2014 - The Eighth Day

            Sunday and only the bakeries were open.  The traffic was light with the other stores closed and few people attending church.

            The sun was high and there was a whisper of wind as we followed the serpentine path over hill and dale.  You are either a hill town or a valley town, hill for protection and valley for commerce.

Once again, Aaron found one good biking road after another.  The climbs were long and hard and unfortunately, the downs never quite compensated.  With the temperature in the high 80’s, we took frequent water breaks.  We bought a pita-styled sandwich and cokes at the boulangerie in the quaint village of Pierrefitte-sur-Aire. We waited for lunch until reaching the chateau in Thillombois.  The huge but charming chateau was off limits.  However, the beautiful park surrounding the estate was available with benches and tables.  This was also a consequence of the French Revolution.  The nobility lost their lands and often their heads.

From there it was a straight shot along the River Meuse into Verdun.  Being Sunday we did not expect the Tourist Office to be open and we fretted about finding the camping park.  We hesitated on the edge of Verdun.  Finally, Aaron showed me the name of the park and I cycled less than a block before spotting the sign. There was a large swimming pool with two water slides and a nice restaurant. 

Two touring cyclists pulled into the park shortly after us.  Are you sitting down?  They were a Dutch couple traveling from Barcelona back to Amsterdam.  The husband was 70 and his wife two years older.  They started doing tours 25 years ago.  They have cycled all over the world including China and Vietnam.  My first tour was in 1990 doing Ireland but took a 15-year hiatus when Jake came along in 1997.  They were doing 80 to 90 kms a day.  Amazing!

Dinner was so-so.  Once again, Aaron ordered better than me.  When will I learn?

Tomorrow we will explore the battlefields of Verdun.  I have done this twice before and the experience has proven amazing.  Not many places in this world have a cemetery for 250,000, a quarter of million, men.  There are places that are still unrestored because of unexploded shells.  Then we intend to move to the northwest circling through Reims.

Much joy!!!

Hardy