Athee to Gergy

Kind people are everywhere, but somehow it still amazes me when I encounter them, as I did at my Chanbres d'hôte Les Laurentides.  Due to the thunderstorm, feeling tired and amazingly, not being hungry last night, I decided to forego my host's kind of offer of using her daughter's car to go to Auxonne for a meal.  But to my surprise Anne knocked at my door around 8:30 with a tray of food for me.  I wanted to give her a big hug, but I don't think the French are big on hugging so I just thanked her for her kindness.  Then this morning she ate breakfast with me and sent me off with a bag of goodies for my lunch.  So needless to say I was in fine form when I set off.

This Barge is for Sale!

Not far along the Voie Bleue route, I met Olivier, a delightful and decidedly handsome young man from Belgium who is walking to Santiago, Spain on the Camino de Santiago.  He told me that he's been on the road for about a month and he had slept outside last night in that terrible rain with only a tent fly for cover.  We had a good chat and I felt he could do with a bit of kindness and so I decided to pass on some of Anne's generosity and share my picnic lunch with him.  And so it goes....

For the first time today, I encountered a number of cyclists who were not just out for a joy ride.  Three couples of varying ages and a man from Scotland who was camping were among the folks I met along the way.  Oh yeah, and did I mention it was windy?  Yup, it was windy and it wasn't just any old wind... no, no, no, no.  It was a headwind, steady at 15-20 and gusting to about 25 knots.  There was a spot or two of rain as well, but I managed to duck into a brasserie at lunch time just as the heavens really opened up.  I really earned my frites today, I can tell you!

It's raining somewhere not very far away

Miranda does a selfie

I was planning to get the train to Lyon this afternoon, but as fate would have it, the train does actually not run from Verdun-sur-la-Doubs, the place I struggled to cycle to this afternoon.  But the kind man at the marina there called a Chambres d'hôte in the nearby village of Gergy and here I am, once again blessed with unparalleled kindness from the host, Regis Morin.  Regis has a beautiful home and a spectacular garden that must take up most of his time when he's not busy being kind to guests.  He tells me he was a florist for 30 years - this helps to explain his interest in plants.

So once again, while this isn't what I had planned on, but who knows - perhaps it is even better than an evening in Lyon.  I'm here in the garden writing my blog, drinking Badoit water with squeezes of lemon from Regis's lemon tree and anticipating sinking into the luxury memory foam mattress atop the bed in my room, which by the way, is fit more for royalty than the likes of me.  

Still... I'll take it and Lyon can wait until tomorrow.