On the Move Again: Cycling from Côte d'Or, Burgundy to Jura, Franche-Comté (7 September to 9 September 2014)

From Sourire-et-Nature, it was a reluctant departure!  In the end though, the road and momentum were calling us forward.  So we headed out towards our next stay, in the Department of Jura (Region: Franche-Comté).  But with one big surprise in tow: our first guest cyclist on this trip... Jordan - from Victoria, Australia - with whom we had wwoofed the previous 3 weeks chez André.  She would accompany us most of the way to our next stay.

There were some funny events going on the morning of our departure, as these sleepyheads witnessed:

As we prepared to leave, Andre unveiled this canny invention of his...

...which he took for a spin with Elise.

Goodbyes on the edge of Montigny (L-R: Jordan, Elise, André, Jeff).

Welcome, Jordan!  Jordan has been in France for over 6 months, first living with a host family in Brittany for 3 months and then travelling by car and wwoofing all over France for 3 months.  Here she is riding a bicycle borrowed from André, and it has been infused with André's passion for bricolage (D.I.Y.), featuring old leather panniers (not waterproof!), a basket attached with bungee cords, and a water bottle cage fashioned from an old tin can, attached by old electrical wire!  un drôle de vélo!

said bottle cage.

We departed the area on the Burgundy Canal, which we had already explored on our way in, 3 weeks previous.

Bodhi, digging his new bike seat.

A look at one of Burgundy's great open landscapes.

A beautiful image seen along the canal: a restored locksman's house.

Particularly near Pouilly-en-Auxois, there are quite a number of locks, due to the rising and dropping gradients of the canal.

An evening view towards Châteauneuf.

Jordan pulls up with a flat tire, Jeff helps out, and Bodhi runs away with the tire levers.

Châteauneuf, beaming in early evening sunlight.

A striking stretch of canal riding through this part.

We camped within throwing distance of the canal.

cooking dinner on open fire... the best that food can possibly taste.

Bodhi gets an impromptu ukelele lesson.

Although the vacation month of August is over, there are still some users out on the canals.  Here we watch a boat pass through the locks.  It took about 7-10 minutes.

Feline pile-up seen near Pont d'Ouche.

Feline weathervane.

Arrived in Beaune, this is what three loaded bikes, two trailers, five flags, and a total of ten wheels looks like.

Katy, Bo and Jordan caught having a chocolate chip cookie break.

Bo darts around Beaune centre ville.

We nearly avoided Beaune, but in the end decided to come, namely to visit the Hostel-Dieu, a hospital for the poor dating back to the days of the Dukes of Burgundy.  The building date is listed as 1443.  All told, this site proved to be one of the most compelling places we have visited as yet in our entire trip.

The hospital is renowned as a Burgundy Gothic architectural masterpiece.  Gargoyles and mysterious figures guard the entranceway.

Inside the mind-blowing courtyard.

Bo does his best on a hot sweaty day.

The detail and the ornamentation in the facades, roof tiles, spires, etc., is incomparable.

These were the beds for the sick - and often - dying.

Dragons (above) and peasants (below) decorate the beams and wood trim in the ceiling.

Another view of the spectacular courtyard.

Some samples from the medieval-era apothecary.

This painting, entitled Polyptych of the Last Judgment (15th century, by Flemish painter Rogier van der Weyden), leaves no guessing as to what will happen to the souls of those in the hospital about to die... if you actually believe these things...

The anguished sinners lumped together in a dismal chaos.

Cycling past mustard fields on the outskirts of Beaune.

This château, unannounced and virtually unsigned, we passed by accident on our route of back country roads.

Some wild skies as evening sets in.

Our campsite not far from Verdun-sur-le Doubs.

The boys, fast asleep.

Bo dumps his toys out in the adjacent field, naturally.

The following morning, as we negotiate the small quiet villages of Burgundy Bresse, we are assailed by cold wet rain.  Not long before this photo, we stopped at a boulangerie and ate three pain au chocolat each, to make ourselves feel better, of course.

Some fantastic architecture here in Burgundy Bresse: note the long sweeping roof forms as they bend close to the ground.

This is what we look like as we pass by villagers and townspeople.  We do attract attention!

In Lons-le-Saunier, the poorly-planned car-world capital of Jura, Katy vents her frustration at the whizzing traffic and aggressive drivers.  We haven't had such a negative cycling experience since way back in Middlesbrough, England or Namur, Belgium.  As it were, we bid farewell to Jordan at the Lons-le-Saunier gare and tore out of Lons as fast as we could.

As we climbed up out of Lons-le-Saunier, the vistas opened up over the countryside.

As we arrived in late evening in Granges-sur-Baume, our next stop, we were treated to some glorious viewpoints over a deep gorge rimmed with limestone cliffs.  And yes, we will be stopping here for at least 10 days for our next wwoof assignment!