1 October
It's been a busy day on the tourist trail. Having left Epernay we drove through the seemingly endless swathes of bubbly grapevines that clothe the slopes thereabouts- all bathed in autumn sun and ne'er a cloud in the sky. Past famous names such as Mercier and Veuve Cliquot as well as lesser known but doubtless equally delicious brands. Some might find the monoculture boring. We don't. The colours and textures, patterns and rythms are a treat and visual pleasure.
Breakfast was in the strangely named village of Vertus, in the Café des Arts. Excellent coffee, first class croissants hot from the oven and imaginative décor!
We then drove up to a local view point and discovered a very unusual monument to Russian soldiers in 1814. It was erected by the French in the presence of the Russian Ambassador fairly recently but we are not sure quite why!
The journey progressed through more vines that suddenly gave way to a plateau of grain production then more mixed farming down through Burgundy and into the Auvergne. Just after Vézelay (been there done that so didn't stop!) we hit Bazoches, a tiny place with a château. No ordinary château this,but the home of The Great Man Vauban.
Not only that, but he is buried in the little church- that is most of him is. Napoleon removed his heart and stuck it in Les Invalides!
Then, in a town with the genius name of La Machine we came upon this dear little underground miners' train
Tonight we had another somewhat odd experience in Thiers. Everything seemed closed and we only wanted a crêpe so we ventured into a small Salon de Thé/Crêperie. Noone there but a man on a laptop who was having troible getting online, and two people running the place. Now there is no way of being PC here so don't hoot at me. They were obviously of African origin. Nothing wrong with that, but it did seem strange to find them running a crêperie. The crêpes were excellent, they were charming and we all had a good chat about the Rugby because They asked Us where we were from first and teased us about England losing to Wales. So then I felt ai could ask them their origins, which transpired to be from Togo, a non rugby nation. We still have no idea why the other man was sutting glumly in front of his laptop all the while.
How's this for a room with a view!
