Days 5 to 7

Alex:

You know things are going well when every day is better than the last. We packed trail today like no one's business while still stopping at friendly butcher shops and bakeries along the way. 

The real tour de force for the day happened when Kenneth spotted some people with baskets of cherries. Soon after, I happily spied the cherry trees which were overhanging the road. 

To Kenneth's alarm, I swerved in the road and then pulled over. Heedless, I loped over to the low-hanging  branches and seized a bunch of cherries, mottled orange, red and white. 

My pillaging was interrupted by a shout to my left; an old woman near the gate. "Pardon!" I waved at her pleasantly and then turned back to my bike. Yet, in a fit of remorse, I ventured over to apologize to the woman and, admittedly, get the scoop on what was up with the cherries because... Well, they were just that good. 

The old woman, as it turned out, was delighted to meet us, and insisted we eat our fill. Apparently, every year most of the fruit in her garden goes to waste as no one can be bothered to help her pick it! "Here," she said. "Wait while I go fetch you a bag." 

She returned, in fact, with a monstrous poleax complete with serrated scythe and a mini pulley-operated guillotine. "With this you can cut the branches with cherries that are too high to reach!" she said amiably while handing me what seemed to be the very lance Clovis, King of the Franks, used to kill that other ancient warchief, Rollo the Fat.

That's right, America, caught red handed stealing cherries, we were not only offered more, but given the chance to do it the right way--old school, like the French serfs of l'ancien regime. And how we picked them! Squinting through the afternoon sun, we reached with the pole to delicately seize and slice each fruited bough, which tumbled down upon us from the sun-speckled canopy like the very laurels of Dionysus. 

After picking what must have been $50 (US) in cherries, we piled all the branches in a corner of the yard, bid the kindly woman farewell, and continued on our way having sated our hunger and replenished our spirits. All was right in the world. 

Video of us using the poleax is forthcoming, so stay tuned!

Kenneth:

Alex is, of course, cherry picking his stories. He failed to mention the two times he nearly beheaded me with the poleax. Aside from that, though, the cherries were delicious. 

Since then we have made it to Charolles, a little town nestled in the hills of Burgundy. I think it's about time we gave an update on the biking situation! Alex's legs hurt, and he keeps getting stung by bees. I have horrible allergies, but thanks to the low cost of medicine, a 5 euro nasal antihistamine was easily had. Other than the dull pain in our wrists, everything else seems to be ok! Oh, yesterday I popped a tube, so I put in my spare. Today, we found a bike shop and purchased new ones, so we should be all set! Looking forward to finally sleeping in a bed tonight!