Riding Along Rivers and Canals: Basel, Switzerland to Cote D'Or, Burgundy (11 August to 17 August 2014)

Back in Basel again, we faced a nearly 400 km ride west to Burgundy, the location of our next WWOOF stay.  We would pass through varied scenery and cycling routes on this leg...

Leaving Basel (Switzerland) we went first to Weil-am-Rhein, Germany for some inexpensive food shopping and to post a parcel, and then finished the day back in France, making a fairly interesting tri-country day.  This is the bridge where we crossed the Rhein back into France.

the outskirts of Basel along the Rhein River.

Lovestruck straw people seen in Alsace.

storks seen rooftop as we cycle through the southern part of Alsace.

near Montbeliard, we connected with the EuroVelo 6 international bicycle route.  We will be on it for most of the rest of the way to Burgundy.

Katy and Bodhi playing in the rain.

Philippe and family hosted us for a night on the banks of the Rhein-Rhone Canal, now out of Alsace and in the department of Doubs.

you know you're in France when the vending machines dispense baguettes, 24/7.

as we rode along the canals we saw lots of riverboats.

stopped for a breakfast break.

Northeastern France has a complex system of canals which make for great cycling.

clowning around on the bike path.

wild camping along the EuroVelo 6.

Bodhi Fell taking it all in.

the cycling route would take us for a long spell along the Doubs River, which features some great forest and limestone cliffs as well. 

great blue heron seen riverside.

leaving Besancon we passed through a canal tunnel under the mountainside.  Needless to say, this was one of the most interesting cycling features either of us have ever ridden. 

the tunnel as it exits the mountain.

the EuroVelo 6, as we would find out, is a family cycling haven.  Mostly flat, and with very little cycling on trafficked roads, it is a safe and easy place to bring your kids.  Pictured above and below are some touring cyclists we met from Toulouse.

Katy holding her own on some long rainy days.

a fine campsite along the Doubs.  Bodhi stretches his legs out.

August is holiday month in France and the canals are a popular destination for boaters and fishermen, besides cyclists and walkers.

this was an exciting-looking cycling crew.

a map of the EuroVelo 6, which goes from the Atlantic Ocean to the Black Sea along Europe's largest rivers.

more canal boat traffic on a sunny day.

church seen in Rochefort.

the canal as we near Dole.

Dole itself, a well-preserved city.

entering Burgundy.

at St. Jean-de-Losne, port of many canal boats, we were invited onto one by an American/Welsh couple for an afternoon drink.

Bo was thrilled.

and here's everyone on the boat.

we came across another cycling family leaving St. Jean-de-Losnes and this was one of their setups.  For kids aged 4 and up.

here is our camp on the edge of the River Saone.

we left the EuroVelo 6 and the scenery changed from waterways and riversides to rolling green hills and forest, and pasture lands.

climbing up through wine country as we head away from Nuit-St. Georges.

at Pont d'Ouche we connected with the Burgundy Canal, which would take us nearly all the way to our destination.

...golden moments on the Burgundy Canal...

we cycled just beneath Chateauneuf which dominates the hillside.

we couldn't find a good campspot along the canal itself due to all the boats and houses in this area, so we turned off and ended up next to a cow pasture... these were our neighbors the following dawn...

on a bed of clover, possibly the best night of camp sleep we've had on this trip.  Also temperatures down to 7 degrees at night.  In early August, this makes for a very strange weather year.

the canal cycling route near Pouilly-en-Auxois.

the Burgundy Canal features some great renovated old lock houses.  These would have housed the guardians of the locks along the canalways.

the Burgundy Canal is mostly dirt road tracks and doesn't have near the cycling traffic of the Rhine-Rhone canals that we rode along previously.

the canal at Pont Royal.

arrived at Montigny-sur-Armancon, our next WWOOF stop.  Wandering what this new place will bring...