Charon sur Saone

  After that nice sleep in ,8am, we headed to Chalon . Down hill and a strong tail wind , we did the 25kms in just over an hour. In fact, because it's Sunday and only one bus, we decided I would take the van on ,then bike back to join up on the trail. 

  She was too bloody fast for me wasn't she ?,arrived early and we missed each other. I ended up biking all the way back to Chagney, 20kms, then back again!

  Merde !!

 Any way, that's the central canal behind us. The first half drained to the Loire and this half drains to the Saone.

   Prettiest section of canal yet!

  There was a river festival on ,and the town was humming. Big cruise ship port as well .This river runs to the Rhone  which then runs to the Mediteranian. 

  Biked beside the Saone for another 18 Km's to Gergy. Lovely little camp right on the river with NO campers and NO staff.

  Tres, tres Bon ! 

Paray le Monial to Montchanin

The last 2 entry's were back to front. !

  We were on the trail by 7.30 this morning . Wanted to beat the heat of the day. This is a shared section,ie, a quiet road . We only met about 5 cars the whole morning, all fishermen probably. They each have about 4 rods in, god knows what they'd do with the fish if they caught one !

  Got in to Montchanin by 11.30 as we'd stopped at a McDonald's in Blanzy to talk to Dennis on Skype. Jill's home from Australia so it was good to see her as well.

  This was the 2nd day of 65kms so we were looking forward to a shower and a beer.  You can imagine how brassed off we were then ,to find that the only camp in 100kms from Paray to St Leger no longer exists !

  After going back for the van and then searching around , it was 8pm before we found one up here in Santenay. Worth it though, this place is lovely and tomorrow we'll have a sleep in!

Bourbon Lancy to Digoin

The couple next to us last night, Heinz and Gaby, made us feel ashamed.

  That tent has 2 rooms, they carry every thing except the kitchen sink,those are armchairs and a little table,I didn't see a tv mind you. AND they do 90kms a day. The bikes are German and are 40 speed

     The route to Gilly sur Loire was on an old railway,wonderful, and from Gilly to Digoin hot mix all the way beside the canal. The boat in the lock belongs to another kiwi, I think the count is up to 7 on this canal and about the same amount of Aussies . In France , you just discharge your crap into the canal so it's like taking your holiday in a giant oxidation pond. I prefer it up here on the bike.

  At Digoin now and as we cross the viaduct, this is the last we'll see of the mighty Loire as we move on to the canal central .

We turn the corner

Digoin to Paray le Monial.

  It was only lunch time when we'd arrived here, so determined to put in a better day we took off for Paray le Monial and the end of our south easting !

  This has been the prettiest section yet ,and we made it in just over an hour.

  Yay ! Tomorrow we follow the canal central ,north east, towards Mulhouse in the Alsace.

  Christine's bike hasn't got very low gears so is hopeless on the hills. Not many of them thank goodness. She would have exchanged it for the yellow one but thought the flowers might have been a bit weighty. I suggested we swap both of them for the 2 seater ?

   Hey kids, this is Nana's worst nightmare when the only toilet is one of these Turkish ones ! A good day is when nothing lands in your shoe !

Why blog?

 This is all new to me but I've always kept a diary and at the end of a trip have always made a photo album. This just saves time and it means I can delete the photos and make room for more after I've sent them away . Just excuse the bad language occasionally.

   It was wet yesterday so got a hair cut and went sightseeing. Nevers is where St Bernadette ended up as a nun. (this is for our little catholic grand kids )remember she was the girl that Mary appeared to at Lourdes. She lies preserved in a chapel here for all to see. Nana thought it was choice, I thought it was a little spooky!

   (thinks ) if they could do this to Winston Peters what a draw card for the Bay! He performs a miracle every 3 years !

    Today we rose early and rode 2hrs to Desize. The bike trail is under construction from Desize to Bourbon Lancy so we had to go on the roads. Not good at all! Next year they say. ?

   

This is also a section that doesn't have a train running beside it so a bit of a hassle with the bus. Never mind , we're tucked up in our little van in a nice motor camp and it'll all get much easier again tomorrow.

Charite to Nevers

The trail along here runs sometimes on the Loire itself and sometimes on the canal running parallel .( le canal lateral) 

  We were doing such good time on a no. 10 surface that we got to Nevers early. I was going to catch a train at 2.20 back to Charite to get the van . We've been doing this every day and it's working well

   However, today since we were early i thought I'd get the earlier train and perhaps move on to the next town. 

   Used the station's wifi and saw there was an email from Ash saying he's got a TRACTOR ! I was so excited I replied at once , at length, and missed the FUCKING TRAIN ! 

  Bloody Smith, !

Cosne s Loire to Charite s Loire

Those that do a bit of cycling like to know  what the surface is like on this trail. On a scale of 1to10 , 10 being smooth enough to roller blade on and about 3 being metal , then the first day was about a 6 average , but the next 2 were mostly 10. Unreal ! They have been running along the top of massive stop banks so you can see for miles. 

  There are dozens of other cyclists.  the 2 we are having lunch with , are a couple we met in an old farmhouse beside the track. He's Irish and the woman is from Perth and lives just along from Peter and Elisia. 

    Christine wanted a photo with some of the lovely little ponies we were passing. She wasn't too keen to hear they are bred for mange ( eating )

     Tonight we are in a camp in Charite sur Loire. The church is part of a missionary and was built in 1060 !