June 2020 Day 3

LE VAUDIOUX TO LANGRES

OUR FIRST ADVENTURE JUNE 2020

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Day 3 Pontailler Sur Soàne - Langres 75 km.

The dawn chorus is beautiful today, but not enough to keep me awake. The patter of rain on the tent does though and I nip out to grab the towels, gloves, and swimming costume. It is now safe to bring our cycling gloves inside the tent. Yesterday they had a health warning on them. Today they may be damp, but they are clean and no longer smell of sweaty palms. The gentle patter of rain sends us back into a doze. 

When we wake again the rain has stopped. Our porridge breakfast is wonderfully tasty with powdered almond milk, honey and dried figs. Is it the fresh air that makes things taste so good or our exceptional cooking ability? 
Packing away is easy, but we take our time, this is a relaxing holiday.
We stop at a shop to buy bread and cheese for lunch before setting off along the canal. All’s well in bike tour land. 
For the next part of our journey we will follow the Canal entre Champagne et Bourgogne.
 
The Canal was build between 1835 and 1907 to transport coal for the ironworks. Travelling for 224 km through 5 French departments .

Today there is occasional commercial traffic, its main flow being tourist barges using the canals 114 locks, to navigate towards the Soane in the south and the Marne in the north.

In summer the Canal is popular with cycle tourist. Its well paved tow path makes for smooth cycling. The town of Langres and Beze to to west of the canal are well worth a visit.

History in French and information in English can be found here.
Photo Canal : écluse du château Les maçonneries vues d'aval - 14 avril 1904.
© OT Pays de Langres - source : V.N.F. subdivision de Longeau
Martin sees a snake swimming. I stop and watch as it swishes across to the opposite side of the canal, flicking its tail for speed. There are herons everywhere, and they are ignoring the ‘don’t catch the black bass’ signs. They are elegant in their grey and white suits and long legs. Some are sitting in the trees, others fly off only to circle back when we have passed. I try to take a photo but fail. A swan family is more amenable to posing. 
This is so peaceful, and we are so lucky. We smile as a family of ducks hurry across the towpath at our approach and we hear them plop into the still green waters of the canal. Dragon flies and damsel flies play dare and racing with us as our legs turn with no effort on this flat path. Their colours are iridescent and varied. We sigh with pleasure at the sight.
When we stop for a drink and a snack there is a red smear up my leg- ahh I’ve been viciously attacked by a ripe cherry! We pick some to eat and they are delicious.

The beech tress along the bank are old, beautiful, gnarled, twisted, and magical. Somewhere in my head a story seed is sown. It’s tiny but it nudges at my imagination. 

Lunch is simple and fulfilling. One of the benefits of cycling is being able to eat bread, cheese and crisps and not put on any weight. We watch the water and listen to the bird song and drink in the serenity and life around us. There is so much anxiety in the world, but here, we can forget, immerse ourselves in nature and see what really matters. 

The here and now. 
We continue on and see a green woodpecker flash across from tree to tree. So far we’ve only seen three moored boats, which is probably why the weed is thick in places. We wonder if the canal is even open yet. Then we see a boat stop and there are several boats moored up for fuel and water. It is open, just very quiet. Just how we like it. 

It is humid now but there is a wind which blasts us when the tree cover is sparse. The track turns to gravel and we slow as thousands of tiny butterflies, some brown, some white, flutter up, down and around us. 
I’ve never seen anything like this, but I imagined it in my recently published children’s story ‘Colours of Rain’, when the three children walk through a flower meadow and the butterflies lead them into the forest. The wings brush my skin just as I had imagined, a whisper of touch. 

We both try to capture the moment on camera, but they move so fast. Frantic to achieve the most they can in their short lives. Is this how an advanced alien lifeform would view humans?

Martin is successful with a video, but it doesn’t quite show the awesomeness or the sensation. 
The chugging sound of an old barge breaks through our thoughts. We’ve seen a few more on the move, but this one is perfect for this old canal. I stop and watch as it approaches, slowly. We travel much faster than the canal barges and yet feel the gentle slowness of the day. How much more gentle is life on a barge? 

We realise we missed a sign to leave the canal and follow the quiet lane beside it, but we continue on the broken path until it ends. A drink and snack before retracing our pedalling a short way and leaving the canal side for the lane. We can still see the water through the trees until we turn off and enter the small town of Longeau-Percey. We stop and buy food for the next few meals and manage to pack it all away in our Ortlib pannier. We are very impressed with the saddle bags and their capacity.
It's hotter now and Martin’s been busy on the map on his phone while I was shopping. He gives me a choice. Nine kilometres on quiet back roads or four and a half on the main road. I am tired and opt for the shorter route which takes us up a long hill, there are a few cars but it’s not too bad, although we are relieved when the campsite comes into view right at the top. We often choose the main road short cut and then tend to regret the choice. For some reason a main road always seems longer. 

Covered in sweat we check in at Camping de la Croix d'Arles and then cycle around the site to find a quiet place. 


There is plenty of choice as not many people are venturing out yet. School summer holidays start next week, even though there has been no school for three months. Humans are funny creatures of habit, but then again, we were unable to travel far before and lots of people were able to continue to work during lockdown.


 We are tired but resist the temptation to sit just yet and set up our tent under some trees.


The swimming pool looks tempting, but my body says no more exercise. A shower is good. Food is cooked and eaten quickly. We were hungry. Something wants to eat us again, I slap one and blood smears on my hand. The not so wonderful side of nature and camping.


We slip into the tent and zip up the door of our orange home. Too tired to play a game or even to read so we listen to a podcast before diving into sleep. 


What a beautiful day this has been. Day 4
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