We ate ourselves stupid at the Novotel for breakfast, it was all-you-can-eat so we did. Because of our indulgence we declined our traditional morning patisserie yuumy and just bought two baguettes for lunch and afternnon tea.
The first leg of this leg saw us leave the canal to follow the trail signs and sure we got to see some lovely villages but we had to ride some hills to do it. Canal path flat, non-canal path not flat. It was OK though, we enjoyed the workout.
At the Novotel Sandy noticed some posters from the local region in the hotel that featured coloured tiled roofs on the houses in the area. So we set out hoping to see some. Not 10km into the ride we saw a gourp of houses on the canal with mosaic tiled roofs....very cool.
In one of the little villages the road went right through the middle of a farm, very charming and rustic. We had a laugh as around the corner of one of the buildings a sheep was been shorn.
Hey Norm, it takes three people to shear a sheep in France :)
The off-canal part of the ride was very nice and for the first time since England we saw hedge rows. It actually looked a bit like England.
Not long after that we heard a couple coming up behind us while we were stopped at an intersection and not only did they speak English but we detected an Aussie accent. Sure enough it was a couple from Melbourne who had hired a car in Italy and were driving around Europe and while they stopped at each major place they would hire bikes and ride around to see the sights. We chatted for ages as I think both couples enjoyed the use of the English language :)
We rode into Chalon-sur-Saone and let the GPS find our way to the campground as it's a pretty big place. The GPS certainly didnt give us the tourist route as we saw some dodgy parts and we were both a bit let down as we need a day off the bikes and we like to do it in a nice place. Once we got to the campground we pitched the tent and then rode back into the centre of town and were very pleasantly surprised to find a beautiful town filled with very nice old buildings and shops.
That clinched it we will have a day off this bikes tomorrow and hang out here letting our legs recover.
Today also marks the end of another leg of the French chapter. We have completed the Canal du Centre and now follow the river Saone up to Dole
Some pictures from our day off:
Very cool murals
The gardens in town
Lunch :)
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