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Tuesday, March 28th - Vezelay to Auxerre to Migennes, 4140 km
I did sleep well last night, in spite of my fears that I wouldn't. This morning we prepare coffee with Rose-Marie in the kitchen of the Vezelay youth hostel, after a trip to the local bakery to buy fresh bread. The manager of the hostel chats with us about our trip for a few minutes in his soft, pensive voice. He's grey-bearded, overweight fellow who walks with a limp looking something like Orson Welles, his long hair pulled into a ponytail. We wash the dishes, pack, say our goodbyes and are on the road by 10, a satisfactory start time.
Yesterday was the longest day we have done yet in France, but it was not too difficult because of the tailwind. In fact, it may have been the first perfect cycling day yet. But with cycling, yesterday and tomorrow are relatively unimportant compared to what is happening in the present. Today we are heading north, first following the shallow valley of the Cure River.
We have a bit of a headwind, sometimes a crosswind, but it fades as the day rolls along. Otherwise, it is almost as fine as yesterday. I lose Mike at a fork in the road somewhere along the Cure, where is no clear indication which way to turn. I wait 15 minutes and he returns. Fortunately he had not gone too far. The roads on the first half of the day are very quiet. For one 17 km stretch we did not see a single car.
We reach the valley of the l'Yonne River by mid-day, which continues a path north through Auxerre and Migennes. The traffic increases, especially around Auxerre, which is a small city and the largest centre we pass through today. Auxerre has an impressive position on the west bank of the l'Yonne, capped with the St Etienne Cathedral. St Etienne brought Christianity to this region and the local St Germain Abbey still holds his bones since his death in 448. At least they haven't cemented them into some wall, as the Catholics did in Evora, Portugal.
The riverscapes are beautiful but the layout of the city is quite confusing. We cycle up through the heart of the old city, which isn't easy to access with all the one-way streets, but it is worth it. Like Dijon and Beaune, there are many half-timbered buildings from the last medieval period but the most fascinating attraction is an incredible 15th century “clock” which is impossible to read without a guide book. I suspect it needs special 
training as it tells all sorts of astrological information like the phases of the moon and position of the stars over the years. It is built into a wall above a city gate in the old town, an extension of a turreted chateau of sorts. It remains a mystery, which in part is why I like it. We spend a couple hours here as an early afternoon break as the weather is beautiful and we have time to spare, this being a shorter day.
Our final destination is Migennes, the town where Christian, Gerard and Thierry's friend, lives. From the old town of Auxerre, we cross the river on a truck route and then switch, as soon as we can, to a smaller route that weaves from village to village. Now that we are beyond the Morvan, there is more traffic on the smaller roads, but they are still preferable to the larger highways. We course through the villages of Moneteau, Seignelay, Hauterive and Cheny to reach Migennes. We call Christian as soon as we arrive at 5:30. He comes to meet us and lead us to his apartment building. Just as I am finishing showering and changing, Christian's mother drops by with two of her friends to greet us. As soon as they leave, Annie, Christian's friend who manages an escargot shipping plant, drops by with two large bags of escargots for our dinner.
Christian takes us out grocery shopping for dinner and on our way home we stop at the home of another of his friends, an energetic, out-going woman named Jackie. She looks younger than her 39 years, and acts much younger. Christian describes her as "liking men a lot". That is rather obvious. She's definitely barking up the wrong tree with Mike and I but she is entertaining. She asks if we have any Canadian pins and I promise to leave one for her with Christian.
Supper is very late - after 10pm. Annie shows up as well as Rudy, one of Christian's mother's friends who we were introduced to earlier. Everyone seems to like us, or at least is curious about us as Christian's Canadian friends. The fact that we are cyclists apparently adds to our appeal. The escargot dinner is delicious. I have a glass of wine but the others are in more of a party mood and drink much more. Their local French gets faster and more slurred to the point I can no follow it. I am tired and once again feeling excluded, but as a guest of honour, albeit an ignored guest, I feel obliged to sit tight on the sidelines and wait for the party to die down.
PHOTO 1: Auxerre river view with St Etienne Cathedral
PHOTO 2: Auxerre, square in old town
PHOTO 3: main street in old town Auxerre with gate and chateau
PHOTO 4: the amazing unfathomable "clock"
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