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Day 11, Montbard to Pouilly en Auxois - 61 kilometers

Route: Easy riding along flat, low traffic roads.  Directions: The small roads are so numerous along the canal that one could pick and choose their route and not make a mistake. In fact, we wandered along so much that I know I couldn't retrace the exact route, the choices are just too numerous.  

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    We awoke to dark skies but no wind. We stopped for breakfast at a patisserie and debated whether we should return to the tow path. We decided that the progress was too slow and the path just too bumpy for a day's riding. The map showed a series of low traffic roads running close to the canal and we opted to use them instead of the path on our trip to Pouilly en Auxois.

    As we rode along through the beautiful countryside, the wind picked up and was in our face again. The skies got even darker and opened up just as we approached a bridge crossing the canal. We left the road in favor of the tow path and took shelter under the bridge. Two French teen-agers were fishing under the bridge and we asked them how fishing was going and what they were catching. They replied pike but only small ones. I asked how big the fish could get and they held out their hands showing at least 30 inches!

    The storm broke within fifteen minutes and we started out again, the wind still in our faces but the sky lighter every few minutes. We rode on till lunchtime until we found a small restaurant, the Macarena, in the center of one of the numerous villages we were passing through. We had been rather frugal lately and could afford a full French lunch so ordered pate and chicken. Mmmm, delicious!

    We rode on to St. Thibauld, a town with an old church said to house the remains of its patron saint in a reliquary. We entered the church and but could not see the chest housing the remains until an elderly lady entered and opened a side room. She showed us an ancient appearing chest on legs. We looked at it closely and could see through the cracks, it appeared empty.

    An elderly German couple was also touring the church and I met the gentleman outside. He recognized me as an American from my talking with Jeanette and Roxcie. I asked him where he was from in Germany and how the bicycle riding would be where he lived. He laughed and said he lived in northern Germany near the port of Hamburg. He said it was a common joke that if one laid on his back in a field, his nose could be classified as a mountain! I told him my wife would look forward to such a tour!

    We continued on, the weather improving by the minute. An old chateau, Eguilly, was located just outside Pouilly en Auxois and Jeanette wanted to spend some time looking it over. We found the right road and rode into the chateau's parking lot and chained up the bikes.

    The chateau was half fort, half chateau with the remains of a moat and battlements. We entered through the courtyard and while standing there, were hailed by an elderly French gentleman. He was excited to have visitors and even more excited that we were Americans. My wife told him she only spoke basic French and he modified his talking, speaking slowly, substituting English words for French when he knew them. He was the owner of the chateau and lived there with his wife who was off shopping. They had turned the chateau into an artist's colony and were getting ready for a show.

    He gave us instructions on where to walk through the unused portions of the castle and told us to meet him in the wing he lived in when we finished. We walked through the old passageways, looking out the arrow slits onto the drained moat and fields beyond before returning to the courtyard and approaching his living quarters. He warmly invited us in and had us look through the rooms on the floor where he and his wife lived and the upstairs where the chateau was restored as a country home to the aristocracy. 

   The tour was great and he made it a very personal affair, one to remember for a long time. While we were walking through, Roxcie asked if she could use the toilet. He showed her the room and told her it was the same as used by past kings and queens in their visits, although the plumbing had been greatly improved since that time. Roxcie was thrilled. She used the same potty as royalty! He also showed us a dungeon and urged the girls to walk down into the dark room. Once inside, he and I closed and locked the door, telling the girls we'd let them out in 100 years or so.

    When we had first walked into the courtyard and were hailed by the gentleman, we offered to pay the E5 that was advertised as a fee for touring the castle. He had waived his hand, indicating that we should keep our money. As we left I took out a 10 Euro note and asked my wife to offer it to him for his services as a guide. He smiled and took our small offering.

    We continued on to Pouilly en Auxois under light and puffy skies. We rode to the center of the small village and saw three hotels. The first two were full and I was beginning to get worried. The third, the Hotel du Commerce, had a room for E55. We took a look. It was perfect. We locked our bikes in a garage offered by the hotel keeper and then walked the town, spying out all three patisseries for the next morning.

    After our walk around we returned to the room and got ready for dinner, having decided that the hotel's fare looked excellent and reasonable when compared to many of the places we had seen. We went down to an excellent dinner from a menu with selections from E12-15 and then retired to our room to write our postcards and journals until we could no longer keep our eyes open. We had gone from stones back to diamonds in only one day!

Accomodations and recommendatins:

Hotel Du Commerce
Place de la Libération
21320 Pouilly en Auxois
03.80.90.88.23
E 55 for three, breakfast not included

Day 12, Pouilly en Auxois to Dijon - 62 kilometers

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