Pouilly-en-Auxois to Rouvray

July 7, 2018

The day started in crisis mode when I lost my iPhone.

Veronica George spent the night in a garage a couple of blocks from the hotel. Leaving my panniers at the hotel, I retrieved the bike, attached my phone to the handlebar, stopped at the restaurant to drop off the garage key, and rode back to the hotel to load up. There was no place to rest the Vivien George when loading the panniers, and she was acting like a bucking bronco. I found a barricade railing to lean her against, got everything loaded, and headed off. But my iPhone was not in it's place! Not panicked, I went to retrace my steps, but no luck. I inquired at the restaurant and hotel - again no luck. The woman running the hotel/restaurant offered to call my number, but the phone was on mute. After the third time around my morning circuit, anxiety levels were high. My phone was not only my communication, it was also my only navigation device. It seemed that the phone was lost, as was I when considering to what to do.

The town was having some sort of craft market or festival, and the street just beyond the hotel was lined with tents. The tent closest to the hotel was selling wood crafts, and a young boy was at a jigsaw cutting designs into a fairly large piece of wood. I had almost spoken to him on my first look around, but he was so intent at the saw that I didn't want to startle him and risk injury. When his father returned to the tent, I approached them, accompanied by the hotel/restaurant manager. Yes, the boy said - a man had found an iPhone!! Where was he? Who was he? The boy did not know, and vaguely pointed up the street. After some back and forth between the father, son, and the hotel/restaurant manager, it was decided that the man might have turned the phone in at the Town Hall, a very civic-minded thing to do. They pointed the way and, heart pounding, I quickly but quietly entered the main office where the staff person was helping someone. There on the desk, under some papers, was my phone!!! The wonderful man who found my phone had not only turned it in, he had phoned my last call (which was to my friend Christine) to tell her that he was taking the phone to the town hall. How amazingly fantastic are the French! We all celebrated my iPhone's return and I was finally on my way.

Craft fair on the streets of Pouilly-en-Auxois

My saviors - who told me my iPhone was found and might be in the town hall. Not pictured is the unknown man who found the phone and took it to the town hall

After the morning chaos, it took a bit of time and miles for me to settle down into the ride. A lazy Saturday morning, traffic on the canal was sparse save for the occasional fisherman. I said good-bye to the canal a couple of miles past Baux, heading west toward the town of Flée. After a brief photo stop at the Château de Flée, I turned north to Semur-en-Auxois along the Rue du Lac, which follows the Armaçon river to a lake below a dam on the river. I was looking forward to water views and perhaps a little dip of the toes, but the lake was surrounded by pricey homes with no public access. There was a beach at the north end, but after a quick look-see I moved on. The road from Pont-et-Massène into Semur-en-Auxois was a busy national road, with lots of beach traffic on this sunny Satuday. However, a parallel cycle path took me all the way to Semur-en-Auxois where I stopped for lunch in the medieval section of the city.

Heading out of Semur-en-Auxois after lunch, I found myself on another national road; however, this one had no dedicated cycle path. I took the first side road up to the village of Collange and used Google Maps to navigate on the fly, looking for smaller roads that would reconnect with my planned route farther south. I can't say that I was surprised when I found myself on a dirt and gravel road, but it was a new first when the road turned to grass. Once back on the pavement, the small roads wound through farmland and small villages, undulating through fields of rapeseed and sunflowers. On this penultimate day of my tour, I grew emotional as I reflected on how lucky I am to celebrate life from the seat of a bike.

Small village along the Canal du Bourgogne

Rest stop near memorial to WWI dead in Montigny-sur-Armançon

Nothing but me and the Charolais on the road to Flée

"The Semurois are very fond of the foreigners' acquaintance", on the archway over the pedestrian entrance to the old city of Semur-en-Auxois

Another gravel road - but I am riding a gravel bike

A little dirt and grass is no problem for Vivien George and her trusting captain

Small road, sunflowers and quintessential French villages remind me of how lucky I am

I made it to Rouvray in the heat of mid-afternoon and stopped at a Tabac for a cold Schweppes. My hotel-restaurant for the night was located in a 17th century farmhouse at the edge of town. They emphasize serenity and gourmet dining - I enjoyed the latter but had a hard time with the serenity part. My plan for tomorrow had been to return back to Christine and Christian's house in Magny, thereby completing the circle of my grand tour. The plan had changed due to the fact that now I had to meet Christine in Paris, which required me taking the 9:43 train from the nearby town of Avallon, eleven miles away. The route to Avallon was along a heavily traveled national road, and the sound of speeding cars filled my room as I lay resting before dinner. After an extraordinary meal, I paid in advance for the room as I hoped for an early start the following morning.

This day ended as it began, with creeping anxiety. But the meat of the day was delight, joy, and gratitude - and I'll take that anytime.

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,285 miles (2,068 km)

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