Well there are some things that are pretty good. Nuit St George is one

I could not think of one reason why until today. Yesterday I rode through some truly wonderful stretches of roadway in France. I chose the hilly region because I like the remoteness. No trucks ( well not as many) and fewer cars and splendid countryside. And it was. The European villages are pretty special. Clean and tidy. It is all a garden. There is a country that claims to be clean and green, but in comparison this place leaves it for dead. The roadsides are tidy. No wrecked cars. No shitty rubbish dumped in odd places, no evident willful damage, no graffiti, no rubbish stacked round the houses, in fact a pleasure to be here. And I mean it too. Not the usual Stuart moan this time. However the weather got me. It started to rain late afternoon yesterday, but I had a mission. I came to Baune a small wine town and could not find a place ( that I could afford anyway)so I carried on up the road to Nuit St George, and pleased I was also. Spent a few very happy days walking and watching the wine harvest pass the door of the cafe. Not so this year. It is raining. The harvest is late, a late autumn, the leaves are still green right down the Moselle Valley. So today I have a forced rest day. I have been round the village tasting but the best was right here in the Cafe. Domain Chicotot a Nuit St George local. I am having trouble establishing the variety but I am sure it is a Pint Noir and it is a beauty. The lunch was special as well. A salad but served with fromage ( cheese of 4 types and beautiful). So long may the rain fall ! In case anyone is thinking of buying a ACER laptop, don't. Crap does not describe this shitty little system, top of the line my bum ! And notice I have refrained from an outburst about Garmin. The system is American. Say no more. It never ceases to amaze me how America goes to war using their own technology when it cannot safely negotiate a motorcycle through a village in France. I once had the opportunity to suggest to them that they give the system to the Indians who would make it work properly. They did not respond. Ideas good execution pathetic. Anyway, lunch was excellent. Now I must go and find something interesting to occupy my time before I return for dinner. I suspect Bouillabase and Creme Brulee and perhaps a Nuit St George Pinot Noir. And the weather may be better so I may continue south. There are some Roman ruins that I need to inspect a little further south.