13 Langres to Dampierre sur Salon
670 m climbing
5h 05m elapsed
27°C, sunny
66.46 km
3h 56m moving
61% off-road
Red line - the route I took, Orange line - “official” Via Francigena, Blue line - Sigeric’s probable route
Langres to Dampierre sur Salon GPX file
So the route today again followed roughly the walking route, but with a few exceptions:
I went the south side of the reservoir near Langres because it seemed a little shorter, though still off-road
I avoided hills and stayed in the forest more before Coublanc
Trying to stay on more gravel tracks just after Champlitte
Paris to Langres
So getting to Langres for an early start is very difficult in one day from Copenhagen. I tried all sorts of routes e.g. via Basel but in the end I bet that the best thing to do was spend a night next to Gare de l'Est in Paris.
The idea was take a really early train and get to Langres before 9 to give a good few hours taking it easy on the way to Dampierre-sur-Salon. However it didn't quite work out that way.
About an hour out of Paris the train came to a stop and there really wasn't much communication (that I could easily undestand at least). We simply sat there for approximately 3 hours!
The train got to Langres just before midday and it took another hour getting the bike ready and properly packed. So I finally started just before 1300 on a 70km off road trip on a very hot day.
The good news was that this year I've got a new framepack that can take the bike travel bag (for getting on planes) as well as all the bike tools and spares. This made a big difference keeping the gravity somewhat lower and meant I could use a very small backpack just for water and food.
A hot day for a "sprint" across country
Starting late on a hot day was a new challenge and there was plenty of off-road today. Even some of the official route paths were heavily overgrown and difficult to walk through, let alone cycle.
I ran out of water somewhere just before Champlitte and was glad for the supermarket close to the Chateau.
Overnight: Dampierre sur Salon, Au Bon Vivant
I didn’t stay here but it was an option.
There's only 2 accommodation options in Dampierre sur Salon 1) The glass monstrosity in the middle of town or 2) A local Gite just up the road.
I chose 2). Wise move. Christophe and Helene were fantastic hosts and I got to learn a lot more about Vietnam and also go on a buffalo sightseeing tour.
Cancoillotte cheese is not to be missed.
