Voie Verte

Au Revoir Voie Verte!

| Mairead

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(Look a little flower on the Voie Verte)

We seem to have finally left the Voie Vert, the greenway on the old railway tracks. I am missing it. We are in a small village surrounded by vineyards now so we haven’t left the countryside but the pleasure of walking and cycling in amongst the trees, vines and vegetables is gone.

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(Saw this funny tractor pruning the vines yesterday morning)

I hadn’t noticed until I travelled on the greenway that my feet wander towards where my eyes are looking. Well that explains why I am such a nervous cyclist in traffic. It’s because I have a knowing about my wandering and I’m concerned the motorist in the fast cars do not. There were no nerves on the greenway. A few cyclists had to ring their bells at me but they’re just not fast enough to kill me and I was out of the way in no time.

(Look! A bench under a tree!)

It’s possible I’m boring you with all this talk about this area and the greenway but I want to be sure you know how lovely it is. It is very lovely. Like, can you imagine, getting a flight to wherever the planes come to in Burgundy? Hang on I’ll google it….Ok there’s a flight on  Saturday 20th October at 1.10pm with Aer Lingus British Airways non stop return Dublin to Lyon, coming back on Wednesday 24th October for €159. Just the one carry on bag in that price so pack light – there was a great laundrette in the Super U in Prisse. Then there’s a train from the airport to Lyon and another from Lyon to Mâcon, takes 1 hour 43 minutes and costs €36. Then you’re on the Voie Verte! Oh hang on they’re still constructing the bit at Mâcon… hmmm, might have to wait until next year for that.

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(Somewhere to stay!)

Ok are you still imagining? The thing is there are loads of these walks, like the one by the Canal du Nivernais, you remember where we met Valerie and Stewart and Laura and Ronan? And there’s one along the Loire, another along the Saône, there are two other canals, there’s one through vineyards and even one for thrill seeking cyclists (I’l be keeping away from that) called GTM. The map says there’s 1,000 Km of cycle routes (cycle means walking is ok too) in Burgundy. There’s a website and I think it’s in English (yes it is) called http://www.burgundy-by-bike.com. Even the pictures are lovely. You’ll have to imagine places to stay too. I’m imagining it for you and it’s really lovely.

I want to come back here… Mairead.

PS Two things: No, I’m not working for the Burgundy tourist board… and Booking.com have been sending me emails about Mâcon since I googled your imaginary flights… how do they know what we’re imagining?

Nice Little Things

| Mairead

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(The market in Saint-Gengoux-le-National)

I love this Voie Verte greenway. Everyone who travels on it seems very happy. All the bonjours are lovely. We have moved on again but we are still on the greenway. About an hour by road south to a little town of Prisse. First things first, I did go to the market this morning. It wasn’t very big but it was big enough to get a tablecloth and some blue cheese for Denis and a picture of the man with a big knife who cut the blue cheese.

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(Here’s the cheese man)

We arrived in this town, Prisse (funny name) just before lunch. The aire itself is on a wine farm at the edge of town and the greenway runs beside the vines! Actually on our way here we saw the TGV (very fast French train) speeding along beside the motorway. Made me think of fast tracks and slow tracks and how we seemed to have found the slow tracks.

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(All the tablecloths)

After lunch I went to visit the town of Prisse (still funny). It was very small and very quiet but I followed a signpost to the post office and there was a bend in the road just ahead. I wondered if there might be something interesting beyond it. There was. A huge new supermarket!

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(The old railway station road… the old railway is the greenway now)

Maybe that doesn’t seem interesting to you but supermarkets can provide a lot of useful things for the traveller. Yes groceries but this one also had diesel and toilets (I’ll say no more) and a surprise… a laundrette. I didn’t have any washing with me but on our way to the next town we’ll be stopping here. They also had great French craft magazines (can’t read them but can follow the pictures…) Then I noticed the greenway ran just around the back of the supermarket, so I returned to the grape farm aire via a new route. I love when that happens – finding a new way.

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(A pink rose on the greenway)

It’s the little things, always the little things. Actually, just yesterday I realised that I love the nice little things but the opposite is true of the little things that are not so nice. I hate them as much as I love the others, if you see what I mean… Like biting insects. Or a stone in my shoe. Such tiny, tiny things but they tend to focus my mind and I somehow forget about the wonderful day I was having. For now though I’m focussed on the nice little things and going for another walk on the greenway tomorrow.

Prisse, Prisse, Prisse, Mairead.

Peaceful Day on the Greenway

| Mairead

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(A grey day in the town at the top of the hill)

We’re still here beside the Voie Verte (Greenway) and it’s so peaceful. Just a few cyclist, some walkers and two other motorhomes here today. Monday is always a quiet day in France. I went for a walk up to the town this morning. Fortunately it was overcast and a little chilly so climbing (walking, really) the big hill was very pleasant. Not too many people around there either but tomorrow will be different… there’s a market!

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(Strange wooden bridge joining the clock tower and bell tower)

Already there are signs around the center telling motorists not to park from 6am on Tuesday. I don’t think I’ll be there that early. At this time of year the market takes place only on the first Tuesday of the month so I suppose it’s a big deal for the town. I’m imagining crowds of people and lots of nice things for sale… but it might be just groceries. I suppose groceries can be nice.

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(Can you imagine the train going under that bridge?)

Yesterday afternoon when it got a bit cooler we took the bikes down and went for a cycle along the path. For some reason we have been very active on the bikes this trip – go us! It’s very flat along the greenway because the train tracks needed to be on the flat or at the most only a slight incline or decline. Trains don’t like steep hills. I have a lot in common with the trains…

(View from the bench)

Just outside the station the vista opened up onto a huge plain with vineyards, wheat fields forests and hills. We stopped at a bench, there’s always a bench near where you want to sit everywhere in France. There was an oak tree nearby and all we were missing was a picnic and a tablecloth. We have noticed the French people always have tablecloths when they sit outside to eat. It’s such a lovely idea and it looks adorable. I think I’ll look out for one in the market tomorrow.

Sending peace, Mairead.

This is Burgundy…

| Mairead

(Tourist map of Burgundy – Bourgogne in French)

My trip on Valerie and Stewart’s boat has definitely affected our travel distances over the past week. (By the way, the boat is for sale!) It’s possible to fit our last seven days of travel onto a tourist map (see picture above) of Burgundy.

(The beautiful city of Auxerre. Lots of old buildings, churches and half-timbered houses. Can you see the boats moored on the right? The motorhome parking is to the right of the boats)

Ok, last Sunday we were in Cravant where we had coffee on the houseboat. On the Monday the boat left for Auxerre with me on board. I got off after four kilometers and cycled back to Cravant. The following day Denis and I drove to Auxerre, even though it was in the wrong direction – northwards – because Valerie and Laura made it sound so beautiful. It was very beautiful. And honest… that’s where Denis lost and found his phone.

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(Entrance to one of the cathedrals in Auxerre)

Next day we moved to Arnay-Le-Duc where we met Marc whose battery was on the blink and where we got a great lunch. After that, Autun, a very old and very pretty large town where we parked between a huge graveyard, a Roman Amphitheatre and a lake. We did get bitten by bugs but the neighbours were very quiet.

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(Covered walkway between the old part of town and the very old part of town in Autun)

On Saturday morning we drove to the small town of Givry where they are especially proud of the fact that Henry the fourth’s favourite wine was Givry. He’s dead now but they still produce the wine. We saw a bottle in the supermarket and it must be good because it costs the same as a bottle of wine in Ireland.

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(That’s the paved greenway path along the disused railway line. Can you see the giant water tap? For steam trains?)

That’s where we found the Voie Verte, the Greenway. Like the ones we have in Ireland, where the old disused railway line is converted into a cycle and walking path. Here in France they also provide aires for motorhomes to park at the old disused stations. We had breakfast at a lovely shaded one in the town of Buxy – unfortunately shade isn’t our friend when we are generating solar energy, so we moved on.

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(Just as I was reading that the greenway was for biking, walking and rollerblading along comes someone on roller blades! It look like fun!)

Now we are beside one in a town called Saint-Gengoux-le-National. We haven’t visited the town yet but the brochure I found at the station here looks very interesting. It’s a 25 minute walk uphill and 26 degrees so maybe I’ll go for a walk when it’s cooler, in the morning.

Maybe I should get some rollerblades? Mairead.