"Paris is Always a Good Idea"...Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina

August 25th

Jay and I caught the local/regional train (the TER) from Beaune to Dijon which is a 20 minute ride, then transferred to the high speed train (the TGV) to Paris for another 2 hours.  Once we arrived at the Gare de Lyon we had to make our way on foot to the nearest subway for our hotel located in the Rue Cler near the Eiffel Tower.  The Hotel Relais Bosquet is a wonderful little hotel recommended by Rick Steves and it does not disappoint.  The rooms are pretty generous for Paris and quiet.  There is an electric room darkening shade that also blocks out sound and the beds are comfy.  The people at reception are extremely friendly and helpful and there are tasty snacks out all day in the lobby area. I understand breakfast has lots of choices but we just did our own thing since the room had a refrigerator.

The Gare de Lyon

Our peek-a-boo view of the Eiffel Tower

After checking in we went down to the corner cafe to wait for Barb and Darlene, two of my college friends who are in Paris for a few days.  We toasted our reunion with a glass of wine and then headed to Tribeca for dinner just a few doors down the street.  I think we all ordered the carbonara which was divine.  Because they were still experiencing jet lag we decided to call it a night once we finished with dinner so we could get geared up for the next day's adventure.

Waiting...

Still Waiting...

Yea!!!

Beaune

Our New Friend, Clement

August 22nd 

We had a quick break from biking to do laundry, get groceries, walk the route to my cooking class next week (so I won't get lost and end up late) and dinner at our local favorite bar. Bar 66 in the main square has a few high tables that we love because they are great for people watching.  The only problem is that three of the tables are usually reserved for the owner and friends but tonight they were empty so we promptly sat down.  A few minutes later our favorite waiter came by and placed "reserved" signs on the other two tables. Uh oh...we thought we might be in trouble but he assured us we were fine.  As the evening progressed he told us the tables are usually saved for the usual customers and I told him I thought we had become usual customers.  He said "local" usual customers with a grin. He finally told us his name, Clement, so maybe now we are considered "local" enough to sit at the special tables?  Bar 66 specializes in giant charcuterie platters but we chose the caprese to start with and finished with the jambon persille pate. A nice ending to a low key day.

Driving Hints and Other Useful Information?

August 23rd

We drove to Dijon Plage today to start our ride out to Pont de Pany.  Most days we either take a train to start our rides or drive to a place to start.  Many times we are on the toll roads.  In the past the toll booths could be quite a challenge because some you threw money in and others you picked up a ticket.  So far this year it has been very simple.  Each toll booth has a green T for the lane that is open and a button to push for your ticket.  When you exit the toll road, again you look for the green T, put your ticket in the lighted slot and tap your credit card.  This makes life a lot less hectic.  There's no fear of holding up a long line of cars while you figure out what to do next.

Parking is always an issue so I am trying to put specifics in my notes this year.  The Burgundy Canal runs right along the lake at the west end of Dijon so we wanted to park nearby.  We found a parking lot adjacent to the trail on google maps in satellite mode and parked.  There were actually several lots just like ours all along the lake.  We started on what we thought was the correct trail but it wasn't along the canal so we turned around and discovered another trail adjacent to the canal.  We were able to ride along the canal all the way to Pont de Pany.  In the town of Fleurey sur Oche there is also a little parking lot next to a lovely flowered bridge over the canal.  The canal was gorgeous and our 40km ride was just the right distance.

On our return to Beaune we were in need of caffeine so stopped at Le Carnot for a grande cafe creme.  Coffee in France is interesting because you never know if you'll get a large cup or a small one.  Sometimes a wait person will ask if you want a large (grande) or small(petit) but usually they just bring it to you.  You can order a cafe latte but that's not usually how the locals order.  They order a "cafe creme" which is coffee with some steamed milk.  If you order a cafe au last that usually comes with a little pitcher of cold milk, not my favorite.  If you drink your coffee black and you don't want a very strong expresso drink you can ask for an Americano.  More often than not a little treat accompanies your coffee and when there is none it's a little disappointing.  We do love our coffee breaks, almost as much as wine time...almost. 😂

Jay had a cafe latte and I, the cafe creme

Dinner at Le Coq Blue was wonderful and chatting with two gentlemen from the south of France at the table next to us was very fun.  They were English teachers who have taught in many unusual places...Morocco, Georgia (the country) and Albania to name a few.

Yet another Salade du Chèvre 

Jay chose the pork shoulder in Epoisse sauce...yum!

 

Another great day in the books!

Bargeless in Burgundy

August 24th

Well it was almost bargeless...we only saw one barge in the port at Port Royal after our ride from Pouilly en Auxois.  The ride was on a great surface for about 37km.  We stopped to take a photo and a frenchman stopped to ask us about our bikes.  He picked mine up and was surprised at how light is was even with my motor and batteries.  Jay asked him if he had a motor under all his camping gear and he pointed to his legs! We all got a good laugh out of that one.

These trees are a puzzle...we can't figure 

out if they are supposed to look like this 

or have a disease?

We finally were able to have dinner at the little cafe down a few door on our street, Le Petit Paradis.  They are usually on vacation when we are in Beaune so we were happy they came back before we had to leave.  The food was tasty and the wine was a very good rose from Provence. The couple next to us was from Auckland, New Zealand so we had another fun evening of conversation with fellow travelers. 

Jay's yummy salmon appetizer

We are off to Paris tomorrow to meet up with my college friends, Barb and Darlene so need to get packed up for our 3 day adventure with them.  I'm so excited to share Paris with them!

 

Is Three Better Than One?

August 21st

This mornings drive took us to Paray-le-Monial where years ago we started our barge trip along the Canal du Centre with the owners of the beautiful Maria, Don and Patty Garni.  Instead of following the barge route we headed off toward Digoin, a charming little town.  We stopped for lunch at the port and I went in to use the bathroom and when I came out the port attendant had locked the door for her lunch break...oops!  Luckily she hadn't left the building and let me out. Another dodged bullet.  As we rode further down the Canal du Centre we switched to the Canal Latéral à la Loire.  The canal actually goes over the river (picture below).  Just past that bridge the Canal de Roanne goes off at a right angle so you could say we rode along three different canals today.

I love the lock-houses, some are still lived in like this one

The confluence of the Canal Latéral à la Loire and the 

Canal de Roanne

The Canal going over the top of the Loire River

After returning to Digoin we stopped for a coffee before going through L´Observa Loire which is a museum that explains the origin of the canals in France.  We found ourselves in the town square that is dominated by the Church of Our Lady of Providence.  This is a massive and beautiful building that actually looks a little like some of the churches in Andalusia Spain with a moroccan influence especially inside.  

Once we toured the museum and Jay learned all about the function of the canals we rode back to the car at Paray (44km).  On one ride earlier we passed through the town of Buxy and had a coffee at the Pizzeria de la Gare.  People around us were having pizza that looked really delicious so we decided to stop there for an early dinner on our way back to Beaune.  The pizza didn't disappoint and neither did the price.  We had 2 glasses of wine, 1 beer, 1 salad and 2 pizzas and the total came to 37 Euros!  As we were enjoying our dinner I noticed a vintage VW van drive by and thought that was a bit unusual...but not as strange as seeing three more pass by as well.  I'm pretty sure there must have been some kind of VW Van Rally going on because we've never seen these vehicles before.

A fun day of beautiful sites, a little history, a fair amount of biking and a scrumptious dinner...

Joie de Vivre!

To Market, To Market to buy a fat...Chicken! 🐓

August 20th

We didn't need much at the market today but did get a couple of baskets of strawberries which I need to take a picture of next time because they are so beautiful, and tasty.  The melons here are excellent as well so picked one of those up and a few veggies.  The chickens on the rotisserie looked and smelled so good we decided to get one of those for dinner too.  

Because our parking garage fills up on the weekends we decided to train down to Chagny and ride from there down the Canal du Centre to Saint-Leger-sur-Dheune.  A side note here...this is where we left the barge trip on the Maria many years ago so it was fun to revisit.  Next we rode up the hill to Nolay, an 8km uphill grind that I would not have done without my motor!  The ride back down was pretty fun I must say.  We made it back to the station in Chagny but had to wait a while for the train so found a cute little cafe for a coffee break since we did a whopping 51km! Upon our return to Beaune we had our delicious chicken dinner from Market Day.