Dag 15 en 16; Scey-sur-Saône - Gray (56 km) and Gray - Pontailler-sur-Saône (32 km)

Cycling long distances with a specific destination implies meeting people with the aim. So far we hadn't met many. Apart from the German couple with whom we dinnered at the Italian, we had met one other Dutch couple that was heading for Dijon where we have almost arrived now. Yesterday we appeared to have set up our next to yet another Dutch couple. They trvelled by car ánd tandem (a Santos with Rolof hub). As the man is gradually loosing his eysight they were not able to cycle like they were used to. They now put there tent up somewhere along the track, cycle to the place they came from and back to their tent. The next day they do the same in the opposite direction. The result: the do the whole journey twice, in both directions.

The fact that they had a car came very handy as we were facing a problem that couldn't be solved locally. They were very helpful and the only guests at Nelly's birthday dinner.

This morning we had breakfast with them and departed very late. So two calm days over basically flat terrain. Two of the higher slopes we had to go over were at places where the canal went through a tunnel digged out in the hill, part of a cunning systems of canals connecting France's biggest rivers. Once developped to stimulate economic growth in the region it now is the domain of launches and racing yachts. The arrival of the train made the whole system useless for the original purposes. Tomorrow we hope to arrive in Beaune, to be pronounce as Boon à la Néerlandaise.