Couches to Aiserey

I went to dinner at the restaurant attached to the camp ground in Couches yesterday. When I went to the campground I got the impression that the lady didn't like me much. I have a feeling it is because she thinks I'm English. Usually they check my passport and their attitude changes completely, but she didn't check my passport.

The lady who checked me in was also the waitress at the restaurant. When she checked me in she spoke fluent English but last night, inexplicably, she pretended she didn't speak English. I don't know why. Then she ignored me for most of the night. I couldn't get her attention for anything. She'd always turn in the direction opposite to where I was. When I asked for the bill she didn't bring it for 20 minutes, she didn't take the money when I sat it in the table, she ignored me when I took the money to the bar to pay. I felt like I was invisible. I was going to just leave without paying but then she came and took the money. Needless to say that long bombs were back on.

I left for Aiserey outside of Dijon this morning at 11. I had to follow the canal and came across the Australian couple from 2 days ago. They'd managed to make it through the locks before the canal closed and were enjoying a more leisurely pace. It was hard to cycle as slow as their boat was going.

Most of today I was on roads as I've left the Eurovelo 6. The traffic was very light and the wind was at my back for most of the day. I hadn't been looking forward to today, mostly because of having to ride on the main roads and also because I had a destination I had to be at, which meant I couldn't just stop whenever. But it was quite a nice easy day in the end.

I left the canal at Chagny and headed toward Beaune. I tried to divert around Beaune but somehow ended up right in the centre. There was this church with a roof patterned with bright tiles that I spotted through some trees. I went hunting for a better angle to take a photo but couldn't find one. The other side of the church doesn't seem to have the tiles and it was so crammed with buildings that the side I was on was difficult to get a shot. So just know that the picture I took is the best picture possible...

The rest of the way was a fairly easy ride. I met some people when I took the wrong canal the other day and they invited me to stay with them. So I am. They gave me the address but I didn't notice the extra word in it. So obviously I went to the wrong house and had an awkward miming session with a lady who turns out to be the mother of one of the people I'm staying with.

I found the house and the couple I'm staying with are the nicest people. When I first met them it was for probably 5 minutes. I'd just woken up and they were just leaving the camp ground, but they invited me to come stay anyway.

Nelly is the lady. She speaks some English as her son lived in Cambridge for a few years. Dupras is the bloke and he doesn't speak very much English but occasionally he'll flash his phone in front of me with something funny he's typed into google translate, usually at Nelly's expense, hence why he doesn't get her to translate.

They have been unbelievable hosts. Their house is amazing. They have fruit trees around one side with cherries, apples plums etc. It was the first time I've seen an apple tree in real life. It was like seeing a hamburger tree. I'd never thought about what apples look like on a tree. They come off shelves usually. They have a vegetable garden out the back, which I raided for their cherry tomatoes,and a terrace that overlooks the trees.

We sat amongst the fruit trees drinking beer and eating until a storm came. Then we had dinner, which was duck skewers, spicy sausage and tabuli. All these things had French names but I forget them. Then Nelly brought out loads of cheese. I've worked out that fromage, which means cheese, is a dinner course here. It comes after the main and before the dessert. Cheesecake confuses things. There was one cheese which is local to here that was particularly tasty so I'll have to remember to find out and immediately forget what it's called.

Dupras got on the net and used his powers of Frenchness to sort out trains Basel for me. It made it so much easier. The only problem is that the cheap one that can take my bike leaves early, so I wouldn't get to see Dijon. So I'm going to see Dijon tomorrow and stay here again tomorrow night.