July 15, 2024
Autet to Langres
My Achey breaky heart and other bits.
Our most challenging day on this trip so far- the distance, the heat and the continual up and down of the route call on our inner iron person.
We depart from Autet quite early, having no breakfast supplies available. A few kilometres down the road at Dampiere, we remedy the situation at Intermarchē with yoghurt, bread and bananas.
Thus fortified, we start on the first part of the journey- to Champlitte. The route we have follows the Salon River and is very pleasant early in the morning.
There are fields of wheat recently mown, round bales of hay in the fields and bunches of livestock, mainly cows, here and there and there’s little traffic on the road.
We run through Delèvres, Delain, Achey, Franois, each with a church, no shops and few signs of people
The ride to Champlitte is straightforward and signposted well for cyclists. It is part of a boucle from Vesoul. Just before the town we swoop down a steep hill to Camplitte La Ville and then up the rise to the main town.
At Champlitte there is a rare cafe on a corner, we park our bikes and go inside for coffee. It’s cool and quiet and there’s a nice bench and table where we can spread out. Madame, with a gentle hint of purple in her coif, is preparing lunch. It smells great, but we have 40 kilometres to make over hilly country and we want to pace ourselves.
We climb through the town, up to the tourist office and check out any available maps - for the big picture. There’s not a lot available because, as with most of these places, they don’t deal with information beyond their area. The tourism officer is pleasant though, and interested in our trip.
After Champlitte, we feel a little lonely. For one thing, the road is empty and the landscape wide. And there are no more green cycle signs or arrows. And here the hills really kick in. They feel relentless and we adopt the tactic of making five kilometres and then stopping for a water break. Although the climbs are followed by rolling downhill runs, we always suspect there’s another climb coming. The villages come up less regularly and but do give sense of chipping away at the total.
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From here we take a minor road up to Sts Geosmes. And it climbs! It’s not a bad gradient but it seems endless. The stops for water increase. We pass a sign that indicates that the source of the Marne is nearby, and we can hear rushing streams.
We realise that we are heading up to the plateau Langres sits on. We reach what feels like the top and quite suddenly we are in the outskirts of Langres. It’s been a hot climb and we’re relieved to arrive, sweaty but with just enough strength to hunt out the campground which is conveniently placed at the first gate to the town.
We had imagined that the town would be a further climb to something like a hilltop town, but no- we’re there on the same level as the town at 460 m elevation. The campground is sited on the Navarre Tower military installation land and so it is placed right on the city walls. We book in, get a site right next to the ancient tower and set up. Rain, as always, is on its way, but the kindly Dutch couple with the camper next to us, tell us we can use their awning while they are out at a restaurant.
This we do, after a quick trip to Carrefour for food. While eating under the awning, we book an apartment for the next day. Nothing like anticipated luxury!
The showers are hot, the thunderstorm knocks out the lights for a few minutes, but our tent is quite cosy, we have kindles to read- what more could we want?
Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 875 km (543 miles)
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