After packing up all our luggage, stripping all the linens and delivering the rubbish and recycling to the street-side containers, we left the chalet, following the same route out of town as the day before. This time we did not turn right for the Galibier, but continued on for the col du lauteret towards Grenoble.
The route took us right into the centre of Grenoble, and after a bit of navigating on the fly, ably assisted by wingman Clappo, we turned up a smaller road into the hills to the north. These roads were narrower and a bit damp and I was concerned that it was an awfully long way to go (~300mi) on such roads, but they soon opened up to being wide and good progress was being made. A chance stop was made for coffee at a cafe/hotel in newly refurbished street scene. Here Colin announced – “I came along here with my caravan last year!”, “….we turned off at the same little junction back there!” Amazing coincidences.
The bends just beyond here had been resurfaced and sprinkled with tiny gravel beads. This made cornering quite interesting for a few miles with both wheels drifting sideways at times!
We rode for mile after mile, 2 hours or so, through lovely deserted rural undulating countryside without seeing much sign of mankind at all. At each rare hamlet we passed through, I span my head roud like an owl looking for anywhere to get drinks and or food. Eventually I spotted a furled red parasol down a side road and we went round and back into the village, only to see a lady going into a ‘bar’ and shutting the door. I dismounted and went to ask if she was open, when Clappo radioed “mate, she’s putting out chairs round this side.” The sum total of the food she could offer was – 2 portions of tiramasu!! So we cleaned her out of those and others made do with ice-cream – and beer of course.
It was here that we learned of the very poor health of our dear Queen Elizabeth II. Will had a message from a colleague in government which gave an early indication of the seriousness of her health, with the family being called to her bed-side. We only learned of her passing when we reached our overnight stop at Beaune.
In the afternoon, we became separated again when Will’s bike stopped running. At that time it was thought that bad fuel was to blame, but that wasn’t convincing because we had all filled from the same garage tank. Clappo’s oil light was still coming on under 3000rpm.
Again we could not find anywhere on our route for refreshments, so we pulled over to stretch and pee and drink bottled water we had. John ingeniously improvised with a bottle of red wine he has carrying and we all took a self congratulatory slug.
The run in to Beaune was easy and the satnav delivered us through the very attractive golden stone town to a pleasant hotel right in the centre. We left our bikes outside the hotel, reasoning that the pavement was wide and we weren’t in anybody’s way. The hotel receptionist though it wasn’t ideal, but we were to tired to move them and they stayed there overnight – with no problems as far as we were ever aware.
We walked out into the town which was bustling with tourists, there were loads of bar/restaurants with outside seating in the warm summer air. The bar TVs were showing news bulletins of the passing of ‘La Reine Elizabeth II’
At one bar I asked the person seating customers if we could seat 6 people, pulling together a ‘4 + a 2’. “Non, pas possible”. We drank a couple of pints next door.
Moving round the corner to a square, the same thing happened. I asked why that was and he replied – I am the owner and I say so! The neighbouring bar was more than happy to seat us !? F*** You mate. We enjoyed a very pleasant meal with rather too much of the wonderful red wine the town is famous for. Will, Colin, Paul and John stopped in at the bar beside the hotel for a nightcap. Will Colin ever spot the connection between this and his very grumpy mood at breakfast the next day?
