Aisey-sur-Seine to Troyes

A fast day today and a long day at 95Ks!

As there is nothing in the town I had the hotel breakfast which was a simple one with bread, croissant, jams, honey and Nutella (when did I last eat that?). I ate quite a bit as you never know how far it will be and took a small slab of bread just in case, although I didn’t need it.

I had a choice about which way to go, follow the red road directly to Troyes as it has a good shoulder, or wander through the back roads up and down hill and dale as usual. Of course I chose the latter and naturally the ride started with a stiff climb out of town. It was windy again but not as cold as yesterday. After the initial climb the road rolled along the top of the hills completely surrounded by wheat fields, which is the norm around here.

As I was coming to the first town where I would need to make a right I noticed how busy that road was, oh no. However when I got to the town I checked the map and realised that there were two roads heading north and I needed the further away one, phew ok.

Another day of those lovely quiet roads again! After the earlier climb I got a nice downhill. In fact most of the rest of the day turned out to be downhill! When I came to the next town I needed to check the map in detail so I took off the yellow lenses I’d been wearing. Oh my, it was so dark. I hadn’t realised as the yellow tinted lenses make everything seem warm and cheerful. The weather was actually looking pretty grim and misty.

Still it wasn’t raining which was good so I continued on; I was making excellent time today, of course there was all that downhill that I’d earned earlier. I saw a couple of Logis de Frances along the way so I knew I must be in an interesting area and then I came to the sign for a new region and I was now in the Champagne region! I actually didn’t realise it extended this far south. I don’t see any vines here, but then I am in the bottom of a valley.

The weather got a bit thicker and it was almost but not quite raining. You could feel the mist on your arms but looking down at the panniers they were definitely still looking dry. Maybe it was the weather but the roads were still lovely and quiet. There was one point just after Bar-sur-Seine where I needed to do 2Ks downhill on a busier road, I went flat out and only a couple of cars passed me and then I wound my way through a small town and on to the D49 which would take me all the way to Troyes.

I was getting a bit peckish so I detoured at around 12:30 (already done 75Ks) back to the main road to get food. It was a good thing I did as I didn’t see anywhere else to eat until I got to Troyes! The town I was in had a couple of Boulangeries and one pub with a menu, I decided on a Boulangerie as I didn’t want to eat too much and so I had a ham baguette (I ate three quarters), an éclair chocolate and a coke. Nice.

I noticed a lot of the towns have Tour signs and colours up, perhaps they came through here this year?

Then it was back to the quiet white road and in no time at all in the out skirts of Troyes. The city has excellent signage and then for the last 2 or 3 Ks there was a bike path all the way in to town. Once in town I happened to check Google maps at just the right moment, turned left and in to time found where I am staying. Of course I got there too early so I went into a nearby Boulangerie to use their WiFi, and to have a prune tart.

I realised then that you have to ring the phone number supplied as I am actually staying in an apartment not a hotel. So I rang them and the owner’s wife came around and opened up and explained everything to me. It’s a big apartment with a large lounge/kitchen and a separate bedroom. I showered and then walked into the town centre which is only a few blocks away.

Troyes is a lovely old town, oodles of restored buildings (which they were planning to demolish in the 60’s in order to modernise the city), and tourism seems to be the cities major industry now. There are several nice churches to visit and it started pouring while I was in one so I had a sit for a while. The furthest away church, Cathedral I guess, has what must be the biggest columns I think I’ve ever seen; you could fit a London hotel room inside one of them!

I meandered around enjoying the town and the old buildings for quite a while and got a 2 boule ice cream before wandering back to the room to do the diary and upload some blogs. Just after 7 I went back into town for dinner. I’d decided to have a lighter meal today (even though I did 95Ks) so no bottle of wine. I got a simple 3 courses with a Kir Royal (my first Royal) and a quarter bottle of apple cider. Nice. I had an entrée of Presse de Pomme de Terre with Duckling Terrine and then a main of duckling leg which was delicious and very tender; dessert was the Strawberry dessert of the house.

I then went back to room to upload some more blog and I booked the rest of hotels to Paris. There are not as many hotels in the areas I’m riding through and of course it is the weekend so the hotels are getting a bit expensive, Saturday night is 105 euros!

After that I watched some TV and then a recording of MIdsomer before bed. Interestingly the Scandinavian series ‘The Killing’ is on here and unlike in Oz they dub it!