - Macon

Good morning

A beautiful short ride along the Saone this morning, with swans waking up on the river, and little swarms of flies ensuring we kept our mouths closed 🤐

One nice thing about camping is early check-in is no problem, so we pulled in before 10 am and pitched our tent and unloaded our panniers and headed into the city of Macon, dressed in civies and running shoes, we looked like locals! It is a nice break to ride a light bike (also good because we took a river trail and then had to carry the bikes up some steps 🙃). 

Big day. We made a lunch reservation at L'Ambroisie, a little place with great reviews. And it lived up to the reviews. 

We had our bikes (makes it a little awkward). We found a spot to lock them, close to a window, in the "outdoor" seating area. Of course we could have the table overlooking our bikes! The maitre d came right outside to help, took our helmets for safe keeping and asked if we wanted the water bottles filled with cold water. Great start. 

We each enjoyed a wonderful local meal, and a glass of local wine, and friendly and professional service.

Marc's beef tartare.

 

My fish with eggplant and squash. 

And..... dessert.

And then we were off to explore Macon. 

Église Saint-Pierre - quite remarkable with a history dating back to the 1800s. The carvings over the three doors are incredibly detailed, and the rose window is gorgeous.  

Saint Vincent Cathedral - crazy old, they say there was a structure here in the 500's, and then there have been many incarnations on this site. It is now basically ruins, and serves as a small museum. 

Pont Saint-Laurent - we cycled over the pont to check out the island, and get a nice view of the city. 

Tourists. Fun. 

Tomorrow we will explore more. 

Thanks for reading our adventures. 

Day 43 - South on the Saone

"Have a nice life, enjoy every minute"

That's what the Irish couple said to us as we left this morning. We met them at the water tap as we were leaving the campsite. They wanted to hear our story, we heard theirs. Fun to have fellow English speaking campers to chat too. And their son lives in Vancouver. They too are on a 7 week adventure in France. Our peeps 💚

We started the day stopping in Ouroux sur Saone, a small village with TWO Boulangeries. My kind of town.  And honestly it was one of the best pain au chocolat yet..

There is a nice path along the river. We deviated this morning and found lovely quiet roads and sleepy villages. Just what we wanted, why we came here. It was peaceful and charming. Marc is so good at finding alternate routes, even a few hills. 

After a visit to Tournus we found the river path and enjoyed the water, some boats and some swimmers, lots of herons and many other cyclists. It was easy rolling and pretty. 

The Saone 

We are in a very nice campground on the rivers' edge, where we made a friend, Chris, from Germany, and heard his many tails of hiking a kayaking and biking, and we compared tents and gear 😊. He took our photo too, on a camera 😀

Today was ideal. Lovely route, sunny skies, quiet roads. Just what we came for. 

Another 50k closer to Lyon. 

Day 42 - Bike Path to the Saone

We went straight to the Boulangerie this morning, so as not to miss our sandwich and treats. Jackpot. 

It was a beautiful day. No rain, just sun and cloud, and quite hot by mid afternoon. 

We started out of Epinac in some forest, and then a nice climb through crop fields and pastures. 

And then we found ourselves on a beautiful paved bike path, sharing it with lots of other cyclists, gently descending, for about 10 k. It was spectacular (unless you don't like heights). One super high bridge, over a gorge of trees, and all this just for cyclists. (Thinking it might have been a rail trail?)

That was a perfect place for morning snack. 

And the beauty continued as we gently coasted downhill, with vineyards and villages, a viaduct, and a tunnel. 

It was just spectacular. This section of the ride was one of my favourites. 

And then we found ourselves along another canal. Quite busy with pleasure boats and cycle tour boats. We did several kms along it, and had our picnic lunch but that's enough canal for us. 

Marc is so good at using the tools to create routes, he created an alternate route to the campsite and we got to enjoy a different bike path, country roads and an interesting way into the city and across the bridge. 

Green = beautiful downhill scenic route

Blue = canal 

And then we followed Marc's, much more enjoyable route in Chalon sur Saone and across the bridge. The camping is beside the bridge tonight. 

Hot sun means clean, dry laundry, which is nice for both of us, and everyone who meets us 😂

Another 60k behind us (plus 7 getting groceries). 

Good night from France. 

Thanks for your comments. 

Day 41 - Reasons to smile

We started at 550 meters, and now we are pretty close to sea level. So that's a good day, in and of itself, but it gets better. 

We started with sunny skies and our bread order. Always fun to have fresh bread when camping. 

And we had eggs, so, soldiers made from baguette dipped in soft egg yolks. Good morning!

However, when we got to the village Boulangerie she was SOLD OUT of all croissant and pain au chocolat and most of her sandwiches. 😳  As we stepped outside a British guy on a (sweet) road bike stopped to chat. "Ride and Seek" his jersey said. He was in a supported trip with 18 cyclists riding London to Rome. So cool. But then we realized, that's why the bakery was sold out. Ugh. 

We tried to find another Boulangerie... (Marc calling one he found on Google maps in photo below) but no such luck on a Monday. Lots of them are closed today. Perhaps it is a sign that we don't actually need treats every single day. NO

We carried on, downhill mostly, and through some pretty little towns. 

No other cyclists, lovely quiet roads. 

But the best part was when we were on a bit of a nasty gravel road, along side the train tracks, when the rumbling started. We had seen and heard several high speed trains go by, but we were closest to this one. Marc and I both threw our right arms in the air and made the motion for the train horn. 

And the train responded!! Hehehe 

Two almost 60 year olds getting the giggles from making a train honk 🤣

As we approached our destination, Epinac, the black clouds in the distance were getting less and less distant. About 2 k from town the skies opened. We were able to make a quick turn and find shelter under a bridge. It was quite a storm, we were lucky to find the shelter when we did, and we waited it out. 

We made it to our campsite, Pont Vert, and the lady at reception was thrilled that we are Canadian. Her first Canadians since she has owned this place. She was so happy, she gave us a discounted rate (only 10 euros to stay) and she practiced her English. She also offered us a token for the dryer because we were quite cold in damp clothes by then. 🇨🇦

And, a Canadian won the Canadian Open!!

Good day. 

Funny little campground we are in tonight, but quiet and friendly. We had a little walk and found one friendly goat, and one shy one 🐐 

And a little creek.  

And with that, we will call it a night and post the stats, fast average (down hill but also some climbs) And some good mileage. 

Thanks for reading and commenting.