We left Lyon in the middle of the afternoon and one more time we have no idea where we gonna sleep. After 75 km of a relax ride the sun is getting down, today is special day as we reached 7000km on the speed counter.

We are now in a small village it is called Crottet and decide to find a shelter for the night. Confident as usual, we enter a small road where are some lovely houses waiting for us to knock on their doors. The first try is the good one, it is a beautiful farm where a family is having dinner as we can see trough the window. Denis open the door and quickly all the family is there to welcome us. Usually it takes a few minutes for people to trust us but this time before finishing our icebreaker pitch Denis said :”Sure come and join us!” Everybody looks exicted about this friday night surprise. After having a soup and some delicious cheese, we started to talk about our journey around a bottle of wine. It is nice to hear Denis telling us he was hoping that one day he would see some cyclist like us knocking on his door as he likes to read books about people who travelled the globe.

While talking came up the idea that Denis and his son Léo would maybe plan a trip like ours but first they would lead us to one of the longest cycling path in europe on the way to Beaune the day after. As they say it is a very nice ride through the vineyards where we can also enjoy to pass by old castels. Before we went to sleep we agreed we would take the 7000 km milestone  picture in the farm court on the morning.

The day after the weather wasn’t that good but they still wanted to cycle with us, after taking some pictures we said good bye to Mel (Léo’s girlfriend from Australia) , Monique and Lila we started cycling to Macon where we would get to the path. Once we got there we proposed to Léo and Denis to try our bicycles to see how it is. They liked it and did it for the next 30 km where we had to say good bye. So, thank you very much for the good time we spent together and all the best for your future trip !

The weather is now much better and reveal the beauty of the country side all around. Just after we crossed a very long tunnel we met a german who was cycling from Germany to the south of France. He also told us he was training for a much bigger journey next year in south America. He even looked surprised while we where giving him advices from our experience that we like to go and knock on doors and ask for a place to sleep. He didn’t think about doing that because it is not in his culture but then he said he would try. Obviously it is easy for us after spending 5 month on the road. 

In the end of the afternoon we decided to leave the path and go back on bigger roads with cars as we felt like getting away from the right direction. We wanted to get to Beaune which was the target of the day. After 115km we entered the city of the “grands crus” If you want to spend 500 euros for a bottle of  wine this is the place to go. After a quick tour of the city at night we found a campground where we met some cool guys they were there to collect the grappes for the Vendanges saison. With them we discovered how to open a bottle with a shoe when you have no opener. Here is the trick : Put the botton of the bottle in the shoe and find a wall to hit with that shoe, after maybe 50 times you’ll be able to remove the bottle cap. We had a plaisant stay at the camping as we didn’t pay and had some good fun with the campers. that’s what we’ll remember from Beaune

Playing petanque helps to relax!

And swiming pool as well.

It needed us the whole day cycling to get to Piegros, more than 100 kilometers up north. The weather forecast were really bad, as storms were about to hit the area. Nevermind. Nico volunteered in Piegros’ castle few years before and we gave it a try, reaching the castle after climbing a huge hill…where Nico broke his chain after forcing on the pedals. We were luckily close enough to continue walking in the dark. “We’ll try to fix the chain tomorrow”, we thought. The castle was magnificent, overlooking the whole area…in pole position for the lightnings of the storm. We knocked at the door, but nothing happened…just a cat seemed to live there, despite some lights on in some rooms. After half an hour of shouting and knocking, we gave up, and start setting up the tent just next to the castle. Pity, the castle seemed to have enough room for 2 guests! We were without water but we looked around and managed to find a source nearby, where we filled our bottles.

The magnificent castel of Piegros

We camped as close as possible from the walls of the castle, as the wind was already about to blow the tent away. We got very lucky with the weather : the night stayed more or less dry, and we woke up on a dry ground. We quickly started fixing Nico’s chain (first time for both of us). It wasn’t the easiest bike repair we had to do, but somehow, it worked. We then hurried to go as the sky was threatening, cycled few kilometers then rain started falling, and falling, and falling more. We had the luxury to be near a big enough city, and we decided to take the train for the ride of the day, instead of cycling the storms.

Chain fixed time to go.

We arrived in Lyon in the evening, where the weather was as bad as it was in Piegros. We got in contact with Julie, the daughter of Alain, who hosted us a couple of days before, in Cote d’Azur. She welcomed us in the flat, where we could dry our clothes, take a shower and have some tea. Having a roof when it rains is a luxury we tend to forget, but this time we got to feel its true value! We clicked with Julie, who brought us out for some food delicacies in Lyon in the evening, and whom we spent two great days and nights. We had a pretty good feeling about the city : lot of arts, friendly, young people, good food, mountains and see at equal distance (2 hours drive), and great cycling paths! What else could we ask for? The second day, after a pretty fancy dinner made on our own (so good to have a kitchen at disposition!), we went out to have a feel of Lyon alternative music scene, with a Bass night in the basement of a little club. It wasn’t the most exciting venue, but good enough to keep the three of us alive until late in the night. The day after was about to be a hard day…but who cares?

good bye picture with Julie

With Brigitte

Nice, old town

We said goodbye to the sea and started our ascension towards the north, cycling through vineyards. Vineyards, everywhere. And at the right time : it is vandanges time, meaning that the grapes are ready to be picked up and start the wine making process. We spent a couple of night sleeping among the grapes, and found friendly winemaker who, beside letting us sleep on their land, always gave us bottles of wine from their production, as well as some of their local products : tomatoes, dry meat or pâté have been our daily meals.
We found out about a small music festival in Aix-en-Provence, Zik Zac, and decided to go there…which allowed us to have a relaxed day in Provence. We cycled by the Sainte Victoire mountain, and observed locals playing ‘petanque’ in remote villages.

Camping in the wineyards

Sainte Victoire

am I closer???

We arrived in the late afternoon at the festival, where we found very friendly atmosphere. Musical discoveries of the day included Isaya, the -local- band of 2 twin sisters singing folk ballads, and Dabi Toure, a Mauritanian singer.

We gave one of our Kyrgyz hat to a bar tender, and got free drinks all night. Talking about hats, we gave one as well to a friendly cap collector who was hanging out with us, and he was so happy about the story that he started crying of joy when we gave him! Unbelievable. We ended up with the organizers at the ‘VIP party’ -where there weren’t that many VIP’s-, and enjoyed this warm night of late summer until the early morning. We got to sleep at some random place in the area, under the big bridge of Aix en Provence.

Making Zig Zag at Zik Zac Festival

We weren’t too fresh the next day, but had to get to Carpentras to meet Nico’s family, which was taking some days off. A slight downhill lasted for dozens of kilometers, which made it hard to not fall asleep on the road. Coffee breaks and music in the ears helped us getting there still awake

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