Tuesday 22nd July 2026

Time to head further south.

I suppose, at this moment, I should point out we have messed up the hotels, and so face a long leg on Tuesday, then double back 90 minutes on Friday, before leapfrogging further south on Sunday.

Mistakes happen, I guess.

So, we sleep in to nearly half six, get dressed and go down for breakfast, which was slightly disappointing again, though the coffee pretty good.

Back to the room to pack, the load the car in two runs, so that by quarter to eight, we were ready to go.

Also, the ladies in the mobile phone shop sold us a roaming pay as you go cim that was only suitable for the UK, so that in less than a day, apparently, we had burned through £50 worth of data.

Mainly on Maps and Merlin.

This we were to discover through the day when neither of our phones would make or receive calls, or access the internet and Maps, which was pretty important.

We made our way through the city, and back onto the motorway, turning south. It was cool and cloudy, though it would get warmer and sunnier later, and temperatures would reach 31.

Not much to report really. Once through the tolls, the traffic was light, so we made our way 100 miles east to Reims, then turn south through the vine-laden wine region of Champagne. I saw the hill from which, at dusk some twenty months ago, I looked upon the Grande Cru grapes, now we sped past.

We were going this way, rather than vial the Paris ringroad because of the Paris ringroad, in decades past, this would be jammed with traffic at all hours, so we thought going east and then south would be quieter, and meant we could call in at Troyes for lunch and a wander, maybe look round the cathedral.

Driving into a new city is a worrying time, though Troyes is a small city, and at eleven or just gone, it was quiet enough.

We found the parking house near the cathedral, and went down and down until we found a space that others had left enough room either side to get the car into. It felt like we were halfway to the centre of the earth.

Up in the lift, and out into the bright sunshine, with the cathedral towering above us.

We walk round it, each side having grand doors, but all locked, until we came to the west end, a small wicket door was open.

Our excuse for this was the at the church seemed almost square, so hard to judge which side was which.

Inside it was fairly plain, with pews though, which is always nice.

A few memorials on the walls, though there were many alabaster panels of saints, some which were painted.

I photographed the glass with the big lens, though most panels were not as old as appeared, though looked spectacular.

In half an hour I was done, it was midday and thoughts turned to lunch.

The city is a maze of mediaeval lanes, alleyways, all lined with timber-framed houses, some alleys so narrow that the roofs of buildings either side toughed to make a tunnel.

There were dozens of places offering lunch, we chose one named after St Jean, though they didn't do BBQ.

Too soon?

We choose one and order a sharing charcuterie board, followed by a main course. I had a salad.

And while we ate and drank we watched the world go by, mainly American tourists.

It really was most splendid.

And this news just in:

The large churchy building beside the car park called "Cathedral", is not the actual cathedral.

Which means, as I screwed up the hotel bookings, we can go back to the city on Friday.

But back to Wednesday.

We left the city and headed south, the motorway now busier, and climbing to over 1400 feet. The cool morning had been replaced with a hot and humid afternoon, which peaked in early evening at 32 degrees.

We cruised at 70 for the most part, and enjoyed the drive, even as the traffic grew heavier.

We turned off and into our next stop, the city of Chalon-sur-Saône.

Our hotel was on the main road into the city, another Ibis, but this an older building, all tired inside.

We checked in and were given a small room, though as everything we needed, except space. Obviously.

For the evening, we drove over the intersection to a BBQ chain place, which sounded like it would be good, but wasn't. Even the 1664 was almost flat.

At least it was only a two minute drive back to the hotel, where we would stare at the ceiling until we grew tired.