Day 9 -Montceau to Dole 139 .2kms

5 Jun

Today was another big day of riding and we agreed that an early start was best. So after waking at 6.00 we were on the road by 7.00 am

The early riding was alongside the canal for nearly 60 kms and we were heading down stream so no climbing at all

After about 35 kms we had breakfast at Saint Gilles. Breakfast for me was apple juice and an apricot tart.... yum!

We then rode on to morning tea at Fragnes which is a newish town alongside the canal

After morning tea it seems that Chris went off in one direction and I on another as we both had different ways to get out of town.... After a few phone calls we agreed to meet at a village Gergy up the road. Amazing how technology can help on occasions like this both for the communication and in using the Garmin.

As the wind was starting to get up we were conscious to keep moving and for the most part the winds were on our backs which made for some faster riding.

We stopped for lunch at a lovely town of Trugny. Lunch consisted of a large lemon cordial drink and sorbet.

After lunch it was off to our final destination Dole.Our only trap was that we decided to take a short cut along a busy main road which took some careful riding with large trucks taking up a lot of road space and there being no road shoulder.

After looking at options we found the route alongside the canal was best in to Dole

Dole seems a pretty big town

It is interesting to note that on our journey so far we have traveled down parts of the following rivers

The Seine
The Loire
The Saone
The Doubs (today’s river)

Over the next few days I am going to do some investigation on the canal network in the parts of France we have traveled because they are extensive and the myoglobin holiday makers using them is staggering. Chris and I have marveled at the engineering and work that must have been done to get these built.... all without the technology we have today

Now for the photos.....

Lovely view of the canal at breakfast