August 11, 2023
Autun to Couches
Tobias decided this morning that Sam's family set up looked better for cycle touring and every time we turned around he'd biked off to the other side of the campsite to watch them getting ready. They were very friendly and didn't seem to mind the extra set of eyes checking out how they do things in the morning. We had an easier time getting ready than usual and we're on the road by 10:30.
Our route today headed pretty much south east with the final destination in Couches. We had a 200m climb to start the day. The first part was on small interesting roads, but for the second part we joined a bigger, faster, road. That was true of the descent as well - first through isolated farms, then later along a busier highway. Couches was a pretty town to descend down through. We passed the big Chateaux to the south east of the town but didn't head in since we were all a bit hot and ready to get off the bike.
It wasn't far to where we aimed to spend the night. Our hearts sank a bit when we saw a "fully booked" sign outside, but James took Tobias to reception to see if they had a spot for a "very small tent" (it's not really that small). They found us a perfect shady pitch and even though it's more than we've spent on camping for the last while we weren't really in a position to complain. Anyway, we were pretty happy with a dip in the pool and not to have to cycle any further.
Its another one of the weirdly Dutch places that we've found. Tobias instantly clicked with our neighbour kids of 5 and 3 and all 3 of them did laps on their balance bikes at great speed. It was great having an older kid because he kept Tobias from going out on the car road or too far out of sight up the hill. A French family turned up tonight and I wondered what it must be like to show up to a campsite and find all of the other families being from another country to your own.
We're heading to Beune tomorrow then on to Dijon before a big two day hop and skip with the trains to get to Brussels and on to Aalst in time for Lander's wedding next weekend.
| Heart | 2 | Comment | 0 | Link |
Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 2,829 km (1,757 miles)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 3 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |