Tissey – Chablis – Beine – Auxerre – Sery – Lucy sur Yonne – Clamency
I woke up already in the middle of the night by the lightnings of a tempest arriving above Rosinante and pushed him barefoot over pointy gravel into the shelter of an empty garage, Lucien’s I think. I can tell you there’s nothing more refreshing then running on pointy gravel in light rain while others sleep, F***.
In the morning I left very early to ride the greatest distance of the day in the fresh morning and arrived at Chablis just in time at the supermarché to be one of the first customers. But I only bought the good old Yaourt a boire because everything else was to expensive. I left the town on a national road - one of those I’d like to avoid using – with a little bit of trouble with the cars. By then the sky looked already very dark, so there wouldn’t be any bright sun for the next twenty kilometers. But also I got lots of heavy rain just two minutes before I reach Beine and the nice café right next to the road. I put Rosinante into a nearby bus-stop and ran inside. I could have had walked because I was already soaked.
As soon as the rain stopped I hit the road again and made it relatively fast and easy to Auxerre, where I knew a cheaper supermarket to buy all supplies for the next three days. On my way to the Canal de Nivernais I met a bus driver, who gave me a cigarette in exchange for a few stories and the address of this blog.
At the canal there was very less agriculture and other traces of careless human activities, so I used my camera for the first time while riding. Somewhere near Vezelay I met the first bigger amount of pilgrims on a resting area. Two pilgrims on foot with a very interesting trailer and a bicegrina with her husband, who might have been also a pilgrim. But they were on bike and I still do not like them moth**f***ing biker-hikers.
At Sery I got to meet two guys operating the lock by asking for a cigarette. - Maybe I won’t really quit smoking on the camino this time, because there are too much nice smokers on the way.
I thought of leaving the canal to visit the mayor of Berry sur Cure a short while. But regarding the hills between us, I decided to go on along the plain road at the canal. - Maybe next time.
In the evening I found a real nice spot at Lucy sur Yonne with lots of benches on a nice lawn right next to the river. But to my disadvantage there were some kids playing football and it’s definitely not my style to put up camp when other people are around. So I moved on to look for another less nice spot. Of those there were many but each was missing one of the most important ingredients: a proper meadow, access to the river or nightly solitude.
In Clamency I finally found what I was looking for: a small garden at the river. There were some lately birds passing by but the hedges kept most of them from seeing me nor Rosinante. Just when I was naked and ready to wash myself, one guy in his car caused a little bit trouble. But after he left I could continue my evening-ritual of cleaning and camping.