Chateauneuf-en-Auxois to Semur-en-Auxois: cattle, canal and clear skies

October 15, 2011

WEATHER: Sunny

After breakfast we packed up and took off downhill back to the Canal du Bourgogne. The road was so steeply downhill that with the weight on our bikes, the tire rims heated up from the constant pressure of the brakes. We had to walk the bikes about a half kilometre while the rims cooled off. The weather was calm and sunny, and the Canal was very picturesque in the morning light. We stayed on the somewhat roughly-paved canal path for several kilometres until we got to Vandenesse-en-Auxois. Then we switched to the D18 through more rolling pastureland with Charolais cattle, who all turned their heads to watch us as we rode by.

Along the Canal du Bourgogne looking back in the morning.

Crossing the canal, with the steep descent from Chateauneuf visible in the background.

Passing through Pouilly-en-Auxois we followed the D970 to St. Thibault, a tiny little village situated at the right time and place for lunch. From John Fleckner's journal, we knew there was a boulangerie which served light lunches--the only retail outlet in town--and the baker and his family lived upstairs. We enjoyed our ham and cheese sandwiches there, while residents of the village popped in and out for their lunchtime baguettes, and the jovial baker joked with them and us.

After lunch we followed the D970 all the way north to Semur-en-Auxois. After traversing the eastern outskirts of Semur, we came upon an arched stone entry to the cobbled pedestrianized old town. The Hotel des Cymaises was a short way down a quiet side street in a nice old building with a walled garden. After we settled in to our unusually large bright room, we explored the scenic streets, and remaining town ramparts which looked over the river valley.

How do they get all those directions through such a narrow gap?

Looking northwest from the ramparts in the direction we will leave Semur in the morning.

Dinner that night was in the nearby Entre-Act, a very busy bistro. Duck again, this time with mushroom sauce, and a demi pichet of Cotes du Rhone wine.

Today's ride: 46 km (29 miles)
Total: 124 km (77 miles)

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