June 9, 2023
Fontainebleau to Villenauxe-la-Grande
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Today was a day of big open fields with some hill climbs thrown in. We never had any really steep climbs but we did have a few longs ones and after not hitting a hill for the last 490 miles it will take some getting use to again.
The roads out of Fontainebleau were like most major towns, busy! We did not have any problems with the traffic as we have found the French drivers to be excellent with bicycles and we soon passed into the country side again.
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Our route today alternated between wide open fields and then old stone villages. At the start they we every couple of miles but as the day moved on we got into more sparse country side. Sparse for France that is, I am not talking Colorado sparse or Wyoming sparse.
We arrived in the small town of Sognolles-en-Montois at about 12:30 and the boulangiere was still open so we decided to see if it had any sandwiches. All the sandwiches were gone for the day but they had some drinks and the lady at the counter filled up our water bottles for us so a very worth while stop.
I thought this town needed to step up its game as every other town we stopped in has had benches for us to sit on if not full tables. For Sognolles-en-Montois it was on the ground or stand. At least they had some nice shade trees and the Marie building was very beautiful.
In the afternoon we went from one giant vista to the next giant vista just loving life and the French country side. It was hot and the hills were new but it was an excellent days riding.
We came across this burnt out tractor on the side of the road and I just had to take a photo, it's not something you see everyday, in fact I have never seen it before. I could just image the poor farmer heading to the bar tabac that night and telling everyone his prize tractor caught on fire today. A sad day for all and I am sure many drinks to commiserate.
In the afternoon our friend the headwind was getting strong and to add insult to injury it seemed to increase every time we hit an uphill section. I did decide the wind did have one advantages, it kept us cooler on the up hills. I based this theory on the fact it got much hotter when we got out of the wind.
We were passing all sorts of crops but when we came to one wheat field it was too impressive to just ride past. We stopped and climbed into the edge of the field and stood amazed. The wind swirled the wheat like currents in the ocean and every bit of this golden fur seemed to be in constant motion.
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We arrived in Villenauxe about 4 and stopped at a bar for a cold drink. When I say "a bar" that makes it sound like we had our choices of bars but like most of these small towns there is one bar, one boulangerie and if you are lucky a couple of restaurants that will open 4 or 5 days a week.
The bar was in the main square next to the boulangerie so we decided to pickup a couple of sandwiches and head to our B&B to have showers and then dinner there.
Our B&B is rather special, Le Moulin de Cutesson. It is a old mill building which was first mentioned in records in 1423. The interior is all stone and old timber beams and the past can be felt oozing out of the walls. Our rooms are one floor up and fitted with all the modern convinces. It is another really special spot and we are very lucky to be able to stay at all these great places.
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I will try to remember to take some photos of the inside and front of the mill in the morning.
Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 532 miles (856 km)
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