What a wonderful world

Days 30 to 40: Chalon-sur-Saône to Basel (361km – total distance 1,652km)
We end week 5 (and a bit) having returned to Basel after a short trip to Birmingham (details below) but we pick-up our journey just as we have reached the River Saône.

Day 30 sees us leaving Chalon-sur-Saône and following the namesake river for the day aiming for the riverside town of Seurre where we had pre-booked a chambres d’hôte in anticipation of a forecast downpour later in the day. We made good progress and arrived ahead of check-in time allowing a cheeky panaché at a nearby riverside kiosk. As we were relaxing, who should cycle past but our ever present German cycling friends from Week 4 who we thought about later as we enjoyed the shelter of our lovely guest house and watched the predicted downpour arrive.

Our host at the guesthouse spoke limited English but was very welcoming, helping to secure our bikes and booking dinner for us at a nearby restaurant. After the rain had cleared we strolled to the restaurant and, feeling adventurous, we both ordered a sea bass dinner which we couldn’t completely translate. It turned out that the fish was cooked en papillote (i.e. in tin foil) with a generous portion of accompanying sauerkraut which Richard quite enjoyed but Janine was not a big fan and spent quite some time disentangling from the fish.

We awoke the next morning to beautiful sunshine and a glorious day of cycling where we passed through the elegant and very pleasant town of Dole – (where we lunched and incidentally was the birthplace of Louis Pasteur) before following a canal route which turned out to be a really nice cycle route taking us to our next campsite where we had booked some interestingly named accommodation and Richard managed another dip in the river to cool off after a hot day in the saddle.

Unfortunately we had failed to buy any food in advance for that evening and, as it was a Sunday, nothing was open so we had to enjoy a baguette, cheese and black coffee for our dinner – but after a day cycling nearly any food feels like a feast.

Day 32 was another relatively long day for us covering 75km but where we noticed quite a change in the landscape from open fields to wooded valleys – even the church spires seemed to change to look more like domes (versus spires).

We were becoming a bit more relaxed about finding accommodation but generally had somewhere in mind when we set off each morning. Ideally we try to find something that is on the route to avoid too many detours but on this day our maps only showed a campsite some 3km off our route. As we headed in this direction, the warm sun was wearing us down so you can imagine our delight when Janine spotted a camping site sign in just 300m (and right on the route) which it turned out had plenty of vacancies.

We used our remaining energy to pitch our tent and cycle to the nearby supermarket to buy a dinner for cooking on the stove. Our hunger made us buy some food which, in hindsight, may have been a bit too ambitious for a small camping stove. Unfortunately the long day in the saddle also impacted on Janine’s motor skills and when the stove was knocked over mid-way through the dish, our neighbouring campers noted some Brummie histrionics – and suffice to say the stove has barely seen an outing since!

Day 33 saw us cycle 64km and past the 1,500km mark. We passed through more picturesque scenery in sunny weather to the town of Montbéliard where Richard had found a budget Ibis hotel which turned out to be located in a big retail park alongside a busy motorway. We made the mistake of going to the nearby ‘normal’ Ibis hotel only to be directed up a steep hill to the cheaper sister hotel. After another long day cycling Janine delicately (!) told Richard to stop ‘penny pinching’ on budget hotels BUT when we did check into the cheaper alternative, Richard’s charm and mastery of the language worked wonders with the check-in ladies and we found ourselves in a large ground floor room (normally reserved for disabled guests) where we could simply wheel in our bikes without the usual hassle of unloading 6 bags off each bike. Richard’s smug grin when relaxing on the hotel bed did make Janine admit he had ‘done good’ – and with the added bonus of plenty of grip handles around the room to help us if our tired legs gave way.

The next day we made it to a wonderful campsite at Mulhouse where we had pre-booked a chalet. Our route along the Rhine canals saw a morning climb and then a long descent along an impressive sequence of locks. As we unpacked at the chalet we chatted to a fellow Brit called John who we learnt was from the Lake District and travelling solo on the same route but at a faster pace than us. On seeing the size of his small cocoon/coffin tent, we invited him for coffee on our veranda and swapped stories for a while before we hit the site’s swimming pool for a nice dip and relax.

The next morning, whilst enjoying our breakfast on the veranda, the German couple in the opposite caravan were packing away. Richard was curious why the man moved his car away from the caravan and watched as some remote control magic took place….

So after 1,652km, Day 35 was the day when we finally left France and entered Switzerland via Basel. On the route that day we spotted a strange looking (and rather bold creature) on the river banks which we learnt was a Coypu…

After checking into our wonderful hotel, we spent the afternoon and following day exploring the lovely city of Basel. We noticed quite a contrast in activity (and food choices) in Basel and enjoyed our time in this cosmopolitan city.

Sadly, we needed to pause our trip in Basel and take advantage of the conveniently located air link to the UK to visit Janine’s Dad who had been admitted to hospital. Thankfully the hotel staff were very understanding and agreed to store our bikes and luggage whilst we were away. So on Day 37 we travelled to Birmingham and we are pleased to report that Janine’s Dad’s condition had improved to the point where we felt able to return to Basel on Day 40 to resume our adventure – more of which in our next blog.

The more observant will have noticed a new menu choice to our site “Our Music” where we have a Spotify playlist of our music choices so far. This week’s choice is inspired by some of the amazing scenery we have seen so far on this journey.