The Rhine Rhone canal is in believably fantastic from all aspects. Natural beauty, flat, wide, paved cycle path, (part of Eurovelo route 6), approximately 20' steps at the locks and there are dozens. Total elevation gain was approximately 600'.
On Wednesday night, my first night in France, the ride was so great, I left the room arrangements till too late at 17:30, in the middle of nowhere, I asked a shopkeeper, in bad French if there was a chamber or gite anywhere near. Yes, of course. Specifically for cyclists, aboutt 3 km further on. Perfect. A plan.
I found the velo-gite in due course and an overt sign welcomed me. The door unlocked, I walked in. The sign on the door gave a phone number to call the caretaker for a key to the bedroom. Price, 12.5€, a deal. Problem.. No cell phone and, although there was an old train station not 50' away, no train stops here anymore and I'm not sure payphones had been invented when last one did. They just wizz by now.
A woman was looking out a 3rd story window so I asked here how to find the caretaker absent a cellphone. She identified a nearby apartment and I knocked on the door. Unfortunately she never showed up but I sure as hell wasn't moving off that easily. The shower and toilet were completely accessible as was a large common room, and best of all, there was hot water.
I moved in. Took a shower, set up my sleeping bag in the common room and slept like a baby. I left a nice note in the guest book, 12.5€ and a business card with a note to let me know if I owed anything more. Something tells me, the caretaker won't be particularly surprised.
About 10:00, another good thing happened; I met Felix.
He came riding up behind me. I guess he'd been trying to catch up for a little while and did great things for my ego, when he said that there weren't many who could keep up with him. The start of a great friendship. The miles/kms pass quickly when you're talking and riding. A genuinely nice kid from the South of Germany, Tubengen to be specific. He was out for 3 days when we met, on the way to Madrid or Bilbao; he was deciding. Turns out he was going to spend a 3 month term (he's a senior after a BA) in Madrid. Since Bilbao has become such a cultural center and especially because of the Frank Geary museum, Bilbao was my hands down choice. He knows Madrid already and speaks French, and Spanish in addition to his native German.
He was traveling on a student budget so when we got to Dole, although he wanted to ask a local family if he could camp, I talked him into a campground. He wouldn't agree to share a room at my expense. Since we were going in the same direction on Friday, and he was great company, it made sense to stick together.
We talked about cultural differences between DDR and the west, the French, and strongly held odd right wing American opinions. We talked about architecture and the impacts of WWII.
We seemed to crossed some sort of division between north and south; maybe a worm hole. Restaurant's didn't open till 19:00. While taking a tour of the town before setting up camp, we saw a Japanese restaurant and I asked Felix if he liked sushi. He didn't know but was excited to find out. We set up camp and walked back to the Japanese restaurant. I ordered. Ordering Japanese food in French wasn't as bad as I'd have imagined it would be. I ordered a couple of combination sushi, shashimi dishes and miso. Salmon, tuna, shrimp, and of course octopus.
What a trooper he is. He didn't miss a beat. No spoon provided for the miso. Drink from the bowl. No experience with chopsticks, but he did great. I started him off with a roll and moved him on to sushi. When it was octopus time, I warned him it would be a little chewy. He liked it all. We have another convert. It was a fun dinner.
Thunderstorms (80-90% probability) are predicted for tomorrow (Saturday) so we both planned on taking a rest day on Saturday. I have no intention of making this Paulie's electrocution adventure. Maybe if I had my carbon bike, but I brought the steel one.
Felix needed to get to a monastery in Taize tonight where he wanted to wait out the storm. I was pooped so I stopped this evening in Chalon sur Saone. We said our Goodbys, exchanged email addresses and invited each other to come visit. I'll miss his good company.
Chalon is a happening place. Some ancient buildings, some only slightly newer. The city center's dozens of restaurants were doing great business. I ducked into one on the river which looked good and ordered the gourmand salad and a glass of a nice red wine. It was wonderful. Jambon, pate, cheese, beets on toast, and, what I think was unsweetened apple sauce, also on toast. They did such a nice job with this that I ordered desert and left it up to the very patient and busy waitress. She brought me gateau au chocolat with a scoop of unbelievably wonderful ice cream and coffee. And it's warm here, perfect weather for dining outside. Doesn't get any better than this.
I hope to find a pay as you go Sim tomorrow and to do laundry. I found a local do it yourself laundramat and the only other thing to do is to find a bookstore for more maps. This has become a never ending quest. Most supermarkets have a local map and one of France. None carry adjoining areas till just before the border. Not great for route planning.
To sum it up. Germany was easy. I figured out the system and it worked reliably. The infrastructure is as cloise to perfect as possible. There is no system in France and it's falling apart. It's all over the place, but with uncertainty, come good surprises. I had no idea how beautiful the countryside is. Gites can save your life. The bread and croissants especially the chocolate filled, are to die for. The food in general is great. You would not believe what I'm eating.
It poured on Saturday morning. By 13:00 the sun was out. Hopefully, the forecast rain will not materialize tomorrow.
I didn't get laundry done, but I did find the rest of the maps I needed! I was on the edge and in danger of running out if map, so this is a weight off my mind.
On a more serious note. The Rim fire is affecting people we know. Ann and Marty have moved down to Sonora and I have to imagine Deana is under a evacuation order. It's a little frustrating to be here while this is happening, but what could I do if I were there?
I'm looking forward to dinner. I will hit the road bright and early tomorrow.
The bikini clad women if made of chocolate. How could I make this up?
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