Day 24. Beaulieu to Chalons en Champagne.

Day 24 Beaulieu to Chalons en Champagne. 63 km. 3:43

We started with a short steep descent to our route which took us over rolling hills, through fields of maize, wheat and canola. We were reminded of how big the country of France is. The Argonne area is very much like our wheat growing area of the Ruggens, rolling hills and various shades of green cladding the hillsides like a patchwork quilt as far as the eye could see.

We cycled on small secondary roads for most of the way until we got close to Chalons de Champaign when we had to do a short distance on the D3 which is quite a big road with vehicles traveling at high speed. We found it quite disconcerting, although the drivers have been very considerate.

Once again we did not see a Boulangerie or Charcuterie until we got to L'Epine. There was a 15 C Gothic Church that had been renovated by the EU. We finally found a Patisserie and bought a delicious onion quiche for lunch.

The last few villages we cycled through before we reached Chalons en Champagne had new houses and well maintained gardens but we did not see anyone there. This is probably where people live and commute to work. Completely different to what we had experienced in other regions in France.

Garmin did not disappoint us and gave us excellent directions to our accommodation,Hotel Montreal, on the outskirts of Chalons en Champagne, after a very hot day's cycle (32 deg). We struggled to find accommodation on Booking.com and had to settle for this businessmen's hotel, which was actually quite comfortable although the rooms were small. It was unfortunately 3 km from the Centre de Ville.

We managed to take a bus to the city centre and had a look around. It was an active Roman trading centre 2000 years ago. The most memorable buildings are the 13 C Church of St Ettienne, Hotel de Ville, Place de le Republic and the  beautiful 16th C coulombage house that the tourist office is housed in. We walked down to the river and had a drink in the place de la Republic.

We wanted to have some supper, but it is always a difficult decision to make, not knowing which places are good. I asked a lady sitting next to us and she recommended the Restuarant next door, Le Boule, which turned out to be absolutely wonderful. The boys had a burger and I had chicken and lamb rissole casserole. As the buses stop running at 20:00, we got the waiter at the restaurant to call a taxi for us. It was such a good plan as we were all tired after our hilly hot cycle.