September 14, 2015
Along the Canal du Nivernais to Clamecy: We visit Rosemary and John
Le Dinner
Well this is an absolutely amazing place ( despite having to wait until 5,30 to check in), It is very old and has been tastefully restored and beautifully decorated. The man who checks you in is everything you can imagine as far as charm is concerned. The suggestion is that you eat here (it would have been somewhat of a problem for us to get on the bikes and go elsewhere !). The meal is at 7.30 and served at long tables. At our table we had a couple from Germany, one from Belgium, us and one from Paris. The only language spoken was French, Ken listened well but was fairly mute as was the German man, I of course struggled but as more wine was served things improved a little. The meal itself was truly delicious. We were given Rose as an aperitif then had a white with our entre of a goat cheese tart, the main was the most beautifully tender Boeuf Bourgeon served with a Pinot Noir. Then 2 soft cheeses with a slightly older Pinot Noir and a cherry desert and coffee. It was such fun but pretty exhausting as these people who were basically on an eating tour were surprised to hear about the 'randonne a velo' and wanted to hear all sorts of details like. How do you wash your clothes? Do you carry everything? Etc etc At the start when Ken was being particularly quite one asked ' Did I ride the bike and he drive the car?' Imagine that!! We are so lucky to experience things like this
Breakfast was again a communal affair with our hostess enquiring how everyone slept. It was a very typical French breakfast but Ken was able to get some very good muesli and I had lovely ripe melon. The Belgian lady from last night had that look on her face of wanting to ask the question that most are too polite to ask, but she did. Quelle age avez vous? I gave her the answer and after that we really felt a bit like exhibits in a zoo!
As I checked out they told me that they have just finished picking the Pinot Gris and will start on the Pinot Noir in about a week or so. It was a bit difficult finding our way to the wonderful track alongside the canal. It was beautiful and when we came to a small town we would deviate into it doing such vital things as visiting the Boulangerie. Our first thing for the day was to visit our very good friends from home Rosemary and John Stoppard. They have a beautiful old Dutch barge and spend their summers enjoying the French waterways. Today they happened to be in Vermenton getting Petronella ready to leave for the winter. They start their journey home on Wednesday. We found them easily and it was great to see their smiling faces. We sat in the wheel house and drank coffee, ate pain au chocolate and talked. The weather had been rather iffy so we were lucky that a huge shower came when we were inside. It was easy to find our way back to the cycle route and we were off again. What we had been concerned about was rain but what we got was far worse than that, an amazingly strong head wind. We were really battling to do more than about 10 km/hr on perfectly flat ground. Rather a pity when the surroundings were so nice. Only a couple of heavy showers though and during one we were able to hop into a bar for a coffee.
It felt as if it had been a fairly long day when we got to Clamecy. This is a small town on the pilgrim route to Santiago starts at the magnificent Cathedral of Vesalay. For a town of its size it has a very big old church though unfortunately we could find little information about. Our hotel is the Auberge de la Chapelle. The room is small and grotty such a contrast to last night but they have a magnificent dining room in the old Chapelle so we will indulge ourselves there.
Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles)
Total: 2,208 km (1,371 miles)
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