Home » France » Cycle to the Summit Part 2 - Reims to Les Rousses

The second week saw us make steady progress across France towards the Swiss border. We clocked up over 470km as the rainy weather cleared, to give us crisp, sunny and cold days on the road. We were grateful for our first rest-day in Dijon, spent with a friend who gave us fine food and the home comforts we'd been missing. The weekend saw us climbing the Juras (the mountains to the east of Dijon) in a frozen alpine landscape that pointed us towards Geneva.

Cycle to the Summit Part 2 - Reims to Les Rousses

Toby Hammond
2006-06-25 18:33:08

Displayed times (last time: )

source: http://www.cycletothesummit.org.uk

Monday 3rd December - Reims to Vitry le Francois 87km

Another early start as part of our latest regime to maximise limited daylight hours had us leaving the youth hostel in Reims just before 9am to a chorus of many thousands of starlings. Once on our way we were soon distracted by the sight of a large sports hypermarket and rushed for Paul to get some more bike spares and to buy Frank a pair of trousers. Finally we climbed the outskirts of Reims and started to pick our way through the vineyards of the Champagne region, a pleasant change from the piles of turnips that had characterised the scenery during the previous week. A fine morning of cycling allowed us to have lunch and access the internet in Chalons-en-Champagne. through villages including Sarry, Sogny, Pogny, Chepy, and Bouzey to reach Vitry-le-Francois under cover of darkness with 15 mins to spare to locate the tourist office and secure the night's accommodation. Unlike the larger towns we have stayed in, Vitry has no youth hostel or budget hotels and the return of the rain persuaded us to forget about trying out our tents and make for an out-of-town guest house - not the easiest to find, but in the event very comfortable.

Tuesday 4th December - Vitry le Francois to Soulaines-Dhuys 56km

After a couple of beers the evening before we struggled to crawl out of bed at 7am but were ready to leave by 8.30, only to be beckoned back into the warmth for coffee and chocolates by 'le patron' from the guest house. After our pleasant delay we pedalled down the bank of the canal and back into town to head south east. Within half an hour the rains had returned, making our progress more difficult, and once sodden we took shelter in a bus shelter while Toby and Frank decided to add extra waterproofing to their shoes. Toby opted for wrapping inner tubes on the ...