Day 61. A few wet cobbles is too many wet cobbles.
Days 59 & 60, but mostly 59. 77mi through Wallonia with a stop in Soy to visit Dany Prignon at Brasseire Fantôme, brewer of ever changing, ever interesting, saisons. I’d emailed Dany last week about stopping by, and he replied that he’d be around Saturday afternoon when we figured we’d get in. We rolled up around 2pm, and milled about until Dany popped out of the back. It turned out he hadn’t been to the brewery in a few weeks. He poured us a couple beers, showed us around, and went to read the paper. We were there for nearly two hours. No one else came or went. I bought some bottles to drink in Namur, Dany went back to reading the paper. I’m grateful I can get this beer in Denver, and that Dany brews it all, in this small barn, in tiny Soy.
Days 57 & 58. 113mi out of France, via the citadel of Rodemack, across Luxembourg, and into the punishing hills and endless planted timber forests of Belgium.
Days 55 & 56. 120mi though Nancy to Thionenville. Rad bike collective in Nancy @atelier.dynamo.nancy. Cooler mornings, the occasional fallen leaf.
Day 54. 46mi and 4 cols as we exit the quiet and beautiful roads of Les Vosges, a region we would’ve ridden right past had Jenn not made small talk with the guy sheltering from the rain with us in Lamoura.
Day 53. 43mi into Les Montagnes des Vosges and its old mining towns. Cool, dry, feels like fall. Col de Ribeauville, Col de St Marie, Col de Raids and onto the former principality of Senones. Jenn made a camp friend.
Days 50, 51 & 52. Into Alsace. Vineyards, storks & wine. Once again we’ll detour from canals and head for the hills. This time into the Vosges mountain range. From there, our next stop is Belgium, some 300mi away through Germany and Luxembourg.
Days 48 & 49. 110mi to Cernay. Can’t have peaks without valleys I suppose, but I’m sure going to miss these mountains. A couple days along the canal to Alsace for wine and pretzels.
Day 47. 55mi to Goumois, on the French-Swiss border. Tomorrow we leave Jura. Happy to have met this cow.
Day 46. Cool mist turned to frigid rain, forecast to persist through the day. We caught a train to Pontarlier after 20 miles. Yesterday was Champagnole to cheer on the stage 7 start of Le Tour Femme and join the local club for a “Cyclo Rando”, which departed behind the team car caravan. The jerseys were a nice touch too.
