This song choice seems a little reductive, but by Day 4 the bicycle mania was real!
Get up. Fill the water bottles. Zip up the suitcases. Eat breakfast. Put on sunscreen. Hit the road.
At the risk of sounding old, we like a hotel with an early breakfast. This one fit the bill and I think we were on the road by 8:00 a.m. We were getting used to the quick turn-arounds of one-night stays followed by packing and loading at sun up. Today’s ride would be our longest, at just under 32 miles. A peek at the elevation profile told us we should conserve energy if possible. This would be another “hilly” day, but nothing like the ups and downs of Day 2.
We had some uphill battles to get back to the trail, but after that it was smooth and pleasant. Can one ever tire of winding through the narrow, deserted streets of quaint little ancient towns? The modern highway underpass was much appreciated as well.
This short video shows what the trail intersections look like. You have to snake through offset horizontal bars at each crossing.
Today’s trail was very scenic. I love the bee habitat in the last picture below!
Here’s Greg showing off his geriatric moves at a little bike park we passed. 🤣 (Volume up!)
A couple miles later, I got a chance to one up him at a singletrack park. I’m not saying I did better, but yes I am.
After all that showing off, we settled in for the long ride to Cluny via Cormatin where we planned to ride into town to see a castle. We were back on the Voie Vert today, which is an old railroad track that’s been paved.
Here’s a little wine joke we made up: this must be a chardonnay vineyard because only the white Peugeots are growing here. Was the heat getting to us? Maybe a little.
Here’s a panorama of the area. So pretty! We really lucked out with the blue skies every day so far.
More pretty scenes on the way in to Cormatin. The first one is Greg under a huge spigot of some sort. Definitely a relic of the old train line.
Once we reached Cormatin, about 2/3 of the way to our final destination, we took a short detour so we could see the castle there called Château du Cormatin. The man at the ticket desk told us a guided tour would take an hour, so we opted for self-guided instead. This 17th century chateau is very stately with a real moat. It has beautifully manicured gardens, ornate and gilded interior decor, and a spooky cellar with a prison that was run by the feudal lords. That’s me (below) begging for my freedom. This was a nice break from the trail and felt worth the 12 € admission price. Bonus: there were free restrooms!
After visiting the castle, we found a small bistro just across the street and enjoyed a formule lunch. This is basically the fancy French word for “combo meal”. This came with a sandwich, chips, drink, AND dessert. At most bistros, it’s called “Entree, Plat, et Dessert”. A highlight of this meal was Greg’s dessert: a Nutella waffle. It was HUGE! And we were in awe of the gallon-size Nutella dispenser. We really enjoyed the food and shade at this little establishment.
Onward to Cluny! With just under 10 miles to go, we hopped back on our bikes and rode in and out of partial shade for what seemed like a really long time. Near the end it was mostly flat and straight and kind of felt like driving through Kansas. You’re ready to be there, but still have to put the miles behind you.
Arriving in Cluny was thrilling, not just because we’d survived our longest mileage day, but because this little commune is so charming! To get to our hotel, we had to ride through the narrow cobblestone streets lined with shops and bustling with pedestrians.
We checked into our very unique and artsy hotel, Le Potin Gourmand, once again flushed and sweaty. Our room was very pretty, but also had some bizarre “features”, like this very open concept “Romanesque” bathtub area and this little “Spartan” peeking out next to it. All the water came out of the sink faucet hot for some reason. The medieval-looking courtyard was very cool though!
Cluny itself is an ancient town that was known for its huge Benedictine Abbey. However, it was mostly destroyed by the Hugenots in the mid-1500s. The part that remains is extremely picturesque. Here are some photos from our walk to town for dinner (I had lasagna at the popular Brasserie du Nord!). The second picture below is a structure called La Tour des Fromages, a.k.a. “The Cheese Tower”. This tall, narrow building is where cheese was once dried and aged. The last picture is the backside of our hotel, which doesn’t look particularly sound, structurally speaking. I’m sure it’s fine!
On a side note, one thing we were continually amused by was that EVERY beverage in France (except wine) came in a matching glass. It seems like this would require each establishment to own so much glassware! 🍻
Up Next: Day 5 - The LAST day - with some mechanical challenges!
