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.
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| I love the lock-houses, some are still lived in like this one |
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The confluence of the Canal Latéral à la Loire and the Canal de Roanne |
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| 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!
