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Day 9, Collan to Tonnerre - 11 kilometers

Route- Easy downhill riding on roads with almost no traffic. Directions: Take the D35 eastward from Collan all the way to Tonnerre.

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    We woke up late and went downstairs to a delicious breakfast of quiche, bread, juice, coffee and tea. Our hostess bid us a good trip as we loaded up the bikes. We didn't actually start peddling until about ten o'clock. We expected the road to Tonnerre to be a downhill ride and it was with the exception of one small hill that we walked so we wouldn't get sweaty. 

    We came to an overpass with a double set of railroad tracks below. As we watched, a TGV train rolled under us at top speed, about 180 mph. It was so impressive that we stood on the bridge for about 20 minutes watching the trains come and go, every three to five minutes apart. After last summer and this one, it's embarrassing to reflect on the state of public transportation in the U.S. In England and France it seemed that we were able to catch a train to almost anywhere within an hour and they were prompt, efficient and fast. 

    Amtrak, on the other hand, is usually limited to three or four trains a day and these frequently do not come near where you want to end up so you have to transfer to an Amtrak bus to complete the trip. In some places, no public transportation of any type is available at all. In some ways, Henry Ford can be both thanked and cursed for his legacy. On the one hand, the inexpensive Ford automobile made the westward migration possible. On the other, the low cost of an automobile and even cheaper fuel meant that public transportation would be ignored for almost a hundred years west of the industrialized eastern seaboard.

    The last two kilometers into Tonnerre were a downhill blast and we flew along, even with the drag brake on. When we reached level ground we found the bike hard to pedal and at first thought it was an illusion since we had been going so fast down hill. Once off the bike though, I discovered it was hard to push as well. I checked and found the drag brake stuck partly on. I pulled the lever back and it disengaged but it was to stick until I disengaged it by hand the rest of the trip.

    Our accommodations for the evening were a B&B called La Ferme de la Fosse Dionne. It was supposed to be located within walking distance of the town's principal attraction, a spring called, "Fosse Dionne," that had a woman's clothes washing facility, (lavoir) built around it in the late 1700's. We followed the signs to the spring until we were standing in front of it, turned and found our B&B fifteen steps away, directly across the small street. We pushed our bikes in the courtyard and looked around but the place was locked up tight. We locked the bikes to some old iron railing and went walking through the town.

    While we were walking around we walked past a laundry. Who should step out but the owner of the laundry in Auxerre. He recognized us immediately and walked over and shook my hand and gave me a warm, "Bonjour Monsieur". I replied likewise and he asked in his best broken English how our trip had been. My wife helped me out, telling him in her best broken French that we were having a wonderful time. 

    We visited the TI office and were given a map of the Burgundy canal and instructions on how to find it from downtown. We continued walking around, bought pastries and quiches from one of the many patisseries and ate our lunch in a park next to a small canal. Roxcie wanted to check her e-mail so we sat on the steps of the post office until it opened at 2:30 and bought a card for the in-house internet connection. We spent the next hour catching up on all of our mail.

    We walked back to our B&B only to find that it was still closed. I noticed a note taped on a window. The note was addressed to us! It told us to go upstairs onto the open balcony and take the room at the end of the corridor. We did as instructed and found the key stuck in the outside of the door. We hauled our stuff up to what was by far a better set of rooms than we expected. We had a two room suite complete with kitchen, freshly painted, clean and attractive! We decided then and there that we would have a home cooked meal that night.

    We set off for the grocery store and found a store/deli that sold everything we needed. We bought way too much food including sausage, potato salad, ratatouille, chicken, Tabuli, bread, cheese and wine. We stuffed ourselves and ate it ALL! It was really good! We had bought a deck of cards while we were in town and played crazy 8's till eight o'clock and then decided to walk up to the abbey that overlooks the town. A dirt path lead from the lavoir up the hill and we followed it, cautious to avoid the little piles left by French dogs.

    The walk took about 15 minutes and when we reached the top we could see most of the town. As we neared the abbey we could hear music from the inside. We found a lady in her early 30's singing strange alternative music to an enthusiastic audience of about the same age. The music seemed to have no beat or meter and sounded more like hounds howling than singing. Roxcie and I looked at each other, tried hard to stop from giggling and left before we drew attention to ourselves. When we got outside we busted up laughing.

    It started sprinkling as we walked back down the hill in the semi-darkness. We watched carefully so that we wouldn't step on any doggie land mines on the way down. Once back at our luxury apartment we played cards, wrote postcards and filled in our journals until it was time for bed.

Accommodations and Recommendations:

La Ferme de la Fosse Dionne - This place was outstanding!!!
11 Rue de la Fosse Dionne
89700 Tonnerre
33-3-86-548262
E64 for three in two room suite with kitchen,  breakfast included

Day 10, Tonnerre to Montbard - 66 kilometers