The route starts under the medieval walls of Avallon, on the outside, overlooking a steep valley. Down that, up the other side into the new part of town, then into the forest. Nice singletrack through the woods, oak, birch, beech, spruce all mixed up. Bumpy over stones and roots, bang crash, up, down up, up.
Lots of this joined by small sections of road, two long sections following rivers, upstream. Then long sections of gravelly farm tracks, little stones kept flicking into my boots, had to empty them out at intervals. This is what Zadie Smith says about stones in your shoe, from the point of view of a new ghost:
my last night, and tonight what I want more than anything in the world is to have a stone in my shoe. To be walking along the pavement here outside the hotel and to feel a stone rattling about in my shoe as I walk, a small sharp stone, so that it jags into different parts of the sole and hurts just enough to be pleasure, like scratching an itch.
Enjoy what is there, while you can, I supose.
I started at 8 a.m. and reached halfway at 2:30, a small town, this should have been my day 1, but I still had a days worth to go. I was worried about reaching my hotel in time for dinner! Luckily the bakers was open for sandwich and patisserie.
Off again, soon I was following another stream uphill, but this track was very hard, covered with boulders, fallen trees, steep slopes. If I was fresh and without luggage I may have ridden three quarters of it, as it was, tired and loaded down I walked about that much. A beautiful walk too, quite deserted, you have the trails to yourself here.
Some cyclists like energy bars, or drink supplements, I prefer patisserie. Flan with prunes.
Emerging from that wooded valley onto some tarmac was a relief and I took to the road for the final 25k, mainly to be sure of dinner, I was starving. I reached the hotel in Saulieu at 7 p.m. 11 hours in the saddle, less half-hour for lunch.
So to dinner, just in time, big slab of smoked salmon with little slices of pickled carrot and onion, monkfish in saffron hollandaise, assiette de fromage.
I like cycling in France.