Birdlady42
We’re now in an area where it gets tricky to decide where to stop each day. Do we want a really short day or an extremely long one? Because I was sick yesterday and the heat hasn’t let up yet, we chose the former today. We rode about 23.5 miles today, which was about all we should have because the heat is taking it out of us. We don’t think Brian’s electrolytes are sorted after that really long and rough day to Sancerre and I was sick, which means mine are probably off a bit too. We need to find another shop with PowerAde somewhere, but here out in the country of France, there aren’t convenience stores on every corner that sells things like that. And the only grocery store in this town is very far off the path. Beer and water will have to suffice for now.
Today was our first day in the region of Burgundy, but we didn’t eat at a regular restaurant. So, we haven’t yet had any wine. There is a restaurant here below our hotel, but the menu didn’t excite us. We instead walked a little bit into the old center of town. There had been a street festival in town today that was just finishing packing up and it’s Sunday, so the choices for meals, especially in a small town like this, are very slim. The brasserie we hoped to find was closed. Ironically, Brian had just mentioned today that he would love some tacos and as continued to walk, there was a tiny little shop for “Pizza et Tacos.” They weren’t what we think of as tacos, though. You get to choose 1, 2, or 3 meats, which included options such as ground beef, cordon bleu, or kebab meat. Brian was thinking these were shaped like tacos, which I was already suspecting they weren’t, so he wanted 2 tacos – they looked very surprised! The more meats you choose, the bigger the “taco.” So they said it would be cheaper to get on 3-meat “taco.” Cool. Ok. So we get our “tacos” with frites – yes, they serve everything with frites here – and they are more like unseasoned (the ground beef anyway) burritos, sort of.
The trip here was smooth, once we pumped up my low rear tire – I must have a slow leak – and then we had to stop before we left Nevers because my rear trunk was loose. After we got out of town, we had no more problems today. We ate our grocery store sandwiches at a pretty little picnic spot about halfway along the route.
We are now along the canal that runs parallel to the Loire, using an old tow-path that’s been converted into a bike path. Unlike the C&O canal in the US, this is still an active canal, though mostly for leisure boats. We saw many people out on their canal boats enjoying this very warm and sunny September Sunday We even saw several using the still-functioning and manned locks, complete with
adorable lock houses. There were herons and hawks, oh and a dead deer 🙁 floating in the canal. There are also a bunch of tiny little lizards constantly scurrying across the path in front of us.
Decize is beautiful, just like most of these little towns here. They all have history based on some sort of aristocrat that built a rampart or walled city to protect his interests, like a port and land, that then became a town and there are still remnants of walls, chateaux and salt storage towers. From the 15th century on, there was a salt tax, or “gabelles” that was quite steep. The aristocracy were exempt. So they hoarded theirs in salt towers. It was a big contraband item in the country. Can you imagine? It was a major impetus behind the 1789 revolution, in the list of grievances, and the tax was abolished in 1790.
So tomorrow is another medium distance day because the heat continues. It should let up a bit after tomorrow. We again have a hotel room without A/C, like in Nevers, but the nights cool off well enough and the buildings are made to stay cool since they were built before A/C was even a thing. I will definitely search out some wine from the region tomorrow!
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| Decize |
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| From the bridge into Decize |
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| Le Chat Noir in Decize |
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| Center of Decize |