From the Loire towards Germany

Tues : 17^th June.  After leaving St Satur late this morning, we were enjoying a pretty, leisurely drive towards Auxerre along the D955, when, before we’d gone halfway, we chanced upon the Chantier de Guedelon.  On checking the dictionary, we found that ‘chantier’ in the French language means building site and intrigued, we pulled in to the very large car park where there were a dozen or more coaches, many, many cars and a few motorhomes, parked Boris and wandered over to the ticket office, paid 12 euros each to enter and discovered that Guedelon is a working construction site with a 70 strong team working with the hand tools of the 13^th century (with health and safety standards of the 21^st century) to build a medieval castle.  We spent a couple of hours wandering through the site, watching master craftsmen working to build the castle which it is estimated will take 25 years to complete. An experience well worth the 12 euros!  We took a few photos…

Further along the road we stopped at the lovely town of Toucy, having seen a conveniently located Boulangerie & Patisserie shop, where we bought bread and f.a.cream cakes for our lunch which we devoured by the lake nearby.

On arrival in Auxerre, we parked in the ‘aire’ overlooking the River Yonne and the town on the opposite side of the river, walked to the nearby supermarket for dinner supplies and settled in for a quiet night.

Wed. 18^th June,2014.  We rode the bikes across the bridge this morning to explore the town, but first rode a little way along the river to fill in some time as the tourist office didn’t open until 9.30a.m. and we needed a town map.  Having obtained said map, we walked up the hill and into the cathedral, and then did our ‘seniors’ stroll through the town, buying fruit at the market stalls,

coffee at a little café which seemed to be a pensioners’ ‘hang out’, and a quiche and f.a. cream cake each for lunch, which we took back to camp where we met new arrivals Mike and Sue and chatted with them before they went into the town. 

After lunch was consumed, we decided to ride along the river in the opposite direction from this morning’s ride and discovered a canal with three locks, watched a few boats go through the locks and spoke to an American couple from Washington DC who own a boat and cruise the canals and rivers in Europe for 4 or 5 months every year.  We had the cycle path almost to ourselves going out, as it was the French ‘lunch break’ but by the time we returned, it was beginning to become crowded though still enjoyable.

Later in the afternoon, we joined Sue & Mike for pre dinner drinks and chat, and followed dinner with a port and more chat.

Thurs: 19^th June, 2014.  I was awake early this morning with a little tummy trouble and couldn’t get back to sleep.  In sympathy, Mike walked with me in the fresh air, across the foot bridge to the town foreshore and back and when I later fell asleep for an hour or so, did all the packing up in readiness for departure.  Having exchanged addresses etc. with Sue & Mike and said our goodbyes, we left for the pleasant though uneventful drive to Marcenay, where we are camped by a lake in a quiet camp site.  It’s very peaceful and as we’re both a little worn out from the early morning wake up, an afternoon snooze was a bonus.

Frid.  20^th June, 2014.  It was a beautiful clear morning and on our walk along the lake, we watched three small fishing boats out on the water and the abundance of bird life flying in and out…very calming. 

We took our time packing up for the 156km drive to Contrexeville where we are camped for the night on the outskirts of the busy town, but apart from the hum of  traffic in the distance, another quiet park.

Since leaving Auxerre yesterday morning, we have travelled through some lovely farming country, stopping only occasionally for a break, and taken very few photos.

Tomorrow we will head for the source of the Moselle River.