Blogs from Auxerre, Burgundy, France, Europe - page 2

07h30, and the dining room was filling up. By 08h30, the dining room was becoming empty. By 08h45, the heaven's had opened and the gutters were filling up. I left the hotel and walked through the rain to buy some lunch. Having acquired suitable sustenance, I went off to hire a bike for the day. As before, my plan was, until lunchtime, to follow the Canal du Nivernais down to Cravant, have lunch, then carry on before turning round and returning to Auxerre - a modest 29 miles. And so, with the rain having stopped, I strapped my bag to the bike and cycled through the park and onto the main road, heading downhill alongside the Boulevard Vaubelle to the River Yonne. Not wanting to take any chances, I used a couple of pedestrian crossings before ... read more

Following yesterday's breakfast with the masses, I made a conscious effort to ensure I was there early. 07h30 seemed a good time and I was relieved to find that I was the only guest in the dining room. By 08h15, I was still the only guest in the dining room - clearly, yesterday's UN resolution had been agreed and issued. After a leisurely breakfast, I left the hotel about 09h00 and headed into town to buy some lunch. Having a bag full of bread, I went off to hire a bike for the day. Not having ridden for about 15 years, this was going to be and interesting experience! My plan was, until lunchtime, to follow the Canal du Nivernais down to Cravant, where the Scots were thrashed by the English in an away game in ... read more

Having arrived in London the previous evening, I was able to start this trip with the minimum of fuss, arriving at the Eurostar terminal an hour before the train was due to leave. Despite the queues, the positions in extremis once again proved the fastest route through security and passport control. Thus, five minutes after checking in, I was sitting on the far side watching my fellow travellers become more and more hassled. The journey to Paris was uneventful - probably because I slept much of the way, waking just before our arrival. My neighbour, however, seemed to spend the entire trip sitting side-saddle and staring out of the window, afraid to miss something! Heading through Gare du Nord, I headed straight to the RER where, without any planning, a train was waiting. Leaving immediately, two ... read more

Leaving a little late we were off to see the Palace of Versailles, oh how things get on a roll it was bloody closed on Mondays so we missed it, feeling somewhat robbed we decided to leave dodge and head south for warmer weather. Plotting in the route for Dijon which was our next destination we bid farewell to gay Paris and hit the road again. Traveling roughly south we wound our way slowly through rolling fields and farms finally arriving late in the evening at Auxerre, planning to stay in the campground we found it was closed and being around 6.30 I started to get a little worried as to where we were going to stay. Bree to the rescue she had spotted some other motor homes in a car park alongside the river in ... read more

Later that night we received the phone call we'd been waiting for for the past week. Jade had had her second child, a little boy named Charlie. I spoke to her, my parents and texted my brother and sister. I was so pleased for her and proud of her, but suddenly felt very homesick. I won't lie to you, I had a little cry to Mike; I was happy for Jade and the tears were partly for that but I was also sad that I wasn't there with them. My family is really close and have always shared important moments like this. Speaking to them made me feel a lot better though, and I would have a new nephew to meet when we went home. I put the finishing touches to the card I'd made for ... read more