Today was going to be a fairly hot day, but not one of the two heatwave days coming up. The route is all along the canal towpath and the accommodation stops few and far between. So we thought we would try for a longer stage and go all the way to Langres about 100km. It is Sunday and there are no shops open and most restaurants are not open at lunch. So we had breakfast at 7am in our newly re-opened hotel and made a picnic from breakfast ham and cheese. We were on the canal by 8am and made swift progress in the “cool” of the morning. And we kept on going. Passing pretty villages along the way. One of these had a camp site and a small café bar to meet their needs and so we stopped for a drink too. We went through a tunnel!

But apart from a few cyclists and a couple of boats, we saw no one all day. Very peaceful and rural. Lunch stop in the shade at 60km. 

It was getting hotter as the day progressed and we were glad of our extra bottles of water. 

And then we reached Langres. We knew this was a medieval town on a hill with ramparts, towers etc. And we knew it was a steep uphill at the end of the day. But it was reeeeeally steep and we had to push uphill under full sun. Stopping to “cool off” every few minutes.

Still, we did make it through the rampart gates to the town and recovered with a drink in a “salon de thé”. The town looks like a scene set for a French movie. Very attractive and “period”. In Roman days, it had twelve roads leading to it 😳. 

Our hotel is a “logis” which does great local dishes. We checked in, had a shower and our daily clothes wash. Alistair fixed a wobbly bike stand. Into the main square for a beer🍻 - very hot even under the shade as the cobbles and walls radiated heat. Back to the hotel for dinner (inside which seemed cooler) and an early bed as we were very tired 🥱. 

The next few days are heatwave days and involve some hill climbs. So we are planning shorter stages of around 40 - 50 km to fit around location and availability of accommodation.