On the Dole

Saturday 26.05.2012    Seurre – Dole  (Not very far) 50kms

The plan today was to arrive early in Dole and spend a day to catch up with washing, shopping etc. Hmmm….best laid plans and all that. We got off to a good start and the route and the weather were glorious. We bowled along in a very slight head wind wishing the world ‘bonjour’. We even cycled past a Weldoms which, on further investigation, provided us with much needed gas cylinders which we had found difficult to source. Wow, what a start. It continued thus until we arrived in said ville. Our plan was to spend the night in the Youth Hostel which came highly recommended from someone else’ blog. What do they say about plans and recommendations. Not repeatable here anyway. We cycled from rural tranquillity into traffic chaos (Whit weekend!) Dicing with death, we rapidly wished we were somewhere else. With no idea of the hostel’s  location, I rang and tried to make some sense of the directions I received. To make a bad situation worse, the biggest fair in the world was parked alongside the canal making the usual unpleasant fair noises which even Alan can hear. It was also very hot and very busy – need I say more?! In desperation, I accosted a gentleman who was fortunately, a local, and he gave very concise and clear directions. I thank him very, very much. These directions did require a challenging hill climb but finally led us…………….where? We found the church and the street but had to ask again for the building. Not what I would have recommended, but here we are. We have a room which is clean and likely to be very noisy and we have enjoyed a substantial, cheap and nourishing meal (with vit C). I am thinking posh hotel tomorrow. Watch this space. Certainly won’t be a day off.