Roundtrip Luxemboug; Lorraine-Champagne; Ardennes-Bourgogne; Franche-Comté

01 Ehlange –Verdun 09.08

The goal was to start our bike trip at home, key under the doormat and finish the loop back home again.

On our way to Verdun we met a French cyclist who talked about a  more historical route to Verdun. He indicated us the way and even accompanied us part of the track…We passed old, destroyed villages and the famous “Tranchées”

02 Verdun-St.Dizier 10.08

From Verdun we followed the river Meuse (vélorouteV54) for about 20 km. In Villers-sur-Meuse we left the V54 cycling track and headed eastwards (V54b) to Bar-le-Duc and onto St Dizier (EV16). 

After leaving our luggage in the hotel we had some time left to visit the town-centre by bike.

SAINT DIZIER

03 St Dizier-Troyes 11.08

“Journée des Lacs”

In Saint Dizier we took the track « véloroute EV16 » (going from London to Strasbourg) and went along the “Canal d'Amenée du lac de Der” to the lac du Der-Chantecoq.  Futher on we met the “Lac du Temple” and the”Lac d’Orient”.

 After a nice meal and despite the fact that we had cycled already more than 100km we decided to visit Troyes, its beautiful cathedral as well as the old town with its charming timbered houses.

Troyes

04 Troyes-Tonnerre 12.08

From Troyes we cycled southwards along the  Véloroute EV56 (Troyes – La-Charité-sur-Loire) to join the EV51 (Tour de Bourgogne). Here we cycled along the Canal de Bourgogne following the track up to Tonnerre. Since we had some problems to find an hotel we decided to stay in Tonnerre because it was the only hotel available in the area. In the evening of our tour through Tonnerre we visited the famous “Fosse de Dionne”  which is a exsurgent spring of the Vaucluse, at an average flow rate of 311 liters per second . 

Tonnerre

05 Tonnerre Préci-sous-Thil 13.08 

On our way to Préci-sur-thil we had some heavy  rain showers. Again we had some trouble to find an hotel. We therefore left the Canal de Bourgogne and got to Préci-sur-Thil  Hotel  Terminus. The owner of the hotel had explained that we could spend the night there but food wouldn’t be available since the hotel’s restaurant was closed. We were rather desperate, there was no restaurant whatsoever in the village.

I had already set my eye on the last package of crisps as my dinner when the lady knocked at our door and suggested to us to bring some food from the next village, where she herself went for dinner. Never so pleased with kebab catering in my life!

Préci-sous-Thil

06 Préci-sur-Thil- Dijon 14.08

After breakfast we cycled back to the Canal and headed towards  Pouilly-en -Auxois where the canal flows through a tunnel, whereas we ourselves had to cycle over the hill.

Pouilly-en Auxois

On our way to Dijon we passed several nice villages like  Vandenesse-en -Auxois  and the castle of Châteauneuf overlooking the Burgundy Canal.

Châteauneuf-en-Auxois

In Dijon we found a nice Hotel (B&B) right in the centre of the town. Since they had no place to store our bicycles, they gave us the room for disabled persons, so we could take our bikes with us.

Dijon

07 

07 Dijon-Ray-sur-Saône 15.08
After a laborious crossing of Dijon , we entered the «  véloroute Charles le Téméraire » that follows the Saône up to Épinal. We finished our cycling-day in Ray-en-Auxois at the comfortable guest house “Chambres et tables d'hôtes  Le Tilleul de Ray”.  Supper at “ Chez Yvette”, where a friendly owner tried her best to satisfy a vegetarian and succeeded very well!

Ray-sur-Saône

08 
08 Ray-sur-Saône-Epinal 16.08

This was our longest cycling daytrip, about 145km. When we arrived in Fontenoy-le-Château  we hoped to find an hotel nearby. Unfortunately nothing …..

Fontenoy-le-Château

So 
So we cycled on along the “Canal des Vosges” As we had no chance to find an hotel in the surroundings we headed on to Epinal. This was pretty tough since we had no food and barely half a litre of water left. When we arrived at Ibis hôtel in Epinal we ere exhausted but quite happy that we had made it to the end!

Epinal

09 Epinal-Nancy 17.08

Here we met the Mosel and cycled along the river up to Nancy where we followed the “Canal de la Junction” which brought us right to the centre of Nancy, where we stayed in the Hotel Ibis Nancy Sainte Catherine .

In the evening we roamed around the beautiful “Place Stanislas” and found a nice Indian restaurant for dinner. 

Nancy

10 Nancy-Thionville 18.08

From the centre of Nancy we  followed one last time the “Canal de la Junction” that brought us back to the Mosel. When we arrived in Metz it started raining cats and dogs. We managed to handle the rain until we arrived in Thionville. Here we were all soaked and decided to check in at the Hôtel Kyriad Prestige. In fact it was the first hotel we saw when we entered Thionville. The friendly man at the reception didn’t mind that I dripped the wooden floor all over. He gave us a nice room that we thoroughly enjoyed!!!  

11 Thionville-Ehlange 19.08

 Finally the last track back home from Thionville!! Instead of taking the most direct way we decide to cycle along the Moselle towards Mondorf-les-Bains. We keep an eye on the sky, threatingly black….

But just arriving on the spot, still dry, the sky opens and the expected rain comes down in buckets….