Back on the Bike

On our second day in Beaune we decided that we had to interrupt our much-needed relaxation in favour of seeing a bit of the countryside. By bike.

If you'll recall, my first time on a bike in ten years was not so long ago, in London.

I approached the prospect of spending a day on the bike with much trepidation.

At least there weren't any buses to share the road with this time!

And the scenery was pretty great.

The route we were following went something like this...

We passed through some gorgeous little French towns along the way. And if my little (well...not so little after all the eating we've been doing) derrière hadn't been in pain, I would have enjoyed them a lot more.

Forced smile? Yes.

We just had to stop for a break at the next little town. And with a view like this, who wouldn't have?

We decided to really enjoy it, breaking out the picnic.

And I seriously contemplated a nap - anything to avoid the pain of getting back on the bike!

But, trooper that I am, I soldiered on.

We admired the teeny weeny green grapes...

The fancy vineyard gates...

And the shuttered windows...

Tom developed a very interesting new map-reading position.

We found a lovely little picnic area amongst some trees along the way, and I hobbled off the bike for another break.

When some lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, we figured we'd better be on our way and try to make it to the next town.

We made it in time to admire the not-quite-inbuilt rain protection mechanisms on tractors.

And of course, more French buildings.

Since the rain still hadn't shown up in earnest, we pushed on. For as long as it took us to find these very convenient metal deckchairs. And of course I didn't pass up the opportunity to rest my sore bits.

The storm clouds made the light on the vines look really cool!

Aah... that's the life.

Not for long though, we were back on our way, and staring open-mouthed at the very comprehensive sign posts!

Here is Tom pointing out how far we'd traveled. Yay.

But it wasn't over yet!

Here's Tom about to get run over.

He survived. Hooray!

We (well... I) collapsed again at the next town, and Tom went for a splash in the fountain.

It was really hot, so I demanded ice cream for my effort. We found a supermarket, and my wish was fulfilled with a vengeance!

We thought it was so lovely that we found a little park in which to enjoy our ice cream.

But then this happened.

So we had to take refuge under a tree with our umbrella.

Once the rain eased we were back on our way (and for the record, we couldn't finish that ice cream, so we're not total fatties yet).

We eventually found the canal near the town of Chagny, our final destination for the day (other than the Chagny train station where we could...thankfully...board a train back to Beaune).

We happily cycled along it (well... I continued grinning and bearing it)...

And then it hailed.

I'm not kidding. It hailed!

With little hail stones stinging our backs, we picked up the pace and managed to take cover under a bridge.

Seriously! Hail!

Once we recovered from the shock, we made our way to the Chagny train station, hoping that that was the end of our adventures.

And we made it home, hopped straight in the shower, cooked a home-made dinner, and rested my sore behind.

And what would dinner in France be without a little (or a lot of) dessert?

So. The day in summary? We cycled 28.5 kilometres. We got rained on. We got hailed on! And we ruined any physical benefit by eating rapberry and ricotta filled tarts for dessert. Whoops!