Day 6; Great day on the tandem!
Day 6; 08.07.2021 127 km
Getting out of bed was a bit of a struggle this morning, the continuous frontal wind is wearing us out. The “ Plat du Jour” was a 127 km stage from Troyes to Vezelay, being served with 1130 m altitude.
Es went out to find a bakery and a supermarket while Ben cleaned the drivetrain of the tandem. The oil we are using now makes the chains very dirty. A Suisse couple was having breakfast in the courtyard, they were cycling with the car as a backup. The man asked if he could use our chain lubricant and was amazed that he could chose between sunny chain lube or oil for rainy conditions.
Breakfast was great, the Saint Pierre threw its majestic sound over the city every 15 min and we were eating croissants and french bread.
To get out of Troyes we had to throw ourselves into the traffic. The French do have cycling paths but the corners are too narrow for a tandem. And they start suddenly and stop whenever the box with money was empty.
For 10km after leaving Troyes we were on the N77, a busy National road, thank heavens French drivers are careful.
After leaving the N77 there was a climb. I think this was our best climb so far.
After the climb cycling heaven arrived; perfect weather and quiet little roads with perfect tarmac.
At a local bakery shop we bought baguettes and the plan was to have lunch at 70 km. We did not find a good place for lunch and ended up on the N77 with another 10 km to go to Auxerre. No stopping now, so we had lunch on a bench in front of Auxerre cathedral. Not the most beautiful of the lot but standing in any other country than France it would be a busy tourist site.
After lunch there were 30 km along the Yonne river, flat and interesting. The piece de resistance was the last 26 km climbing over a ridge to the Vezelay valley. And last but not least a very steep climb into the old city. On the top we were braindead for at least 2 minutes.
It was 18.00 by now; we rode directly to our gîte half way Vezelay Main Street. This gîte was chosen for having a washing machine so we directly stuffed in all our dirty laundry. While the machine was doing its work we went back to see the Basilica and because so much culture makes very hungry, we finally sat down for a very Bourgondien dinner.
