French Revolutions

Mid stream, heron waits,

grey and white, tall and graceful -

flies with raucous squawk.

Since arriving in France at the end of March, we have cycled through seven regions and many departments – Manche, Calvados, Eure, Yvelines, Yonne, Essone, Seine-et-Marne (where we stayed for two months) and now, Loiret, Nievre, Allier, Saone-et-Loire, Cote-d'Or, Jura, Doubs, Territoire-de-Belfort and Haut-Rhin. Less than 50km before we leave France for Switzerland, we have cycled 1804km from Dublin.

In the last week we have come from the relatively flat centre of the country, where wheat and sunflower fields predominate, through the rows and rows of green vines of the Cote-d'Or vineyards nestled between limestone ridges, to riding along the Doubs river with the Jurassic hills pressing closer and closer, mineworks and dairy cattle occasionally visible.

Since arriving in Santenay like two drowned rats last Thursday, we stayed there Friday as well, spending the sunny day drying out our gear, cleaning the muck off our bikes and having a bit of a look around. 

An empty shed just for wet cyclists!

Nothing like a bowl of pasta to warm you up after a soaking ride.

Morning mist lifting, Santenay.

Home-made coffee filter - a recycled quiche pan.

Drying out the gear, Santenay.

Santenay village is home to approximately 30 vignerons, all of whom have their own cellar door tastings and sales. The most impressive was the Chateau de Santenay, a thirteenth century limestone (along the hillsides are limestone cliffs - there is climbing here as well) building with towers and a moat, roofed with coloured tiles arranged in a knot pattern. We are seeing more and more of this sort of roof on important buildings like churches, chateaux and hotels de ville as we head further east.

Santenay Chateau.

Unfortunately there was no point in us visiting any of the cellars because we could neither afford the wines nor fit any bottles in our panniers. In Santenay we met a couple of Scottish climbers, Iain and Shirley, who told us, among other things, that last Tuesday, the day we cycled 94km, had been 39 degrees all day – we'd thought it was hot, but not that hot!

From Santenay we took a side route off the main Euro Velo 6 and followed the 'Route des Vignes' through the vineyards of the Cotes du Beaune to the town of Beaune. Surrounded by stone walls and entered through ornate stone and wrought iron gates, the vineyards filled the valley around pale stone villages, giving it a timeless air – things really didn't look like they had changed much since Roman times. Well, except for the really cool mini tractors that chugged along astride each row of vines, trimming the tops, looking more like a rough draft of Dr Octopus from Spiderman than anything else.

Route des Vignes, Cotes du Beaune.

Rest area, French style.

The 'Route des Vignes' is much patronised and there were plenty of shaded rest areas and even a map showing which villages to go for a boulangerie. Unfortunately the route stopped abruptly in the centre of Beaune and we had fun trying to find bicycle friendly roads out to the countryside. We ended up having to get off and push along the footpath, the busy one way streets too confusing. After Beaune we ended up on the wrong road, the D20 instead of the D20F, eventually finding it without the help of our map, which had neither the D20A, D20G or D20H marked on it either.

Naturally it started to rain about then, so we meandered on toward the vines of the Cotes du Nuits-St-Georges then decided to call it a day in Primeaux-Prissey. The rain continued through Sunday morning as we made our way out of the hills of Burgundy, through the forest around Citeaux Abbey, to join the Euro Velo trail again at the Saone river. And thence into Jura along the Canal du Rhone au Rhin.

After lunch the rain cleared and by the time we came into Dole mid afternoon, the sun had emerged. Dole looks an interesting town, with it's old buildings of golden brown stone overlooking the entwined Doubs river and Rhone au Rhin canal - but we didn't stop to investigate.

Campsite at Dole, overlooking the Doubs river.

Neil by the Rhone au Rhin canal.

Rochefort-sur-Nenon.

 

Gabby mixing with local wildlife.

Heron by a barrage before Besancon.

Hilly countryside coming into Besancon.

Instead we continued on, on Monday to Besancon where we stayed for three nights. One day of relaxation with a bit of washing and cleaning and one day of tourism and errands in town. Well, that was the plan anyway. To get to the campsite which is several kilometres northeast of the city, we followed the canal through a tunnel excavated in the bedrock of Besancon, under it's tall citadel.

Tuesday was our day for visitiing Besancon. Monday evening, after another hot and humid day, a huge electrical storm broke over the river valley. It rained heavily overnight then began to clear in the morning. Until we prepared to leave on the bikes.

Then the heavens opened again. We sheltered under a tree for a couple of minutes, hoping it would pass quickly, then moved into the tent. Three hours later we started getting a little cabin fever. Four hours later we made a break to the shop for food then hunkered down in the tent again.

We never did make it into Besancon.

Thursday, the French National day, elsewhere called Bastille Day, dawned misty but without rain. Once the mist cleared we had patchy blue skies, a bit cooler than previous. It was a lovely day of cycling along the river Doubs with hills and cliffs rising steeply from the river. Only 65km to L'Isle-sur-le-Doubs, but it was the only campground between Besancon and Mulhouse. Firecrackers were being set off all over the place but we were fast asleep, lulled by the fast flowing Doubs, by the time of the evening fireworks.

Peaceful stretch along Doubs river.

Sharing the road.

Today again was cloudy and slightly cool after the mist cleared – perfect cycling weather. We followed the Doubs river again until Montbéliard where it turned south and we continued east on the Canal du Rhone au Rhin. As we cycled along today we saw many eagles gliding around in the thermals and even saw one eagle swoop to catch a fish right next to us. We have also had our first glimpse of the Jura mountains, blue in the distance. 

Smooth downhill following a series of canal locks, mountains in the distance.

During the day we picked up the name of Madame et Monsieur Australie from a French woman we were speaking with last night and this morning at the camp ground – we kept passing each other today on the cycle path. They are heading for the Black Sea as well so no doubt we'll see more of them in the future.

Tomorrow we'll actually be on the Rhine river. We are camped tonight in Mulhouse for our last night in France. Tomorrow – Basel and beyond.

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