Day 69: Montceau les Mines to Bourbon-Lancy

September 28, 2015

We set out again on D974, with the Canal du Centre just to our left. As with the day before, the D road was fine. In fact, traffic was very very sparse and was not a problem at all. Again too, the weather was glorious, with a clear sky, crisp temperatures, and maybe a slight tail wind.

Montceau les Mines was as its name implies a mining and industrial town, and we soon passed a large abandoned factory or mine building that recalled this history. Similarly quickly came to the Vairet-Baudot brick factory. This dates from 1863 and had produced bricks that were resistant to acid, frost and horseshoes, and were a very successful product. The factory operated until 1967 when it started to fall to ruins.

It was rescued and is now a museum. Of course, being Monday morning, it was closed, along with the rest of France.

Cartoon version of the brick factory in an exerpt from my favourite style of map.

We had picked up a tourist map in the hotel that portrayed the region with cartoon representations of the main tourist features, like buildings, cows, or activities like cycling or ballooning. I love such maps, which so graphically explain what you are coming to. So I was pleased to be able to tick off the brick factory as we passed.

Not far from Palinges, we came across an obviously long distance touring couple, heading in the opposite direction. Unlike many, they greeted us, and were willing to chat for a bit. They turned out to be Chantal and Jean Paul, out of Mulhouse. They had been cycling in the Pyrenees, and were returning home. I learned they had slept with their tent by the canal side, and explained that we had now abandoned tenting for the duration of the trip, our latest excuse being cold nighttime temperatures. Chantal and Jean Paul maintained that their gear was good enough to keep them comfortable at night. Aha, I said, but you are younger than us. Wrong! Jean Paul is 68. We exchanged cards, so maybe we now have a contact in Mulhouse.

New friends from Mulhouse Jean Paul and Chantal

Next we passed a sign advertising a museum for the "Line de Demarcation", but we never did see the actual building. We surmised that the line in question would have been the one separating the directly occupied lands in WWII from those controlled by Vichy. Checking the internet later, we found this was indeed true. The Canal du Centre formed part of the line and from the Swiss border the line passed through lots of towns that we had as well. The towns for the whole line are Dole, Chalon-sur-Saône, Digoin, Paray-le-Monial, Moulins, Vierzon, Angoulême, Langon, Mont-de-Marsan, Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port before reaching the Spanish border. It is just another piece o history that comes alive as you cycle trhough it.

Up to this point we had been doing really well in terms of logging in kms. But kms are not all that it is about. So when we got to Paray le Monial, we did not hesitate to take time to appreciate the place. What this was all about was the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, The cloister, and the Chapel of Apparitions. Dodie is a big fan of ancient monasteries and cloisters, mostly from reading Brother Caedfel mysteries. So the first monastery in Paray was founded in 973, and in 999 was attached to the order of Cluny. The Abbey of Cluny is a whole topic to itself, having been founded in 910 and developing into the largest and most powerful in Europe in the medieval period.

The Romanesque Paray monastery is apparently the image of the third abbey of Cluny. It is a complicated building with sort of radiating/cascading sections, and really does exude a feeling of antiquity.

Attached to the abbey (which got Basilica status from Pope Pius IX in 1875) is a cloister which housed the monks of Cluny until the Revolution. As usual, there are broad arced galleries, and a garden at the centre. We love this kind of thing. There was also a large fig tree in the garden, and we noted a couple making out under this. Kind of appropriate in an inappropriate way.

The final attraction was the chapel for the nun Margaret Alacoque, who saw an apparition of the heart of Jesus, around 1673. This triggered pilgrimages of the faithful, though only starting 200 years later. It was the creation of the cult of the Sacred Heart, which drew for instance 200,000 pilgrims in 1873.

This is pretty serious stuff, as there stands nearby a modern pilgrim welcome and information centre, a hotel, and a sacred heart gift shop. The chapel includes a wax model of the nun, reclining in a side chapel. She was canonised by Benedict XV in 1920. Signs prohibit shorts, cameras, and other stuff, but I did venture to record some of the interior.

The unique design of the basilica at paray le Monial

Romanesque door, one of three to the basilica

This frescoe was uncovered during renovations

The Basilica hotel. It's only 2 star - would have been interesting

Representation of Margaret Mary Alacoque

All told, we passed at least two enjoyable hours at Paray. We realized then that any targets we may have had for where to end the day may have been blown. D974 had ended about this point and returned to being a car free path by the Canal du Centre. So off we went along this. We had now entered the Valley of the Loire, which is our lst major river for this tour. Near Digoin, the Canal du Centre actually passes over the Loire, as a canal bridge, and then becomes the Canal laterale a la Loire, which parallels the actual river.

We continued to pedal, patiently, appreciating the serenity of the countryside, with the white cows all around. This is not only Charolais country, but when we were at Palinges we were actually just 12 km from Charolles, which is obviously ground zero for the Charolais breed.

The veloroute of the Canal switched to being the Route Verte of the Loire, as we drew somewhat closer to Bourbon-Lancy. We had decided well before this that it would be good to quit for the day, but towns in the area were either too far off route for us or did not seem to have much or any accommodation to offer. We just sort of pressed on, and finally it became clear we were not going to stop until Bourbon-Lancy, the largest town in the immediate vicinity.

We had been sort of boasting to ourselves that we were now so strong that we did not have to stuff up on breakfast to cycle well all day. But as we approached Bourbon-Lancy we found that we were dealing with a slight up slope and strongish headwind. Our forward speed dropped in half, and we found ourselves eating PickUp cookies to keep going.

We finally pushed the bikes up into Bourbon-Lancy, a medieval town that of course was on a hill. we had spotted a sign on the bike path for a hotel in the old city, and we headed for that. The hotel was La Tourelle du Beffroi, and yes, it is in a gorgeous but very small medieval section. There was a room at 63 euros, but it was teeny tiny, so we went for a charming large one, at 79.

We were really beat by those last 5 km uphill, and were not about to cook. So even though the room was relatively costly, we headed out to a (modest) restaurant. 14 euro fixed menus brought well prepared meals. We are seeing that portions are quite small in France (by US standards), but the good food does not seem to require big portions to be satisfying.

Salad of "crudites" plus tuna to start. We were pretty shaky by then and this was very welcome.

The bread was a big disappointment. Very low quality. Look how white the "mie" is!

Port cutlet and buckwheat crepe filled with ham, cheese, and egg

A dessert of a kind of custard cream with meringue lumps, was good

Tomorrow we will take a little time to explore the old portion of this town, but there should be some photos below that give the idea of where we are now.

Dodie at what really is the main door to the hotel

The city gate, beside the hotel, with a famous wooden house on the right

Today's ride: 85 km (53 miles)
Total: 3,294 km (2,046 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0