22/07/2014 : Lac Des Settons - Burgundy - Gurgy

Tuesday

So the weather is not great again. Started OK, Jo ran and I cycled but by the time we got back to the van it is raining again.  Some research of the Aires Bible and we decide that rather than heading further and further away from Calais we will try to identify places further North and East where we can do non weather reliant activities.

We head for Lac Des Settons in the Burgundy region. It is only a couple of hours drive through beautiful countryside and I managed to get the photos of cows Jo wanted. The Aire is a great spot right next to the lake. The weather still rubbish however so we don our waterproofs and head for an afternoon on our bikes. The bonus was we came across a lovely restaurant/hotel/tea room where the chef makes his own chocolate on the premises. We had the best hot chocolate ever. Mug of hot milk and a big lump of chocolate to dissolve into it -  yummy!!

We cycled for about 4.5 hours so collapsed for the evening in the van.

Lac Des Settons - Misty

Lac Des Settons - 12 hours later

Miles today 88  Aire free.

Wednesday

Still plotting our route North now and working our way towards the Champagne region over the next few days.

A nice spot for dinner.......

Tonight’s stop is at Gurgy a few miles north of Auxerre.

We arrived there about 1330 after a very pleasant drive through Burgundy countryside. It is a lovely spot and we parked about 15 meters from a peaceful and pretty river with lovely views. Glorious sunshine all day today. In fact we woke up this morning to a very different view over the Lac Des Settons than we had last night. Went out for a bike ride along the canal and river tow path for an hour or so and had a lazy afternoon when we got back.

.........by the river at Gurgy

Got chatting to two couples from Blighty who were doing the same as us and slowly making their way to Calais and later in the afternoon we made the mistake of going to the regional produce shop and got captured by the enthusiastic owner who wanted us to sample everything, including snails. He told us we were in the Chablis wine region and area for snails. Both Jo and I can take one of those and leave the other!

Miles 63.  Aire no charge.