Tonnerre

July 17, 2017

Today we biked to _Tonnerre. We were delayed somewhat by our search for a decent petit déjeuner, which never materialized, and by our diversion to Decathlon to buy Jerry a replacement tube after his blowout yesterday and for me to exchange a shirt that was too large. We finally found a place to eat not far from there and were then on our way.

The market at Sens was very impressive. Anything you could possibly want food-wise was there, all situated in a beautiful building. But, unfortunately, no place to eat in!

Today's ride to Tonnerre.

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Once on the road, we biked up a lovely valley on a not-too-busy road, and I took the opportunity to take some photographs of attractive vignettes.

Stacked wood seen along the way. Plenty of wood for the winter, it looks like.

We stopped briefly in Cerisiers at a pharmacy to get Jerry a "Band-Aid" for the road rash on his right palm as a result of his fall yesterday from the tire blowout, and then tackled our first big climb of the day . . . and of the tour for that matter. I think it went on for at least two miles, slowly leveling out at the top. And from there, it was more rolling hills for another five miles.

On the road to Tonnerre . . . after a big climb.

And then the big descent. We knew it was coming as it was marked by a 5% down-slope warning sign, just as our course diverted off the main road!

Guess which road we chose? If you chose left, you chose right!

In reality, what really happened was this: I was a bit ahead of the boys and reviewing the route and saw that the course took us left. But I also noticed that if we stayed on the mainline, we would end up at the same location, Saint-Florentin. So I thought to myself, "This is easy riding. Let's take the mainline." But the road to the left, our planned course, looked enticing, so when the boys arrived, we discussed it, and I said, "Let me go explore the course a bit."

Well, by golly, am I glad I did! I was immediately drawn into this wonderful environment and never turned back. The boys eventually followed me, and we ultimately stuck to our original course!

So I went down this route just to explore it and was so drawn into it, I never turned back! I'm good with that! And they were too!

On the road. This was almost the best part of the day.

The far side of the forest! Dry, dry, dry!

Then the descent into Saint-Florentin, where we had lunch.

In Saint-Florentin we had a decent lunch, but just barely, as the noon hour was already well past. In small French towns, it can be tough getting lunch after 2:00 PM! But we made it under the wire and were sufficiently re-nourished to travel on.

Of course, the rest of the day was pretty easy as we were at the entry point to the Canal de Bourgogne, our pathway south! But finding it was a little difficult, and we went back and forth a bit until a local gentleman cyclist (who was not dressed as we were!) got us on our way . . . after at least one false start up a dirt road.

You might ask, "How could you possibly have missed that?!?" But we did. Mostly because we were riding on the main road, paying too much attention to our Garmin routing, and thought the access trail was further down the way. Hence the dirt road diversion, which led to a dead end of sorts, a farmer's fence. But once on the towpath, it was easy sailing.

The shade was a welcome relief from the sun and heat.

There were a few rough spots, but they were short-lived, and we returned to the normal surface grading.

The canal was a delight to bike along. The surface is generally good with a few rough spots, so thin tires might be challenged a bit, but it can be navigated! We followed the canal for about 18 miles and arrived in Tonnerre.

Crossing the river into Tonnerre, decorated with flowers.

After getting settled in, we wandered about town and climbed to the highest point to see the Église Saint-Pierre de Tonnerre and, possibly, the Fosse Dionne. Well, we saw one out of two . . . and then dinner.

Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 154 miles (248 km)

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