Burgundy Biking Day 1

Hey guys! Today N and I started our cycling trip around the Burgundy region in France. This week it looks like we have a pretty good group. There are seven of us total: me and N (fellow polar bear), the A's (AN and AY) who are 30-something friends who met on a previous blue marble trip, the J's who are a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, and our guide L who I had last year for the provence trip. Overall we're a pretty young and lively group. The A's and L will be with us for the whole 2 weeks.

Okay. Unofficially our trip started last night with a pre-trip outing in Paris. We met up with L and the A's for a delicious meal at an old Brasserie (over 130 years old). We had typical French / Alsacian cuisine; my meal included a rabbit terrine and choucroute, a delicious sauerkraut with many pork products. After dinner we hit the bars and ended up at a random club in Northeast Paris. The music was mostly techno (boo) but that didn't stop L from boogying down. We met some special French characters who didn't hesitate to show off their "moves." N and I ended the night with a 1/2 hour walk home across Paris and weren't in bed until 3:30am.

Good thing we had to get up early to start our bike trip! We met up at the blue marble office and rode our bikes through Paris to the train station. Highlight of riding through Paris: we rode around the Bastille! (N: "just like on the Tour!"). Our train took us out to Laroche (Northern Burgundy) where we started our trip.

Today was a pretty easy day (only about 40 k and pretty much flat). We spent most of the ride along the Canal du Nivernais which was very serene. We were all so tired from the night before that we all stopped at a park along the canal and napped... Then jumped in the river for a quick dip.

Tonight we're staying in Cravant (church outside our hotel pictured). Our room is super cute! N and I even got matching pink robes! The hotel has a restaurant which was delicious: dinner included potato crusted vegetable puree, gespacho, salmon tartar, trout with lobster gelly, chocolate flan, and strawberry million layer cake. Of course dinner was accompanied by Chablis, which is the wine of the region. Now I'm stuffed, laying in bed with a food coma combined with a day of riding and 3.5 hours of sleep the night before. Time for bed! We have Chablis and hills tomorrow!

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