Route Napoleon Tour - Day 2 Arlon to Dijon

Ride report.
Day 2 Route Napoleon Tour.

410km.
Belgium and France.

I woke up to find our bikes had been joined by three Dutch guys on blacked out BMW GS’s, who are pretty much going the same route as we are and then heading out to Rome.

Having had breakfast, we went in search of the nearest petrol pump which turned out to be an electric charging station only, so we headed south through the Belgian hills.

Trusty calimoto took us a spirited route cris crossing the border of several times, slowing through the villages but picking up the pace across the wheat fields, past hundreds of wind turbines.

We stopped for civilised elevenses at a village shop for a cafe. Bless the owner brought tables and chairs out and set them up on the pavement. Her shop reminded me of an old-fashioned Tuck shop with penny sweet jars lining the walls.

Caffeine fuelled, we headed round the out skirts of Verdon before darting into Bar-le-Duc to a Boulangerie cafe that I know of.

Here we were treated like royalty by the giggling staff behind the counter who were quite fascinated that a bunch of English bikers had come specifically come to their bakery. The choice of eclairs and strawberry tarts was amazing. They know what a meal deal should be, as £5 got you a big baguette sandwich, drink and decent desert. You could have your cake, and eat it! Now full of bread, cheese, strawberries and cream, we continued south.

At Baulme le Roche, the twisties began with a gradual climb up the hillside, with spectacular views to the valley below. Unfortunately, several tourists were also enjoying the view in their slow cars, slightly spoiling our fun but it’s a lovely road nevertheless.

A quick pit stop and someone told me we were near the Bourgogne wine region and wanted to quickly visit the Romanee Conti vineyards. Now I’ve been reliably informed that this red plonk goes for upward of five grand bottle and a single bottle of really old stuff went for auction for $558,000!
That makes the hillside of the Romanee Conti estate some of the most expensive real estate in Europe if not the world.

As we crested the brow through Chambeouf, the fields completely changed from wheat to miles and miles vineyards.

Five loud bug splattered motorbikes headed towards this very expensive hill for a quick photo, and we are kicked some dust back down the rough tracks past these amazingly expensive vines.

Our stay for this evening is in Nuits-Saint-George. As we were in a French town with such historic wine heritage we popped out to the main square for dinner. Of course we had to go local with escargot and some of the local wine.

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