St Leger-Sur-Dheune-Palinges-France-9-1-14

We had no power to recharge our GPS so we could not record today’s data. The mileage is a guess.We left camp in a hurry this morning because there were no toilets at the campsite and we need to find ourselves a piece of forest.

 

Problem here is that the Euro Velo route 6 now decides to go through the French countryside rather than follow the canal du centre. That meant some climbs and as the wind was very strong from the Northeast that also meant going against the wind on several occasions.

 

The route went south and west then north and west and then south again and continued on through some more hills so there was a total of about seven climbs and they were very steep.

 

We decided instead to take the Highway 974. It was heavy with traffic as we left St. Leger, with trucks, with cars, and there was no shoulder, not even a white line. It was also chip seal instead of nice smooth pavement so it was an arduous ride. We did ride all the way to where we could pick up the canal du centre again on a bicycle path at St. Julien-Sur-Dheune.

Once again, we find no cafés along the route except perhaps in the towns, and no public toilets along the route, nor gas stations, the reliable source in the States.

We came to Eschelle d’ecluses where the route now goes around in the French countryside again to avoid some major highways. It was a good hill that we had to climb and we got to soar down the other side. There was a very pretty Lake that the road goes around, but it showed as being paved which it is not. It was perhaps the worst gravel we have had on the trip; thank goodness it was just a short distance.

After Montchanin, we rejoined the canal du centre which is now going downhill our way. So we no longer have to climb the ramps to the locks; we get to go down them. The road the route follows is an old country road right along the edge of the canal for a very long distance from this point. The road is quite rough and bumpy to say the least. The patching makes for a lot of bumps and dips. Still, we had a tremendous tailwind and it was an enjoyable ride.

We shopped for groceries in Montceau-Les Mines as a big store was right on the route. So many times, we have found that the map shows amenities in the smaller towns that have not existed, and we have tired of going hungry.

It’s interesting to us that there are so few places to camp along a very popular route. We shall see as we progress if the campsites get more plentiful or not. The nearest campsite after St Leger (which really did not exist), was at Palinges. It is a lovely place to camp with terrific amenities and nice views of a little lake. There is a small room where one can hide from bad weather and get internet. The hosts offer hot coffee, free washing machines and a big smile. There is even toilet paper which has been missing since we entered France from the west.