Wed was the designated travel day with the goal of getting across France. We spent most of Wed on the French motorway crossing miles of countryside made up of gentle rolling hills and very large plots of farm land. The starting point was just northwest of Reims, and continued through Chalon-en-Champagne, Troyes, Dijon, Dole and finished in Parcey which was so small a town as to not be on our map. It was not as far as Mouchard. The sky is cloudy but there is no threat of rain. The clouds simply made the day more pleasant as the temps would have certainly been approaching the 90's without the cover. The French motorway is a toll road but without using it we would have been in France forever. It reminded me of trying to cross Nebraska, almost flat and roads with very few curves. Miles and miles of farm land growing corn and onions for sure, but I suspect additional things as well. Unlike the "Wing on the Internet" friends looking in, the folks we are riding with don't usually do serious miles in a single day and as a result we end the day early and somewhat short of the desired goal, having covered 278 miles. We are about 50 miles short of Switzerland when we find a campground. Tomorrow we will have the mountains in sight.
Summer season has ended for the region and the campground, "les Bords de Loue", is very quiet. While there are plenty of shower stalls etc, there does not appear to be any hot water. This site is along a river and a very large facility with lots of what appear to be cottages available for rent. They have a pool and water side, large playground for kids and lots of ads for fishing areas close by. My guess is a week earlier and it would have been packed full.
Thur comes with a bright blue sky and only a short distance to go to reach the border. Rather than riding the motorway we find the French version of a primary road. It is designated an N# for normal road, I am informed, and is a very nice back country twisty kind of road but we make no time. We reach Pontarlier and decide motorway is needed to get to camp early enough to arrange things for dinner. It is noon when we reach the border crossing and the guard doesn't even look at the passports. We proceed through the village of Vallorbe, a place near to the heart of our friend Dan Myers, and on to Lausanne and then down along the Le Leman a large and beautiful lake. We have reached the hills and found some wonderful mountains roads as we work our way toward the eastern end of the lake and Montreux. A short way through town and headed for the town of Aigle we once again locate a campground. This one is called "Camping Les Grangettes. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains, and we can see snow on the peaks. Also a large facility that caters to both tents and caravans, this one appears to be much nicer in appointments than the last and I can confirm they have excellent showers. We will be here for 2 nights so I can promise some photos even though the upload process is very slow. Watch for the links, I will add them to the end of this post.
Photos of Newbury Manor
https://picasaweb.google.com/cawinger6/NewburyManor
Photos surrounding Windsor Castle
https://picasaweb.google.com/cawinger6/WindsorCastle
Summer season has ended for the region and the campground, "les Bords de Loue", is very quiet. While there are plenty of shower stalls etc, there does not appear to be any hot water. This site is along a river and a very large facility with lots of what appear to be cottages available for rent. They have a pool and water side, large playground for kids and lots of ads for fishing areas close by. My guess is a week earlier and it would have been packed full.
Thur comes with a bright blue sky and only a short distance to go to reach the border. Rather than riding the motorway we find the French version of a primary road. It is designated an N# for normal road, I am informed, and is a very nice back country twisty kind of road but we make no time. We reach Pontarlier and decide motorway is needed to get to camp early enough to arrange things for dinner. It is noon when we reach the border crossing and the guard doesn't even look at the passports. We proceed through the village of Vallorbe, a place near to the heart of our friend Dan Myers, and on to Lausanne and then down along the Le Leman a large and beautiful lake. We have reached the hills and found some wonderful mountains roads as we work our way toward the eastern end of the lake and Montreux. A short way through town and headed for the town of Aigle we once again locate a campground. This one is called "Camping Les Grangettes. It is surrounded by beautiful mountains, and we can see snow on the peaks. Also a large facility that caters to both tents and caravans, this one appears to be much nicer in appointments than the last and I can confirm they have excellent showers. We will be here for 2 nights so I can promise some photos even though the upload process is very slow. Watch for the links, I will add them to the end of this post.
Photos of Newbury Manor
https://picasaweb.google.com/cawinger6/NewburyManor
Photos surrounding Windsor Castle
https://picasaweb.google.com/cawinger6/WindsorCastle
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