Km 539- 74km today (on the bikes)
Even though we left early, the ride down to Never was HOT, with temperatures in the mid 30s. Thankfully the humidity has dropped.
I may have insulted an Irish man today, but he seemed to take it well. We were at the end a canal tow path waiting to cross the road, when a touring cyclist pulled up between us. We greeted him with the usual “bonjour”. “Hi guys” he said. I was so excited to hear the first fluent English in 6 days that I spewed out “oh you’re English!” “I’m English am I” he responded in a now clearly Irish accent. It’s really hard to cycle with one foot in your mouth.
We arrived in Nevers completely cooked, but decided to go to the train station to book tickets for tomorrow before going to the nearby campsite. The ticket agent informed us that we could get to Dijon today, but couldn’t make any promises for tomorrow due to the rail strike. This of course was news to us.
On the spot we decided to go to Dijon today, and the agent was able to book a hotel in Dijon as well, phoning ahead to confirm that our bikes would be welcome. Tomorrow we’ll take the train to Dole if it’s available, otherwise we’ll have to ride.
As I write this we are sitting in an air conditioned train, screaming across the French countryside. This feels a little strange after 10 days living mostly outside, and moving at a delightfully slow pace. The sudden change in geography, and perhaps culture should be interesting.
Sounds like quite an adventure! It’s great that Cruise Port Village took care of the paperwork, making the arrival smoother.…