Day 3: Crepy to Villers-Cotterets: A slow start - but fun! - Grampies Go By The Books Summer 2014

May 2, 2014

Day 3: Crepy to Villers-Cotterets: A slow start - but fun!

We planned a late wake up, to help get over any residual jet lag. So it was at least 10 before we toddled out of our room and back onto the streets. Being on the street, though, did not mean we forged off toward our next destination. Instead, we went down the street to a car wash. We lined up all the bags and the bikes, and subjected them to as much high pressure spray as we dared.

So now with sort of gleaming equipment, did we forge off toward our next destination? Nope. We went shopping at the adjacent Netto store. Actually, first it was Brico, where we found our precious Campingaz. Then at Netto - so many high quality food stuffs! Salads, cheese, tomatoes, chocolate pudding like desserts, chicken and curry reheatable dinners, etc. etc. Ok, forge off? Nope, need a visit to the boulangerie to develop the necessary power. Pain aux raisins, chausson pommes! Now what? Ah, go find a post office. We asked directions and then pedalled 3 km off route to verify, of course, that the Post Office was closed. They had various times posted by the door, but apparently the prime directive always applies: We are not open.

Bike bags line up at the carwash to clean up their act for next time they have to go into a hotel

One version of post office hours - in one window

Another version of post office hours - in the other window

So now we were free to orient toward our next stop, Villers-Cotterets and get on with it. Our Google Maps cycle routing quickly put us on the N2 And we quickly put ourselves off it. No shoulder and lots of high speed traffic. Instead we followed an enticing sign to Vauciennes village. This took us down an enchanting one lane road, and eventually to a little village with a very old church. We detoured a little to have a look at the church, but found that the door was not open as is customary. While we stood there, a young boy, Nolan- about 8, came up and asked us about our bikes and about our flags. Grampies, of course, are glad to talk to 8 year olds, and we happily explained the shifters, brakes, etc, while inquiring as to whether he too had a bike. Nolan's father wandered over, so we had a more far reaching discussion - like about his recent trip to Montreal, Canadian mosquitoies, Niagara Falls, etc. I only mention all this to illustrate that we were not exactly tearing up the pavement. Dodie dug out some Canadian flag type stickers that we had brought along, and (we hope) made Nolan's day.

So eventually we continued on another suitably small road to the small village of Coyolles. Coyolles was not large enough to have anything so exciting as a bakery, but it did have quite ancient looking civic buildings and an old chateau.

Villers-Cotteret popped up next. This is quite a large town, though "large" in no way means anything so threatening as any high rise, or even tall, buildings. We were still looking for a post office so we resolved to head for the centre of town. The "centre ville" signs we followed, we later ascertained, circled the town and kind of zeroed in on downtown in the manner of water circling a drain. Eventually, though, we were dumped in the centre. Here there was a chateau of Francis I, dating from the 16th century. Unlike some chateaux of the Loire, this one seems half used by a prison, and there are no regular tours of the rest.

At the very centre of town there is of course a church, but the real place of honour is reserved for a statue of the famous author Alexandre Dumas, born here in 1802. Dumas is most famous (with us) for the Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers. He also adapted The Nutcracker, later used by Tchaikovsky for the ballet. We sat by the fountain and statue and ate salad and puddings from that Netto. Then I headed over to the bakery. The centre features three bakeries, but in case you think I am truly crazy, I only attended one random one. The random choice must have been good, because this bakery, though small, had quadruple the selection of some others. This included some lovely fresh fruit tartelettes and other fresh fruit delicacies. But it was a shelf of many kinds of "Danish" that caught my eye. I chose one, at random, and rushed it back to our statue picnic site. It turned out to be filled with chocolate, surrounded by a sweet paste of unknown composition. The whole thing was uncommonly heavy for its size and made me wonder what other treasures were on that danish shelf.

Meanwhile a father and his somewhat mentally challenged son had seated themselves nearby. Dodie answered UQs from the boy, who eventually got a Canada sticker. He was very pleased about it, but the father was beaming. He must have viewed the encounter as a good educational experience.

So now it was high time to beat it out of town. We started, but passed a bike shop. Hmmm. Next, wait for it, we ran into a "remarkable tree". It was a Ginko, and came with a sign - all about Ginkos. We absorbed that, but then noticed we were across the street from Dumas' birth house. So we checked that out too.

Our next act was to head out of town on the wrong road - twice. Dodie claims she can not see the GPS in (what there was of) the sun. So we found ourselves back at the tourist information. Our true objective, Fismes, where we had spotted camping, still lay 60 km away. Oh well, we said, let's quit and start early tomorrow.

So that's how we ended up still in Villers-Cotterets. This time, 59 euros bought an even smaller postage stamp room, somehow billing itself as three star. Well, it did have a small envelope of soap and one of body wash, while yesterday's two star effort had none.At first they invited us to put the bikes right in the front entranceway of the hotel, but later they phoned us to say the bikes had been given their own entire room. It's a better one than ours - on the main floor and close to reception. Still, the bikes did not fit in any more comfortably that they would have in our room. They were not totally happy about it, but it was better than the entranceway!

Three star hotel offers only one pillow? Actually we did dig up another one, somewhere.

With our new supply of Campingaz, we could cook a nice hot meal. This even included a goodly amount of coffee. At the Dumas statue I had also ducked in to a cafe, emerging with a take out coffee - quite a good feat, though there was only about 3 ounces of liquid in the miniature paper cup I got.

So tomorrow, theoretically it's an early wake up. Once we drag all our bags down to the bike's primo room, we will all be off. Maybe we will be able to focus a bit better and do more than 35 km . Or, maybe not!

Fields of mustard in bloom, and a road with bike lane!

Oh,oh, back to european size coffee - when you can find it.

European cars by Peugeot and Renault seem very refined. I would love to take a Renault van like this home!

Today's ride: 35 km (22 miles)
Total: 93 km (58 miles)

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