Today started beautifully, not a cloud in the sky and breakfast was Muesli, yoghurt and banana. It doesn’t get better than this. It’s funny, those are two of the main things that make me happy on tour – good weather and a full stomach. I’m easy to please.
We stopped in town for a coffee and the waitress, McDonalds style, upsold us on the breakfast deal – coffee, croissant and juice for four euros. So, we sat in the sun soaking up the atmosphere and breathing in the beautiful air around Chateau Fontainbleau – a beautiful old building on a massive expanse of land. We also breathed in a few lungfuls of cigarette smoke as elegant women puffed away on their morning darts.
We got going, and just around the corner we were gobsmacked by the grounds of the Chateau. Just amazing. There were a few paths beside a wide, well kept canal and I naturally chose the wrong one. When it stopped, we pushed the bikes through a hole in the high fence but about a kilometre later we came to a locked fence with no way over or through. Then followed the first backtrack of the day.
It was nice riding on quiet roads and through forests until we emerged and entered an industrial area. We went off track and followed the road instead of the trail beside the river – to the next locked gate. With no way over or around, backtrack number two started with a promise to follow the GPS from now on.
Somehow both of these wrong turns were my fault. A fact noted by Dennis and one that I’m sure will appear in his blog, embellished, exaggerated and far more funny 😁.
We crossed a junction of rivers and stopped for lunch in Montereau. You can’t beat salad on a baguette with ham or chicken for lunch, and every patisserie or boulangerie has them.
We still didn’t know how far we’d get today, so we sat outside in a coffee shop to work out the options. As we did, the clouds came over and it got colder and colder. By the time we got going, jackets were on and knees were cold. We took off at a great pace down the river path until Dennis remembered he’d left his sunnies in town. Backtrack number 3.
We recommenced the path down by the river until it dumped us on the busiest road we’ve seen so far. I took a wrong turn at a roundabout and didn’t realise for some time. The frustrating thing was that our road was in sight and it looked to be winding through villages and small hills. grrrrr. We took the next turn to rejoin the route and the next few kms were exactly that – winding through rural villages and going past friendly people.
Our Airbnb was just outside Pont-sur-yonne and the small roads and turns challenged my (lack of) navigational skills. We got there to find one of the best Airbnbs I’ve stayed in. Natalie, the host was bubbly and helpful, and her son drove us into town at dinner time.
He tried to translate the dinner menu for us but it was all too hard, so we decided to have a beer (it was a bar restaurant with some friendly locals) and then go for pizza – the only other option here. The people in the bar were so helpful, we decided to stay for dinner – especially after seeing what the other patrons were served. The only item on the menu was schnitzel, which makes me wonder why it was all too hard previously.
We walked back home in the cold night air. Tomorrow is even colder.