Staying In Mondornon With Bill & Ang

The village that Bill and Ang are staying in is so tiny that Gertie Garmin GPS couldn’t find it.  But with our trusty Michelin Motoring Atlas we wiggled extensively across country to Mondornon which is near St Prive, which is near Le Creusot.  They’re staying in a wonderful old cottage owned and being renovated by Ang’s cousin.  For dinner Bill cooked us a yummy coq a vin and we sat up chatting and checking that all was still good with the world as we hadn’t heard or seen any news for a week (they have satellite TV).  We slept indoors that night in a lovely white room under open wood beams with an en suite. Eee, luxury!  But curiously,  I missed looking up through Eileen’s skylight and seeing tree branches and the stars……

 

On Thursday morning the sun came out and after a late breakfast the four of us cycled from St Gengoux le National past vineyards and yet more rape fields to Buxy.  We stopped for drinks in the centre of the village and on the way back Rodney turned left in to a skateboard park.  He did a couple of lovely turns over a small hump and then headed for a jump.  Unfortunately, he didn’t put any speed in to it and the front wheel of his bike dropped off the far side and the back wheel tried to do a somersault.  Rodney tried not to fall too badly, but managed to graze his right knee; there was a lot of blood that needed washing off his jeans!  So, we’re now equal in falling off bikes, though I have to admit Rodney’s was far more creative than mine.

The boys then went off to the Cave des Vignerons de Genouilly to buy 4 litres of Aligoté wine in recycled plastic bottles for €13 a popular little drop with Bill.  I, sadly, enjoyed getting our sheets and towels all washed and dried on the clothes line in the much appreciated sunshine. As we’ve travelled around France we never seem to see anyone working, but while we stayed at Mondornon, Bill proved it can be done and spent a lot of time painting the front fence of the cottage.  It looked lovely when he finished.

 

 

On Friday afternoon, while Bill continued painting, Rodney and I drove down to Cluny to explore the old town and climb to the top of the Tour de Fromages ( A lady used to dry and store her cheeses there in the 19^th century), for a very good view over the town and surrounding hills.

 

When we arrived back at Mondornon, Bill and Ang had some new guests; two teeny tiny mice had moved in.  ‘Softy’ Bill had set up a very mouse friendly trap, but they ignored it and entertained us for ages as they trotted about the lounge.  In the morning the food in the trap had been eaten but there were no mice sitting in the bucket !!!  The next day Bill did manage to trap them with his new, steeper version of a trap and he gave them a new home in the woodshed at the end of the back garden, though he did tell them they could come back to the house if they preferred.

On Saturday, Rodney & I drove north following the Canal du Centre Dheune to Beaune.  This really is a lovely town and the numerous markets were in full swing when we arrived.  Thank you for the recommendation Lynda. We spent ages in the Hotel Dieu Hospices de Beaune, which was a hospital founded in 1443 and was still being used up until about 30 years ago.  It is now a tourist attraction and well worth visiting.

 

 

When we got back to Bill & Ang another couple of visitors had arrived, not mice this time, Val & Luigi had arrived from England to stay for 5 days.  Everyone sat down to watch the FA Cup final and then we were served another yummy meal when Chelsea picked up the cup.

 

The rain arrived again on Sunday morning as we packed up Eileen and said our goodbyes. It was Presidential Election day in France, but we saw hardly anybody on the streets.  All we saw were endless fields of bored white cows; mind you, the bulls are pretty impressive.  We drove past Montchanin, Toulin sur Arroux, Luzy, Fours, crossed the Loire again at Decize and on to St Pierre le Moutier where we pulled into an Aires de Service and I whipped up a salami, broccoli and parmesan risotto.  It may not sound brilliant, but there were absolutely no shops open anywhere and that’s all we had in the fridge…….

We really thought we would be singing Dexy’s Midnight Runner’s “Come On Eileen” as we travelled around, but the song we keep breaking into is Supertramp’s “It’s Raining Again” !!!!  Hopefully the weather will improve soon.

We drove on west past Sancoins, Blet, Dun-sur-Auron, Levet, St Florent-sur-Cher and then just as were trying to find somewhere to stay the night, Gertie got us lost, she took us miles off the main road and when we finally found the campsite it was closed. After much argument, I turned her off again and got us up to Vatan where we found an Aires de Service that was open.  Nothing else was and we couldn’t find a single human being in town, actually no, there was a man smoking a cigarette outside a hotel.  We think France is still closed, or the Triffids have already been here………