out and about...

Yesterday, we did our shopping in Cluny and then parked the car by the diused railway station and had a stroll along the Voie Verte.

The Voie Verte-literally Green Lane, was developed by the Conseil Général of Saône-et-Loire. It is an itinerary that will allow you to travel the département over a distance of some 120 Kms following the old railway lines. It is tarmaced mostly flat and smooth and is recommended for bikes, roller bladders and walkers - but nothing motoristed! The French railway system is still much used and I am a little sad that this line has been removed as we could have got on a train at Massilly at the bottom of the hill from Toury, and got off in Cluny. Now there is no nearby railway line and you need a car to go anywhere. However, the Voie Verte is lovely - litter free and easy to stoll along.


This was of course taken in the summer, but you get the idea. Where it has to cross a road there are barriers warning you and of course you slow down. When my bike eventually arrives from England on the removal van, I want to take a ride along part of it to try it out. Often whole families are out together - and its good to see that - in this area we are aware that family is everything - they get together regularly and seem less fragmented than in England. Relatives are close by.

I thought about the demise of the railway line when I looked at the station building and the sheds -

But nearby the train lives on. The high speed train (TGV -train grande vitesse) line is just over the bank next to the voie verte and I have not lost that childhood excitement of trains. Having being born and brought up in Jersey, whose railways from Gorey to St Helier and from Corbiere to St Helier have long before my birth been made into a tarmaced walk, I loved to visit England and get on the train at Weymouth and go up to London and thence on to Manchester to stay with my grandparents. So yesterday we continued our walk until we stood on the bridge over the TGV line. This is the main line to Paris so it is a busy line with trains passing almost every 10 minutes. When I snapped this photo the driver hooted at us and we waved (Railway Childrenish - although my red flannel petticoat was not to be seen!!!!

I'm pleased to be near the line, and I hope one day soon to actually ride on one - everyone I know who has done that says it is a wonderful experience.

So for those of you following the Blog there is no further news of the satellite - we gave ourselves 2 days off the frustration and lack of progress and last night we watched a couple of episodes of Downton Abbey which we had never got around to watching! And now its off to the lotto gourmand!