View Larger Map
Monday, May 27th – Dijon to Vezelay, 4060 km
It is once again time to hit the road and cover new ground, though it would be tempting to rest here longer. But Patrick and Jean-Marie will be busy with the store all week and our time in Dijon has been satisfying. Today we will head west and north-west into a region called the Morvan.
There is a bustle of activity in the house this morning. Patrick has to leave for Besancon in Alsace. He has been helping friends with their hotel there from Monday to Friday each week this month, while Jean-Marie manages the confisserie. Both Mike and I are packed and ready to leave by 9:15. Reluctant goodbyes all around, but life rolls along without us if we let it.
We first stop at the post office where I need to let a future host in Paris where we are and when we will be arriving. Then we leave the city. We are rested and make good time. For the next two hours we follow the roads that Patrick and Jean-Marie
taken us on yesterday. We continue west to Saulieu. The route we use consists of small roads where cars pass us less than once per kilometre. The terrain is green, hilly and half-wooded. It is not hilly enough to be exhausting and but hilly enough to be scenic, my favourite type of cycling. 
A few km west of Saulieu, we angle north-west through Quarre-les-Tombes. It sounded gruesome and spectacular but it isn’t. We continue for another hour to Vezelay, where we decide to rest the night.
Our climb into Vezelay is our hardest part of the day. The old town, which is most of the town, is perched on a rocky ridge above the valley of the Cure River. It is a very steep climb, about all I can manage. The main streets winds through medieval buildings to the top of the hill where there is a public square in front of the famous Basilica of Mary Magdalene, which received UN Heritage status 12 years ago. There is a tourist information office opposite the basilica, where we learn of a youth hostel only one kilometre away. So, back down the hill and outside the gates we head. The youth hostel is empty, except for us. It has a panoramic view of the Cure River Valley and feels a bit like we have found Nirvana. No train routes come anywhere close to here, so the train-hopping North American youths who do the 12-countries-in-18-days type of travel never find this youth hostel. I’m in love with it. It’s so quiet and beautiful that it excites me more than relaxes me.
One more guest, a German artist about 50, named Rose-Marie moves into a room beside ours. She is big hearted and seemingly unstructured in her approach to life. She speaks some English but prefers French, and that’s fine by me. Mike buys a couple of quiches in town and we heat them in the kitchen of the youth hostel. Rose-Marie entertains us with her travel stories, most of her travels being on her own. After she retires I am still wound up by this wonderful day. I take a short walk under the stars and full moon, but they excite me too. Still, I go to bed and manage to fall asleep soon enough. It has been a long day. We covered 132 km, our third longest ride to date, and we crossed our 4000 km landmark.
PHOTO 1: Basilica de Saulieu
PHOTO 2: Roche de Chien, south of Vezelay
PHOTO 3: approaching Vezelay
PHOTO 4: gate into Vezelay
PHOTO 5: Basilica of Mary Magdelene
PHOTO 6: Vezelay village
PHOTO 7: inside the Basilica of Mary Magdelene
No comments:
Post a Comment