Blogs from Burgundy, France, Europe - page 5

For those of you that have noticed the dates on our blog entries or follow us on facebook, you know that we did not just leave Chalons-en-Champagne. Quite a bit of time has gone by and we have visited numerous interesting towns and villages, traveled numerous miles on a few different canals and have passed through many locks both rising in elevation as well as going down toward sea again (even though still many miles from it!) I will continue to work on updating the blog in a chronological order if not for you the reader; it will be for us when we want a complete journal of where we have been, what we have seen and who we have met along the way. We now have completed with the French canals and are now traveling ... read more

After yesterday’s excitement of the canals and the Tour de France we were ready for new experiences. But we were exhausted from the canal walk and the 200 kilometre race from Troyes to Nuit St Georges so we decided on a slow start today. The sky has clouded over but still very hot. Thunderstorms are forecast for later in the day. The farmers are very busy in the district getting their wheat harvested. We decide to go exploring, this time to Nuit St Georges. The Tour de France leaves from a different location so the town will be empty when we arrive. We decide not to mention the third test between the All Blacks and the British and Irish Lions. There are two reasons for this. First the TV channel decided to scramble its signal just ... read more

Before leaving home we had this wonderful thought of how we would spend our time in Burgundy. Canals and cycles was somewhere near the top of our wish list. So today, being gloriously fine, we head off in search of “the canal”. We had thought we could just go to the end of the road, get on a bike, and gently ride alongside the canal with our bread stick, cheese and wine. Wouldn’t life be grand if that could really happen. Instead we need to drive about forty kilometres to the town of Pouilly-en-Auxois where we can access the Canal de Bourgogne. This canal connects the Burgundy region with Paris and is the shortest way of traveling the distance. With all the locks it probably isn’t the quickest way. Once we reach Pouilly-en-Auxois it proves a ... read more

We take our time waking up this morning. We are allowed to. It is Burgundy, we’re on holiday, we’re here to relax. After we leave this apartment we haven’t got anywhere to stay so we better start planning ahead. Finally we find suitable accommodation in Nancy, about four hours drive north of Beaune. It is another apartment, much younger than our present location. During our previous trip we fell in love with Leclerc shopping centres. They are fresh, modern, and full of wonderful surprises. Late this morning we pay Mr Leclerc a visit. We enjoy the trundle around his shop with our special wheeled shopping basket that bumps over every join in the endless number of flooring tiles. It must be annoying to the other shoppers who push their overflowing silent shopping trolleys along aisle after ... read more

The day looks much better this morning as we wake to the sounds of the rural countryside. Birds and tractors but no animals. The fields all around are full of maize and wheat. The pool looks inviting but the temperature hasn’t quite got there yet, maybe later in the week. Unfortunately we won’t be here. Our accommodation has only coffee making facilities so a fresh fruit breakfast is all we need after last night’s fantastic meal. Our hosts go off to work leaving us to lock up. Trusting. Our first stop today is the historic town of Cluny. Yesterday our brief visit confirmed it was a “must see” town. We didn’t realize its importance in history until now. The abbey that once filled much of the town in the 11th century was the largest in Europe ... read more