Palinges to Couches

I'm surprised to find I've come a lot further today than I thought.

This morning when I woke up I went to collect my chocolate bread things from the reception at the camp site. At most camp sites you can order bread at the reception and it will be delivered in the morning. At the place today she'd turned it into a breakfast with tea and coffee. It was nice but I hadn't really been intending on eating chocolate bread for brekkie.

I left fairly early but kind of bummed around for half an hour at the next town,which is the one I laid down under the tree at yesterday. The route today was mostly on the road beside the canal. Traffic was light until I started to get to the outskirts of Montceau. It was a bit tricky getting through the town but I found my way.

I stopped at Ecuisses and got lunch. I sat in the shade and ate it and stayed there for what seemed like hours. When I left the route went back onto the canal tow path and was really nice.

There were small lakes and reservoirs so often I was riding on a path with water on both sides. The reservoirs are there to feed the canal. I'd been wondering where the water for the canals comes from as there are no tributaries entering the canal. I crossed the highest point of the canal and took a photo. I had been following it up hill, but now I'm going down hill.

Not far down I went past a couple from a boat having lunch and noticed an Australian flag hanging off the front. I stopped and said hello and ended up staying for a couple of hours. They spend each summer on the canals for 5 or 6 months.

They were telling me that the canals periodically close because they run out of water and the one they are on, which I've been following, is likely to close for that reason. So they are trying to rush through so they don't get stuck. Rushing on a canal boat still isn't very fast. Another canal had closed in the last week or so because someone accidentally let all the water out of the reservoir!

While I was talking to them another boat pulled up with 3 kiwis. So I went and chatted with them for a while. I picked their brains about different routes. It's funny that I'm following the eurovelo 6, which they'd never heard of, and they're following some canal route that I've never heard of, but it is the same thing. I'm on the towpath and they're in the water but it is the same route. I thought about hitting them up for a lift but I go much faster.

The only other thing they mentioned was that Dijon is a very pretty city and I should go there. Some people had invited me to stay with them at their house outside Dijon and I was tossing up whether or not to go as it's off the route slightly, but I think I will now.

When I left I headed towards a campsite and got there but it was closed for the season. So I had to go further off course to find another one and it is almost empty. I'm going to charge everything again.

So after all my dilly dallying today I've still managed to come about 60km, although 10 of them or so have been off course to this camp ground.

Tomorrow the route apparently splits. There is the vineyard option or the waterway option. I think I'll stick with the waterway. Grapes have a tendency to be grown on slopes.