A to B in the rain

We live in biblical times. At least, that's what it felt like today - the rain never stopped, from waking up to going to bed, with 180 miles of motorcycling in between! Autun to Basel.

At least the view from the Autun B&B patio was picturesque, the mysteriously shrouded hills, the greenness, the cathedral spire rising above the old town...

The bikes await us, drenched in rain - if you look closely you can see Jimmy having his last dry fag of the day!

We made it to Beaune and decided to set the controls for the heart of the sun i.e. program in the Oberwil address and soldier on. A pity to leave the heart of the classic wine district, but let's face it, we weren't going to be sampling the wares, so maybe next time.

The roads (highways, no tolls) were just like A-roads, trucks, traffic, single lanes, up, down, sideways. And in the continuous rain. BUT there was a pizza place where we stopped for a coffee, and were lured into consuming two huge pizzas, which were pretty tasty. The nice blonde lady behind the counter helped too - her 7 year old daughter was very sweet, watching Jim put on his hat and gloves with obvious glee. We did say that Jim wears a bowler, didn't we?!

Finally, we turned off and away from the A-roads onto more B-style roads, suddenly traffic-free and small villages. Lovely. Then it turned into Switzerland, a sudden change in housing style, with the only downer the discovery that Jim's pockets leak and thus ensure sodden ciggies! It took lot of blowing to get them to light, even in the shelter of the cash machine porch.

Bertschenackerstrasse!! Heralded by my spotting of the coffee and ice cream shop in Oberwil, we were glad to see the apartment building. However, even though we tried to save the boys from exposure to Strange Men in Silly Hats and Black Suits (smishabs) by knocking on the patio door rather than ring the bell, by the time we got in they were up! Oliver was most upset, until he released that G-Dad was hiding in the hat, and it wasn't long before he was buttonholing Jim to point out the animals in the favourite zoo book. Josh was highly amused, at least until G-Dad tried to deliver the hugs sent by Grandma...

Supper, stories, plans for the morrow, and now it's time for bed... I'm in with Josh, so hopefully he won't snore as badly as Jim!