Dijon

 Tour de Femmes is time trialing into Dijon and we spent a few days at the Chateau de Gilly half way between Dijon and Beaune.  We also took rides in both directions to visit those towns.  In Beaune we toured the historic hospital with its tiled roof  as well as getting there in time for the morning market. In Dijon it was mustard mecca, not that I go in for it but if you are in Dijon then you must muster for mustard. The chateau was the first we had tried in France with precise gardens and the wine menu so thick it had its own table.

Longer ride

We have got to get a few kms in on the bike as I have worked a couple of rides for next week.  We stopped at the train station and found a rider there who had just moved in from NSW to be closer to the grand kids. Sounds familiar.  She needed three bedrooms, two bathrooms, fruit trees. solar panels, water tanks, a large backyard and a tin roof, preferably not rusted. Seems you can get just the house you need around here. We continued on, without any bird bombers. The last distraction was the Q train manouvring its way into the yard for the lunch time crowd.

Geneva Shore

 Tour de France has been riding around Lake Geneva again and doing so for the last two days.  They have been doing it in the opposite direction to us which is fine with closed roads. The big tip for this ride is to keep the water on your right as you go around. We found a lot of shoreline paths and off road areas but there are road sections.  The vineyards coming down to the waters edge got us distracted. We found an eaterie overlooking the water and had a way too long three hour lunch.  We paid for that later when getting into Lausanne a bit late. The riders sprinted up the few kms from the shore to the city centre whereas we took the train for a two hour explore before getting back on the bikes. 

packed what we could into two panniers for three days

rolling vineyards

Lausanne biggest Swiss flag ever

Grand Day Out

 There were meant to be grandies for the weekend but when that did not workout we went for a day trip in the other direction. When I was fully in charge for an hour or so we did everything they wanted.  They are so proficient at computer games its amazing.  Most of the action was indoors. Some drawing, roller skating, dressups and screen time. We did eventually get to the park and as usual, once they get there it is the best thing, especially with a soccer ball to kick around.

Beach Report No 622

 Have not been down for at least a week. I also tweaked my back last week as well so I did not bring the rubbish bag, to avoid the extra bending.  There has been some wind and rain which all adds to the beach collection however it was in reasonable shape. I could not leave a sharp edged can so I did pickup a couple of things but next week I will I will do a better job.  A new neighbour was there wanting to know all about it. I explained the first rule was not to tell anybody else. Too bad if millions are reading this blog.

Abro De Sapto

 It seems when you get a bit older the government will give back some of the tax they have taken off you.  You have to ask your accountant to press a magic Sapto button at the time of submitting your return, so now we can have $3200 back. I know, I am ducking flying pigs here.  I am not sure why you have to ask as I think we could have got it the previous year.  As well, I am still on the trail of the elusive health card. Why does that one take months and the Sapto is a check box? 

Solomon's Seal

 Hammond Innes was an adventure writer from last century.  This book was written based on a trip he took in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in 1975.  We also took a boat ride to those places as well. One line that resonates with me is a cargo of road building materials was being taken to Guadalcanal.  They have roads there that were built by the Americans in 1945 and never touched since then. The book also has a philatelic theme with the title being the name of a stamp used for transporting letters around the islands.  After chasing old letters, stamp sheets and proofs amongst an uprising of  local indigenes, the collection was saved. Hooray.