August 2, 2023
Culles-les-Roches to Cluny
We had a really great stay with Alex and Manue. Its crazy how much has changed since we hosted them 7 years ago in Dunedin and then Hawea, yet we still had the same relaxed, comfortable feeling I remember. They were in the middle of their worldwide recumbent tandem bike tour while we were yet to even start one. It was very cool to see their place and hear about their plans while also thinking about our upcoming future of living in a very old house with various structural issues. What I loved the most was seeing how well Tobias and Flavien got along. We barely get to see him play with other kids his own age, but they were (mostly) really great at sharing and had all sorts of funny conversations even though they don't share a language. By the end of our stay Manue says Tobias was saying some french words, and I'm sure I heard Flavien say "up there" while Tobias was up the stairs.
I almost felt bad pulling Tobias away to leave, but we needed to hit the road. Tobias pointed at Flavien on his balance bike and said "come". But two 2 year olds is too many, and I think his family would miss him, so we set off as three again. We took a slightly different route across a viaduct back into Saint-Gengoux-le-National for our boulangerie stop. It was a nice track and slightly downhill, just very very windy. Tobias complains about the wind and gets very upset when saying "no wind" and holding out his hand doesn't stop it. Eventually I figured out that putting his sunglasses in helped. Normally he pulls them off but he left them on this time.
After our morning pain au chocolat we passed the castle in Sercy then joined the rail trail in exactly the same spot as 2 days ago, but headed south instead. Before too long we stopped for lunch at a table and carried on South. The route was easy to follow and passed rolling hills, farm fields and a few castles. Alex and Manue suggested we stop at Cormatin but Tobias was just asleep so we carried on past.
We made good ground despite the headwind and the camping ground was still closed and Tobias still asleep when we arrived so we headed into across the bridge into Cluny instead. We biked up to look at the abbey and realised that tonight would be a good market in the gardens above. Towns often have interesting things that hallen each week, but we almost never seem to be in town on the right day. It was still incredibly windy so not cooking seemed like a good option.
Getting the tent up was a two person job with the wind, but Tobias was happy enough to help. James changed his own brake pads (also worn down as far as mine) and Tobias and I watched all the other cycle tourists arriving at the campground.
Unfortunately it rained just as we arrived at the market so we had to shelter under a tree and eat our galette and taco. Tobias was pretty cranky and complaining about a sore mouth, which he's been doing for a few days. We finally spotted sign of another molar poking through which explains some of his random upset the last few days. After dinner we had an ice-cream overlooking the abbey. Tobias has finally figured out "mercy" and completely charmed the lady serving us.
We're still figuring out where to go day to day, so between laundry, bike mechanics and that, we've got a fair bit of admin to do in the evenings. At least this wind is perfect for drying the laundry and James is already folding the nappies that are dry from a few hours ago.
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Today's ride: 34 km (21 miles)
Total: 2,564 km (1,592 miles)
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