Here is where we crossed the border. It was a farm track. It wasn’t surprising to find no one there to greet us. Haha (The dash dot dash line is the border).
Because you asked
Tag: France
Day44 Pontarlier to Jougne – Taking it to the border
Morning Update Day44
Well, here we are folks, about a mile from the Swiss border. We’ve very nearly walked across another whole country.
It seems so odd to be here in a way. France, particularly the latter half of it (once it dried up a bit) has been wonderful. The food has been spectacular. Almost everyone has been generous and kind.
There are many places to which I’d like to return and spend more time. But a pilgrim must March on. Well, a pilgrim that has a 90day Shenghen VISA does anyway.
Today was supposed to be a short day but we made it long by choosing some more scenic routes and very honestly taking some wrong turns. In this part of France there are tons of intersecting hiking trails and many are labeled as the VF. We were never lost, just not on the trail we’d intended at times.
Chamois sighting
Uncle Robin would be so glad to know that we spent a majority of our day walking through cow pastures hanging out with the cows (quite literally). The mountains are breathtaking! Our other animal sightings today included ibex. There must have been six munching grass on a hillside just below a chateau. How picturesque is that!
After eating lunch in a little ski village, we began climbing. That seems to be a recurring theme these days. This particular climb actually involved switchbacks, thank you. I was leading and then I rounded a corner on a switchback and magically Mark had teleported himself in front of me on the path. The turkey had just climbed straight up the mountain.
<Mark>. I loved that little prank. The look on Allison’s face was priceless. There was that moment of … “oh, there is another hiker on the trail” followed by “wait, that’s Mark…but wait, he was behind me”. It was great.
We also encountered a little whimsy. Two mailboxes caught my attention. I have to admit my favorite was the cow. I think Dad will agree with me.
Anyway, we landed at our hotel in the border town of Jougne (pronounced ‘Zhune’). We celebrated our crossing of France with a mixed up menu of trout with mushrooms and pizza.
Tomorrow will be a long 20mi day. We haven’t done one of those in quite a long time. It will be tough. Oddly, after a morning climb into Switzerland, the route will be mostly downhill…or so we hear.
Day43 Mouthier-Haut-Pierre to Pontarlier – Gorges and Elevation
Some trouble this evening with uploading images so despite the beauty, there will be few images and no video until we get home. (Post Via note: It’s all here now)
The expensive night at the hotel ended early with our 5:45 alarm. We’d left the window open to help our clothes dry and woke to a chilly room. The temperature had dropped into the high 40’s overnight. Good thing we had several blankets.
We decided to raid our food supply for breakfast. We feasted on an orange, and what passes for a breakfast bar and energy bar here. They are incredibly tiny and mostly sugar. I do miss our protein bars back home on these occasions. That left us with 1/4 baguette, four slices of cheese and one energy bar each. Slim pickings. But at least Mark’s pack was light.
So we left our key in the door to our room since that is how we found it. A hotel with an unmanned reception 24 hours a day….Maybe that is normal here, but it sure seems strange to me. Anyway we were on our way.
Boy, what a start! We climbed and climbed and walked in the woods around the Gorges de Nouailles (Noodle Gorge). It was absolutely beautiful!
We did spend most of our morning climbing up the gorge. There were some terribly narrow paths with sheer drops. The Source of the River Loue was so spectacular.
Once we climbed above the river the world seemed so quiet. But do not worry, we continued to climb.
At the village of Ouhans we’d hoped to stop to get some lunch supplies. There was no evident store in town however but there was a pretty but small chapel located on a hill adjacent to the town. It was the Notre Dame du l’Engles. It was very beautiful inside.
Our lady of the angels
The climb was relentless. We walked through forests and roads that were so steep there were warning signs for cars about the gradient of the road. Finally we could see the top come into sight. We were running on fumes and needed to eat and sit down for a few minutes. So we nibbled on the rest of our food provisions for lunch which was not much. But it was all we had: a piece of bread, cheese, a few nuts, and a breakfast bar.
While we were preparing our lunch a car drove by, stopped, and backed up. A gentleman who lives nearby just wanted to chat with us. It was a kind gesture. I am continually amazed at the kindness of the local people here in the south of France. He was a retired Air France pilot so Mark enjoyed talking Aerospace with him.
We ended our journey with a suburban entry into Pontarlier. It was nondescript except for the chance encounter with a Decathlon sports store.
At our youth hostel for the evening we finally had the chance to meet and talk with the pilgrims we’d met a few days ago. It made for a delightful dinner. We cooked up some food we’d bought at the local market (cassoulet, peas and sausages) and boiled some eggs for lunch tomorrow.
Well that’s it folks. Tomorrow is our last full day in France. We travel to Jougne on the Swiss border. I’ll end this with one last artsy shot from the Gorge
Day40. Rest day in Besancon
We slept in late …aaah! We rested; we toured; we relaxed. Our bodies and souls needed this.
Then we got some breakfast and a coffee before heading out for some shoe, hiking pole tip, and grocery shopping. Allison’s shoes are wearing out and it is time for a replacement pair.
For all my fashionista friends and family out there, I apologize for my color choice now. The fluorescent yellow will clash with all my clothes colors. But I will have happy feet.
We walked around for a bit just relaxing in this pretty city. The city is surrounded on three sides by the Doub River with a mountain on the fourth side. It’s a natural stronghold.
Believe it or not we actually do spend some time planning our routes and lodging. So some of the afternoon was spent doing that along with eating ice cream. Because ice cream makes everything better! We even chatted with Judy and Mom for a few minutes.
Next up we made our way to the tourist office and got out pilgrim’s passport stamped. Then we decided to explore some of the sights in the city. We started with the Astronomical Clock which was closed. How you can close a clock I am not sure but it was closed. We also had a good laugh that the museum of time is also closed. And the huge modern clock on the front of the building is off by hours. They just do not build clocks to last these days, ha ha.
The last tourist spot on our rest day was the Citadel. This fortress was built during the reign of the sun King Louis IV by the famous architect Vauban. The Spanish actually captured it before it’s completion but after the French re-conquest it was completed and remained an active military sight until after WWII.
Inside is a zoo, a cultural museum and a museum of the resistance. This latter as well as the view was what I was really interested in seeing…but you guessed it, closed. They couldn’t close the view however, so we took some advice and waited in a long line for a seat at a cafe at the top. We had some highly overpriced wine and appetizers but enjoyed the sunset.
Tomorrow we have to begin the walk up this step hill again – this time with all our gear. It wasn’t a joy the first time…I suspect we will be a bit unhappy to start our morning. Haha.
But we have to get used to it. The day will be shorter but much steeper tomorrow. We climb about 2000’ if I recall correctly. Two thousand isn’t crazy, we’ve done twice that in a day…but the month of walking along flat ground has left our climbing muscles untested.
One last thought. Entering a city is weird. We look like pilgrims. We have backpacks and hiking sticks and (in my case) a funny looking hat. We smell, and we have weird tans. Pilgrims are out of place in cities. Our life is slow; cities are fast paced. Our life is simple; cities are complicated and full of rules. I feel so odd walking into a city and Besancon was no different. Cities are fun…and wonderfully convenient, but I will be glad to be out, into the fresh air, the quiet, and the peaceful. Somehow, I don’t belong here. But I enjoyed the visit.
Good night.
P.S. After a long delay we’ve finally added a page that shows all of our lodging. For those that have asked, please see the spreadsheet link. Let me know if you’d like other information included. It’s a bit rough at the moment but I hope it is helpful.
Day39 Bucey les Gy to Besancon – Hills
“No man is brave that has never walked a hundred miles. If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection.”
Patrick Rothfuss A Wise Man’s Fear
I love the quote above sent to me by a follower. It is so very true. Today was a difficult one physically and a great joy emotionally and spiritually.
Morning update Day39
First off, due to some shopping detours and general sidetracks we clocked in 22mi. Additionally the hills really kicked in today (1330ft elevation). That’s not a ton of climbing but with the distance combined and the fact that we’ve only recently had any consistent daily elevation gains, we are sore and achey.
The gite we stayed in last night was amazing. The actually lodging was perfect and clean and had everything we wanted. But the family included us in predinner drinks and a home cooked meal. The conversation flowed in French and English. Our hosts daughter in law speaks fluent English and she was so helpful. The entire family made us feel at home.
This morning Mark cooked breakfast in our accommodation and we were able to begin walking early. Of course our walking began with a climb which was to repeated just a few times over the course of our day. We both love and dread mountains. The love comes when the scenery is always changing and the views are inspirational. The dread comes from the fact we have not had to climb mountains, and all of a sudden we must develop our cardio and mountain climbing muscles.
Several of the villages we walked through today had village fountains and old public laundry buildings in the town center. Before washing machines in every home, these served as public laundry areas. I can imagine them as a center of activity only two generations ago. They are always decorated with flowers and are charming. Many of these are feed by natural springs.
We ate lunch at a beautiful spot along the trail near a little lake. It was ideal. There was a new picnic table. While eating our assortments of salads, we watched ducks teaching their young how to fly, frogs pretending to be plants in order to catch flies, and just enjoying the sun and cool temperatures.
While we were packing up, three other hikers walked up. It turns out that they are also waking the VF to Rome. The first pilgrims we have encountered!!! We are so excited.
The rest of the day was spent climbing and descending ever steeper hills. The 19mi day was lengthened by about a mile due to a couple mis-turns. These happen occasionally but having GPS made it easy to get back on track.
Finally we approached the suburbs of Besancon, our destination for tonight and the site of our final rest day in France.
Besancon is quite the large city. It seemed to take us forever to walk into the town center. We have become used to small villages and this is not a small village. An hour after entering the city we finally made it to our hotel. But to be perfectly accurate we did stop by the North Face store to check out shoes. Because, yes it is time to replace a pair of my shoes. Shockingly I will be replacing my La Sportiva trail runners. The Hokas are doing just fine! Tomorrow we will hit another outdoor store. We have worn out two stoppers on our hiking poles. Those also need to be replaced.
To end our night we went out for dinner. Mark had an odd craving for Chinese food but I corrected this serious flaw in judgement and we went French. Seriously, Chinese???
Day37 supplemental comment
Comment from our host via a Swiss interpretation regarding our difficulty with French.
“At first I thought you were bad Americans. But you’re wife is delightful….
and at least you try.”
I’m not sure… but I think I was just insulted! Haha
Bon Nuit.
Day37 Champlitte to Seveux – Cows
Day37 Morning Update
Today was a bit odd. We started out a little late because we made our own breakfast of scrambled eggs and cheese with some tomato juice and yogurt to top it off. We next hit a bakery for a fresh baguette to make lunches for the next two days.
The ville of Champlitte was a pretty place as we walked out this morning. The old bell tower caught our eye as did our morning view of the growing Salon river.
The church steeples have all taken on a shape/style that reminds me of Bavaria. Most have decorative tilework as well.
Ironically we subtitled this entry as “Cows” because we walked past so many pastures and herd of cattle today. And yet, searching through my pictures I have none of cows. So here’s one from yesterday. Because everyone likes a baby cow.
Other than that it was one of those odd days where the distance felt much longer than it actually was. We enjoyed the walks through the little villages and the weather was quite nice. It’s hard to explain. Everyday can’t be awesome I suppose.
We did pass an interesting graveyard with the ironwork shown below. If anyone has an explanation I’d be interested. I can propose a few ideas but they are all guesses.
Other than that it was an uneventful, but not unpleasant day. We finished up at a gite full of a lot of opportunities, fishing, a pool, etc, but all we really wanted after a shower and laundry was to sit and soak up the atmosphere. Rumor has it that we’re having bbq tonight. It’s tough to say. Our host doesn’t really have a lot of patience with us. This Gite is a business and guess he has decided that we don’t represent a future opportunity. Other families on vacation here seem to be having a nice time.
When we arrived at our Gite for the night I kept the camera running to show you how a typical greeting and check-in work along the Via
Day36 Somewhere in the woods to Champlitte – a two day story – Part I
Hey folks. When we last left off, Mark and Allison were stealth camping somewhere in the woods between Chalindrey and Champlitte. Let’s rewind a bit and see how they got there.
Day 35, as we left Langres we had planned a relatively short day of 24km followed by a long 20miler on day36. As you’ll hear in the morning update videos, our day had begun after a highly interrupted sleep due to a fete in town. Apparently the street outside the presbytery where we were staying was ground zero for the events – or so it seemed. As the partying died down around 5am we drifted to sleep until our alarm buzzed at 6. There’s no surprise that we were a little groggy starting off the morning.
However after a nice egg and pancetta breakfast with yogurt drinks and a quick shot of sugar at the bakey we were off.
The east side of Langres where we exited offered a beautiful view from the ramparts over to the reservoir.
That reservoir was our first target and the VF takes an unnecessary but beautiful trip around 3/4 of the perimeter. It was during this trip that we met up with a gentleman on his morning walk. We struck up a conversation and chatted for almost 45min. He was so much fun to get to know briefly, and he complimented us both on our French. THAT was very kind on his part.
Around noon we met up with Chantile and Bernadette (forgive the misspellings). They were out for a day walk in the opposite direction. They had hopes some day of walking some or all of the VF and were curious about our experience. Two more wonderful people to add to the many we’ve met.
However it was about this time that we started to get a little concerned. The host that we’d hoped to stay with had yet to return our left messages or emails. Alternatives were very limited. We didn’t have enough food nor water to go much farther. Additionally there were no alternate lodging options within reasonable walking distance.
So..our plan was to continue to our target destination of Chalindrey to stay there if possible, to resupply if an option presented or even to find alternate transportation to a nearby town with lodging.
This turned out to be a profitable decision. The host did return our calls but no lodging was available. The town did however have a good sized grocery…and it was OPENED! Hallelujah!
Perhaps we went overboard – never go shopping when you are hungry. We bought lunch, dinner, breakfast and lunch for the next day as well as some snacks. We were just tired of being without food I guess, and we still didn’t know what to do about lodging.
So we sat outside the grocery store parking and ate a lunch. It was yet another surreal moment. “How did we get to this point in life, space and time?”
We made the decision to forge ahead and wild camp for the night. It would accomplish four objectives:
- It would allow us to brag about wild camping in France;
- It would be the ultimate in cheap lodging;
- It would make me feel better about sloughing our tent around for a month;
- But most of all, it would subtract miles from what was going to be a pretty long day on Day36.
So off we headed into the unknown with the intent to walk for about 4-5km (about an hour for us) and find a good discrete spot in the woods. Despite my pack weight, which was easily 10lbs heavier than normal due to the food, we passed the 5km mark feeling pretty good and pressed on just a bit further, then further passing numerous excellent camping spots.
The next section the camping options looked less favorable. The Gaia GPS seemed to indicate another section of woods 1km further. Too steep. Then another just 1k further down a steep incline to a nice level spot right beside a barn size cow manure pile. Needless to say that was deemed too stinky. The terrain and options were running out and so was our motivation and energy.
Looking one last time at the GPS I spied what seemed to be an ideal spot. The only problem was it was yet another 2km away…and steeply up hill.
There was nothing to be done, so we trudged, bemoaning our mistake of not stopping at some of the nice spots earlier in our extended walk, but also laughing and sharing the situation together. The steep hill was really tough with our tired legs and the weight of my pack, but we made it.
In the end we reached the top and there was indeed flat and isolated spots in the woods. We dutifully set up our lodging for the night, spread out our handy trash bag mat as a seat, and ate our dinner. The woods were quiet, we were sweaty, the sun got low in the sky and the temperature began to drop.
To bed we went after accepting a call from Isabel to confirm some car insurance information. The only sound we heard was a lone woodpecker and the call of a pheasant. Life wasn’t too bad at all.
Day33 Cirfontain to Leffonds – A road in the clouds.
There were some concerns as we started off this morning. Firstly, we didn’t get enough sleep because we stayed up chatting too long. Secondly, we had a long day ahead 20+ miles and to shorten it we needed to walk along a lot of road and not the more pleasant woodland. Thirdly and almost concerning was the result of a small incident the day before.
Day 33 Morning Update
As we approached the village of Cirfontain yesterday Allison tweaked her ankle. We didn’t think that much of it because…these things happen…and it was a small twinge feeling. Normally a good nights sleep cures these small issues.
However, this morning, Allison’s ankle was more sore. Those of you that know the issues Allison had on the 2014 Camino, are aware that a similar issue became much worse by the time we’d reached Burgos. They got so bad that we almost had to go home. So we are a little concerned. Having a long day today wasn’t going to help.
So slow and steady was called for, and that’s how we started. This meant our 20mi day would drag on….and so it did. Motrin seemed to ease any issues and we made it to our destination – later than we’d like – but we made it. Most of the day was cool (high 40’s low 50’s) and it was spent with heavy mist since we were waking shrouded in cloud.
There is little else to write today. There was a cool community pool or community spa or laundry in one town (see video).
It isn’t like there weren’t things to see. We came across someone’s collection of birds which was fun to see.
But other than these and a fox sighting it was a day of walking along roads through French towns with nothing to offer pilgrims I.e. no open stores or cafes for food or supplies. Just statues.
Our destination for the night is a Gite. It is a fun one – we are sleeping in a gypsy caravan! Our hosts, Dominic and Dani. Our dinner was a pilgrim special with some apologies for the lack of fresh items from the garden. This year in France has been horrible for gardens. We’ve seen a terrible grape crop, and our hosts told us that they only got a few tomatoes and plums where normally they’d have an abundance. This is due to the nonstop rain this summer.
We ended our dinner with a course of cheese including: Gruyère suisse caprice des dieux. Langres. Brie de meaux. Brillât savarin. Followed by a homemade dessert.
Two final notes. French is getting easier and easier. We, by no means, understand everything, but we can follow a conversation with a little help and with the help of hosts that are able to slow down a little.
And just for the record books I’ve only lost 4.4lbs. That means I’m doing a good job of keeping up the calorie count. Must be all that good cheese! 🙂
Day32 Bar sur Aube to Cirfontain – Dear Abbey
When we took our first step outside of the presbytery, it was quite cool with a cold wind blowing in our faces. I was happy to have on my long sleeve shirt. The fact that it is cold usually makes us walk faster. But this morning we were moving in slow motion. Sometimes you have a day where your shoes seem to be made of lead.
Bruno our host last evening was correct about the route today being steep and then steeper yet again. Oh my goodness, he was not exaggerating at all. The climb got our blood flowing but did not help us speed up any.
At the top we were treated to “a view” of sorts. See the compilation video.
The path was packing another surprise for us too this morning. We discovered pile after pile of logs lining the path.
These piles were at least 20 feet high. The best part was the logs had been carefully placed on both sides of the path creating impenetrable wall right on the edge of the path. Because the piles of logs were clearly created by heavy equipment the trail was a mess of ruts and mud with no way around.
Then it got worse. Those deep ruts hold water… voila you have a big muddy mess. At one point, all that was left was an inch wide foothold. At this point we were basically bouldering using the logs as handholds instead of rock. I never imagined that my bouldering skills would be needed on the VF.
After emerging from the woods we came out into more vineyards overlooking the village of Baroville. This was one of those places that you could really see how much the terrain had changed in just a few days. Ahead were clearly rolling hills and even some mountains behind them. Allison and I took guesses as to which of the hills we’d eventually have to climb. But for now we had a short and pleasant walk down hill into the village.
Farther along we came to Clairvaux Abbey. It is worth visiting if you have time and plan ahead. Unfortunately we did not factor the time it would take. We spent about an hour walking around the existing walls and learning about the Abbey’s history. It was built by the Cistercians and at one time had 1000 monks living there in strict silence. For all those history buffs out there, it is worth the research. I should probably mention that there is a museum that gives tours but only in French and they are 2-1/2hrs long. Also…part of the grounds is an active prison. You can thank Napoleon for that. I actually took a bit of video and pictures there – but it wasn’t very interesting – its included in the compilation.
I think the Fig Newton like cookies we had with lunch increased our speed in the afternoon. We covered the remaining 11km in just over 2 hours. We are definitely buying more fig-filled cookies.
The descent into Cirfontaines En Azois was beautiful with rolling hills. Our hosts today are Miriam and Alain. They are delightful! We spent a couple of hours chatting in French with the help of google translate a few times. Mark was in heaven because they actually enjoyed his discussions about his work in the airline industry. Alain was particularly interested and amazed with the Insta360 camera. I don’t blame him. It still amazes Mark too.
Dinner was again amazing. We had a pate starter, ham & greens casserole, cheese and an apple pie …..and wine of course. Miriam and Alain gave us hours of laughs as we conversed in Franglish with lots of help from Dr Google. They are so kind and patient.
Flashback
Due to poor reception yesterday I couldn’t post this so…here ya go.
Day28 St Martin sur la Pre – Coole – Working on that tan!
Well that was a hard day.
We walked a full 20mi today, most of it without shade on a day that ironically we had our first cloud-free day since arriving in France. We were blessed however with only moderately hot temps 84F.
Still, the sun exposure and the weight of the backpacks made the day tough for both of us.
The scenery was unchanging, great expanses of wheat, sugar beet, onions, and one sunflower patch stretched from horizon to horizon. The lack of trees allowed a slight breeze during the day but our water soon got warm. There’s nothing quite like drinking warm water when you are thirsty.
This should have been a 19mi day, but head down and steadily moving forward I missed a turn, one of only three that we had to make during the day. The rest of the day was on ancient Roman roads which are straight as an arrow and relentless.
Maybe I’m building it up too much. It wasn’t nearly as exciting as I’ve described so far.
By the end of the day we were weaving from one side of the road to the other like drunken sailors as we instinctively sought even the tiniest piece of shade.
The last few miles were on a heavily trafficked asphalt road. By heavily trafficked, I’m talking about farm tractors towing huge flatbed trailers loaded with hay. These tractors were driven by teenage boys traveling at warp speeds along the 1-1/2 lane roads. We counted two sets of boys that passed us over 6 times with alternating empty and full loads.
We’d been advised in advance by our hosts that they would not be available until 7 pm. However to beat the heat, we did start out our regular time. Once we arrived at our hosts house about 4pm, we propped ourselves up against a fence in the shade across from their house to wait out the clock. To our relief and surprise the husband and grandson arrived at 4:15pm. However I don’t think they were expecting us. Graciously they let us in and we started the shower and laundry routine.
It feels so good to be clean after the tough day. I think we will sleep well. After showering a minor event took place that cemented in my mind that we’ve been on the road a while. This family graciously allowed us the use of their washing machine. So as we were gathering our clothes to be washed I started to put on my clean shirt … it reeked. After a while hand washing clothes in a sink with a bar of soap just doesn’t cut it. Luckily my last shirt stunk less.
Day26 Reims to Trepail -oooh…now we’re famous!
All rest days must come to and end.
So we packed up our bags, took a few parting shots of the Reims Cathedral and hit a grocery store on our way out of Reims.
An honest moment
We immediately came to the Ainse/Marne canal full of dog walkers, joggers, and bikers. Well, the path adjacent to it was full of them..not the canal itself.
The canal was mostly void of anything more than a few fishermen, but we did see a working grain barge and two pleasure crafts as well.
Walking along a canal is pretty for the first few miles but then it becomes a bit monotonous. The path is level and mostly straight and, at least it was shaded. The weather was quite warm today so we were happy for the shade as long as it lasted.
At Sillery we diverged off the canal and headed into the direct sun and away from shade. The path directed us into the heart of the Champagne vineyards. These are absolutely huge and their expanse is awe inspiring. I guess when you have to supply the whole world with bubbly, you need a lot of grapes.
The trail climbed into the Montagne de Reims becoming a stiff climb in the hot sun at times. The major climb ends at the windmill of the Mumm Estate known as Moulin. From this point on you are in the boutique champagne region, an area of small independent champagne vintners hidden around in pockets of small villages. One day when I have time I’d like to visit the area again.
We stopped in Verzy for our lunch of tuna salad and avocado sandwiches and chips and then stopped in at one of those boutique vintners for a taste. The owner Jean Paul Morel offered us each a glass as a gift to pilgrims. How could we refuse?
There used to be a railway running along the Verzy Forrest between these small villages. They form a crescent shape of primarily east-facing vineyards. The railway, long since dismantled, provided a welcome shaded walkway that was also relatively level and broad. Other than the bothersome mosquitoes (a result of all the recent rain), it was a perfect end to our day.
We arrived at our host’s house in the small village of Trepail. The entire evening was completely in French. I’m happy to report that despite undoubtedly horrendous grammar, we had a good multi-hour conversation exclusively in French. It was fun,…tiring, but fun.
Our host is Mme Jacqueminet . She has a family label of her own and a glass of champagne was our first course for dinner tonight. After a pate we were treated to fresh garden vegetables and a veal and tomato main course. After this was a local goat cheese course that was very creamy and had a mild blue cheese flavor. Allison is no fan of either goat cheese or blue cheese, but I was in food heaven.
Tomorrow is our last day in this area. The department doesn’t change but the landscape does. We will be going through a desert – not a sand desert, but a village, food, and water desert. This will be a physical and mental challenge. We appreciate your prayers and well wishes for the next 5 days as we make our way through.
P.S. Oh…and by the way, an Italian online magazine has picked up our story…so now we’re famous! Link below.
https://www.viaggiareconlentezza.com/2021/08/11/insieme-a-piedi-sulla-via-francigena/
Day25 Reims Rest Day
Day 25, wow. Today is a significant milestone. We are 25% through our Pilgrimage. It’s also our first rest day since Dover, and it is coming after 5 consecutive 20+mile days. So…great timing!
We slept in late … what a blessing… and had a leisurely morning before heading to the French treasure in Reims, the Cathedral. In my opinion the outside was more impressive than the inside. But then again, we’ve yet to see a cathedral that impresses as much as the one in Burgos Spain.
The Reims Cathedral does have the bragging rights of being the traditional site for the coronation of French Kings going all the way back to Clovis in 509 AD…so that’s cool.
After a good salad back at our hotel apartment, we went to Pommery Winery for a Champagne tour. The cellar pits were dug by Romans to mine the chalk and later joined with tunnels to make the famous cellars of Reims. It was cold in the cellars and the tour was interesting but expensive.
The real highlight of the day was dinner with Yannick and Agnes, the couple we met yesterday while hiking. It was a fun night until I broke the tooth back off and later progressively whacked Allison and then Yannick in the head with my camera attempting to take a bullet time shot.
So much for international relations between the French and Americans.
Enough for a rest day. We’re off again tomorrow.
Day24 Pontavert to Reims – What a haul…pop the bubbly!
Waking up in the country after a good night’s sleep is a wonderful thing. We had breakfast on the glassed-in patio overlooking a lovely yard and a huge vegetable garden. Our hostess, Nadine, even sat and had her morning coffee with us after her husband poured Mark and I the largest cup of coffee we have ever had. I think Jean-Paul read our blog post about where I missed my morning coffee. No such complaints this morning. I am caffeinated and ready to roll.
We walked along the road in the crisp morning air. The road had quite a bit of traffic, so we opted to venture off-road/off-the-VF and take a “short cut” which actually was a true short cut! We did cross a few countrified “keep out” signs. We joked that if this was West Virginia there would be several stills with their guard armed with his trusty shotgun. Luckily we saw no one, no one armed that is.
Back on the Via Francigena, we went through an area that had recently experienced a strong storm. The path was completely blocked, and we struggled to make our way through the downed trees.
While eating lunch in the village of Merfy, we saw two other backpackers coming toward us. Of course we looked super cool sitting on a street bench with our socks and shoes off and me with my feet propped up on my pack. Of course I mean the “opposite” of cool, but my feet felt great! Anyway, the young couple was polite enough to stop and chat with us. Agnes and Yannick were on a short adventure together and were spending the night in a local monastery. Wow did they seem like us a few decades ago! I even spied them walking together hand-in-hand as they left….I thought WE were the only ones to still do that! 🙂
After lunch we checked the time and distance to Mark’s dental appointment. Fortunately, or ironically, the appointment was 1hr55min away and google’s shortest route matched it exactly. We needed to get moving.
Unfortunately the google shortest walking route takes no account for safety or practicality (it is a computer after all). We found ourselves walking at top sustained speed of 3.7mph. That is so fast we were both breathing heavy and sweating buckets as we were throw into the ditch repeatedly by high speed oncoming traffic.
We would have been terrified, but there was no time for that. We just soldiered on and dared the cars/trucks to hit us. I pictured the two of us diving into a ditch at the last minute to avoid an incident. Honestly, the drivers were mostly polite and tried to pull over when they could.
Anyway, after trudging through what seemed like and endlessly long suburb, we made it to the dental appointment with 2min to spare!
While Mark had fun getting his tooth super-glued back in temporarily, I just waited in the waiting room wondering when someone would kick me out due to Covid rules or the stink factor. Mark already mention that we had worked up a little sweat as we walked into town. My conclusion…the French are beyond patient and kind.
After leaving the dentist office with only a 39euro dental bill, we headed in the direction of our lodging but got side tracked by a wine bar. Seriously, I think we deserve a glass of wine and some tapas after today’s 22.5 mile adventure. I mean, look at Mark’s smile. That smile says it all!
We hit up a grocery store moments before it closed and then finished our walk to the hotel. The hotel was near the train station and was an ExtendedStay type of place. Most of the clientele seemed to live there more permanently than two pilgrims and we felt a little out of place. Still, the room was clean and we were so tired we didn’t really mind.
Tomorrow is a rest day! This will be our first since Dover two weeks ago and although we don’t feel too bad I think some time to chill for a little while will be welcome. There is so much to see here. More about Reims tomorrow.
Day21 Seracourt le grand to Bertaucourt – Camping with the Cows
No entry today to save battery. We are well and much encouraged after today’s long walk of 21+mi. Wild camping in a field next to a stream
Tomorrow Laon. Will fill you in tomorrow.
Well, actually we tapped into a power source at a nearby house construction site and now have some juice. How fortunate is that?
Wow, what a day! We started out slowly, taking almost 1-1/2hrs to pack up and leave the campsite. That wasn’t the plan since we had a long 21+ mile day ahead. We did consume a rice pudding cup and a hard-boiled egg in that time so breakfast was taken care of anyway.
Well most of you know that we felt pretty down the last two days. The lack of sleep and miles of unending hay fields and mud were taking their toll on our motivation. I sent a note to the VF Facebook sight with those feelings and asking for expectations ahead. They were all very encouraging. It really helped.
Anyway I started my hike by completely starting over with respect to my backpack adjustments. I’d been tweaking them each day to try to achieve better comfort without success. So I loosened everything and started over.
That seemed to help a lot. I still had neck and shoulder pain today, but it was sporadic and much reduced in duration. Allison however had a tougher morning. Things just weren’t right in her joints and feet. We stopped for several adjustments, a process that would have driven me nuts years ago (ref our 2014 Camino video “1,000,000 Steps Together” on YouTube). Before lunch, Allison was getting frustrated with the whole thing. I think it must have been just like my feelings yesterday.
Everything changed after lunch. We had a coffee at a tabac shop and then stopped for lunch shortly afterwards. The two breaks in a row did wonders and the last miles flew by.
However before lunch we had quite an adventure. The path I’d downloaded on GPS took us into the village of Jussy and then down along the Canal de St Quentin. We would be following alongside this canal for a large portion of the day. Well the “path” was thick, uncut grass and that didn’t feel right. We’d seen images of others alongside these canals, and they were on a open cinder path. But often these paths change in character so on we walked.
Well, the path did change. The grass got higher and filled in with nettles. Ugh. Then the path got very narrow (4” wide) and then the 4” path got precariously close to the canal edge. We seriously nearly tumbled-in more that once. Something was definitely not right. Finally, the brush became impassable. We’d done something wrong.
Looking at my GPS I could see and hear a nearby road so we went all “jungle safari” and slashed a path through a steep bank of vines and nettles on all fours. It took us an hour but we hacked our way up to a hay field where the road was in sight. Though we were scarred by numerous nettle stings and briar scrapes, we laughed upon reaching the road at the craziness of the whole detour.
Once we actually found an alternative real canal path, the canal walk was much more enjoyable. The accessibility of the path had a lot to do with that. I was relieved there were no more jungle type scrambling. The canal included several old locks and boat tie ups. We even saw one long boat which looked to be someone’s home at one time or maybe even currently.
Our path took us by a Lidl where we stocked up on supplies for the next 24 hours. We even found the much-wished-for bug spray!!! Take that mosquitoes. While at Lidl, we attempted to arrange our accommodations for the night. It was tough with the language barrier. The only lodging was full. However we did accept their offer to camp in a nearby pasture.
It was the perfect end to a crazy day.
The story for the day ended with our hosts showing us to our spot down the road. It’s…a lovely grassy spot…really nice of them to accommodate us.
Day20 Peronne to Seracourt le Grand – More fields and more miles
It was a rough start for many reasons. For some reason, likely the microwave pizza we ate late for dinner, neither of us slept well. It was hard to get up and get moving. In fact despite getting up easily at 5:30am because we had a long day ahead, we didn’t leave the parish house until nearly 7am.
We began our trip today by walking through a marshland. And yes, it was incredibly muddy as well as buggy. The mosquitoes were everywhere! They especially loved Mark. I could see them landing on his clothes to nibble him.
Clearly in the near future, we will have to add bug spray to our list of must-haves. The last couple of days there has been a noticeable increase in mosquitoes. We are hoping to wait until Italy before we need to purchase bug spray.
We pushed ourselves really hard this morning or at least it felt like that. We had to take several short power breaks. Neither of us was feeling the groove, but Mark was struggling with some additional neck and back pain.
The majority of the day’s trip was covered prior to lunch, thank goodness.
The agricultural fields are beautiful, but it seems to be endless at times. The flat land seems to go on and on. Landmarks in the distance never feel like they get much closer. The walk can be discouraging at times.
We finally stumbled onto the campground! We were not sure that it even existed, but hallelujah it does! It is a really nice place too. We ended up renting the pilgrim camper for the night. I have no idea if this is a normal place or luxurious, but my observation so far is the French know how to camp. There are cabins to rent, a nice restaurant on the grounds, a bar on the grounds, laundry facilities, shower facilities that are way beyond clean, and even an indoor pool.
And yes, I did take advantage of the laundry facilities. A working washer and dryer are never something to be overlooked I have learned. The blessing of clean clothes is one of many little things I take for granted at home but not when walking long distances.
Day18 Anecdote
I was so tired this evening I ordered water in Italian, but we are in France. I was very confused when our multilingual waiter responded back in Italian. Allison got a good laugh out of that one!
Regardless, dinner tonight was yummy.
Day18 Arras to Bapaume- Struck
When you walk for days and days, sometimes they blur together. Despite what I say in this update, it was day 18 and not 17.
Today will be a short post for two reasons:
First, it was a tough day of slogging through some mud and honestly I’m kind of tired.
Second, we passed our first true WWI cemetery, and I was personally struck by it. Please watch this video.
If you find it is a bit too long, just remember that this is one row of many in a relatively tiny cemetery in a somewhat insignificant battlefield in a smaller section of WWI.
Each stone is someone’s son, husband, father, brother, or sister.
I knew nothing of the “Sunken Road”, but I learned today. If history is your thing, I’ve copied over some information and posted it on the History Bits page.
We’ve passed other memorials and private cemeteries before this one, but this was the first of many military battlefield cemeteries. It was the sight of a military hospital. It’s location was such that I could imagine the whole battlefield laid before me as we walked through the area.
“That field would have been a trap.”
“That hill would have been significant.”
“The stream here would have been red with blood.”
It was all very close and shockingly very real.
As I mentioned, it was muddy. I’d read about the mud sucking soldiers and animals down. I can believe it! It was a sticky kind of mud. The inch or two that we trod through wrapped around our shoes and latched onto them mercilessly. I can only imagine what a field turned upside down by artillery could have been like. I almost felt ashamed at the inconvenience the mud was to us.
The boys that lived through this were no different than us. To say they were superheros is wrong. Most wouldn’t have wanted to be there. To live through it was all they could strive to do. But the fact that they suffered here is enough – they and all of those have given all or a portion of their lives in military service deserve our deepest respect and gratitude.
So to my Father and Father-in-Law, to my brother and brother-in-law and to all the other veterans that I know – Thank You.
Day17 Villers Chatel to Arras – Digging History
We started the day after a light breakfast. Our host, Jean, was so gracious to walk with us into a nearby town to find an ATM. He continued with us acting as tour guide for a bit before breaking off to head back to the chateau. Our route would eventually connect us back with the VF.
So after our trip to the bank and a quick stop for some groceries, we bid goodbye to our host and began our day of walking.
We saw many interesting sights: fields of wheat and flax and green beans and beets and corn and sunflowers. We also saw the crumbling remains of the monastery of St Eloi, lots of cows and horses, and even some miniature ponies. Let’s not forget the cackling fowl: ducks, geese, chickens, quail and partridges. The rolling hills of the country side were beautiful especially against the ever changing sky.
At the head water of the Sainte-Bertille, just outside the village of Maroeuil, we stopped for lunch. The spot is the site of a 7th century miracle. Here, Bertille, daughter of Ricomer and Gertrude, was caring for the serfs and peasants working in the area. The nearby river Scarpe had dried-up in a drought. After prayer she struck the ground with her staff (similar to the story of Moses) and water sprung from the ground and flows to this day.
On the sight of this miracle there is a tiny chapel and some benches…a perfect spot for lunch.
Our lunch consisted of …drum roll…bread, ham and tomato all washed down with water. It was relaxing to kick off our shoes and “prop up the toes” while eating lunch. The main reason we stopped was because it was hard to hear anything over my rumbling tummy.
The walk into the town of Arras was uneventful. As we approached we called our contact at the Tourist Information Center. She was excited to talk with us about our pilgrimage, and she helped us arrange our arrival at the youth hostel in town. She was so eager to help us onward and even took the time to meet us around dinner. That extra measure of kindness really encouraged us.
Before we took dinner however, we strolled into the main square of Arras called the Place de l’heros. The history of this area is so interesting that I’ve included it in the History Bits page as it’s own entry.
We also stopped by a stereotypical French cheese shop. I know you can’t appreciate it without the wonderful smell, but a clip is included in our video compilation.
Tomorrow we head south again along the VF and something tells me the surroundings will transform. Already we’ve left behind the chalky coastal area. We’re seeing more and more signs for WWI cemeteries and more war memorials. This area witnessed some of the bloodiest and terrible events of two world wars. The scars are evident everywhere.
Day15 Therouanne to Amettes – Oh Sunny Day!
<Allison> It was another short day of only 20.22km (12.6mi). For the first time in many days, the sun was shining as we started off. Sunshine is so much more inspiring than rain; although to be fair other than the one day, it has mostly just been on and off sprinkles. You know, just enough rain to require us to don and doff our rain gear several times during the day. Ironically, the cool rainy days have been when we have walked the farthest. Perhaps the rain is a motivation to hurry up and get the miles/kilometers done.
Even though we had coffee and eggs for breakfast before we ventured out, we stopped about one block down the street for croissants and coffee. Yummy! When you walk every day for long periods of time, you can justify the goodies whenever possible. Seriously, we struggle to keep up the calorie count – I know…lucky us.
As I was walking today, I thought about all the surfaces we have walked on. Today we must have hit almost all of them. Every time I thought about changing from my awesome but completely fashion-challenged convertible pants and into shorts, we would begin walking through a field of waist high wet weeds including nettles. France can certainly grow some healthy nettles. So,…long pants win for the day since some sort of leg and ankle protection is needed.
We also had fun walking through a swampy wood. It was here that we saw some suspicious signs to one side of the path. None of my French lessons included phrases like “nuclear waste dump” or “unexploded ordinance” but these signs were a bit ominous. There were no incidents as we stayed on the marked VF path. Every day is an adventure. Honestly, the signs probably meant something more benign like, “restricted area”, but the warnings were pretty clear in international symbols conveying “Hey You….Stay Out!”
<Mark> The only mildly interesting thing we saw – and I’m really stretching it here- were a few slag piles. This area was the coal mining Mecca in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Artificial hills of coal slags are scattered across the landscape. Most have reverted to nature, but their oddly unnatural shape (a steep solitary hill where the rest of the land is pretty flat) gives them away.
We did walk past the village of Liettres. This village’s claim to fame is the invention of the game of Cricket. Who knew?
Walking along each day this seems to be a regular occurrence; little annoyances of pain that move around my body with no real effect other than to remind me that the miles are starting to accumulate. There’s no real pain – I mean it is all real- just minor in severity. It’s odd that it moves around, but perhaps that is just the nature of things.
<Later>. We’re staying at a farmhouse gite “The two lime trees”. They serve a farmhouse dinner, so we will enjoy that this evening. Other exciting news, another pilgrim is reportedly coming this evening. He or she will be the first other hiker we’ve seen this trip.
So on that subject of pain. It’s an odd thing, but just as we ended walking yesterday I started having an intermittent sharp hip pain. This morning it was still there. It would randomly zap me. “Well, this could make for an ‘interesting’ day!”, I thought. But sure enough, after the first hour it was gone. But by that time my left foot arch was aching. An hour later it it was my right knee, and the next hour my left shoulder hurt.
Our lodging for the night is at the Gite les deux Tuilles. It is a farmhouse. They have a beautiful garden.
This owner is retired and now raises racing pigeons…that’s right…racing pigeons. That’s a thing.
Anyway we viewed his prize pigeons and afterward had a delicious farm cooked meal of soup, roast pork, and vegetables with an apple tart for desert. Sooooooo good! Oh and we met our first fellow pilgrim. Dominiq (left) is walking to Reims.
Good night all!
Day13 Tournehem sur la Hem to Wisques – An Abbaye
This was supposed to be a long day, but we woke feeling a bit off (not sick or anything, but just still tired). Our packs just felt heavier today. It’s hard to explain.
Despite this, we marched on. After a couple miles, we ran across this Roman soldier. I have to admit I was momentarily depressed at how short of a distance we’d covered. It certainly felt like we accomplished more than this. Then I remembered we’d started in London and not Canterbury. It makes more sense now.
Normally when we are dragging, it is the result of poor diet, not enough water, or just plain old hunger. We both admitted the lack of water the previous day could be the culprit, but just in case we broke into some leftover snack bars and dried apricots. Well, ….nope, that didn’t help.
There was only one thing to do…find a bakery for a chocolate croissant. Just our luck, few were to be found, but eventually we did find one. And oh, what a find! They had some eclairs that were outstanding. We shared one chocolate and one cafe’ flavored one. Wow! They were so good, in fact, that we devoured them and went back for two more. I’m telling’ ya folks, one of the great joys of walking these big walks is the ability to have two cream-filled eclairs with absolutely no guilt whatsoever!!
Well satisfied and a little rested, the day got better from that point. We walked through the small town of Leulinghem. As we passed the church, a man in an adjacent yard hailed Allison to tell her that the church was open. The church of Saint Maurice was simple, but nice. It had a beautiful painting of Joan of Arc on one wall made by the monks in Wisque a few miles away.
By the way, at this church we discovered a website called Openchurches.EU It lists churches that are open for viewing and a little about them.
Funny story. The church was open but had a fence-like gate over the entrance (to keep birds and other animals out). This gate was meant to be closed when you leave. Allison however pulled the gate closed – clink – latch, uh-oh. The gate was now latched from the outside and we were locked in.
Looking around there were several skeletons lying around and I realized this was clearly a trap. <just kidding>. Although we couldn’t reach the latch with our hands, I was able to use the strap on our hiking poles to hook around the latch and release us! It was a McGyver moment – trust me.
After escaping from certain death, we decided to call it a short day having walked only 10.7mi and stop at the town of Wisques. Wisques has both a monastery and a convent (the Abbeys of St Paul and Notre Dame). The monastery accepts only male guests. The convent accepts only female guests but it also has a separate house for couples.
So after a morning of hills and chills (the wind was strong and chilly throughout the day whenever the sun went behind a cloud or we walked in the shade), we stopped by the Abbeye Notre Dame. We seemed to have arrived at lunch time and much to our surprise we were invited to sit down and eat. The food was simple but so good.
After lunch, we were escorted to our beds for the night in a separate house. We did our arrival routine (showers and washing) and sat in the sun relaxing in the quiet of the Abbaye. It was really nice.
We attended Vespers sung in Latin by the nuns (who you could not see of course). I don’t think I’ve ever attended a vespers service. It was beautiful, but also made me sleepy.
Following vespers we chatted with Sister Lucy and gave her a Key for the wonderful hospitality the nuns had shown us.
Our evening ended with dinner. At lunch two lovely ladies from France had joined us. They were both spending several days at the Abbaye to find some peace in their lives. They helped as interpreters through the day, and we had some good and fun conversations. Elia and Chloe were spending today doing every thing the nuns were doing so they were very busy.
Day12 Guines to Tournehem sur la Hem – Friends
We had a really mixed day today. We woke up early from our campsite and quickly packed our tent and gear, fully dressed for more rain.
The path out of Guines was muddy after the previous day’s rains and our progress toward lunch at Licques was slow. We were further slowed by the changing conditions requiring us to put on and take off layers multiple times throughout the day. As a result, the 10mi to Licques seemed long.
Licques however was a pleasant surprise. As we emerged from the woods the village Abbey (outsized by far for the small town), dominated the landscape. The village itself sits on a hill and by the time we arrived a wind was whipping around the square like a Tasmanian Devil. It was cold enough that I put on all my layers.
My work colleague, Emmanuel, and his lovely wife Isabel live near Paris and drove several hours to have lunch with us, walk the afternoon with us and treat us to dinner. It was so nice to spend the afternoon and evening with them. Actually Isabel took a day trip to Calais while the three of us hiked – but she joined us for lunch and dinner.
The wind died down after lunch, eventually the sun came out, and the day began to warm. Walking with Emmanuel was fun and we all walked the same pace which was nice.
The Via took a strange twist near the town of Audenfort. This was one of those strange points where the path seems to make three sides of a rectangle to avoid a short section of road. Normally we might forgo the longer path, but this time we kept true to the Via. On this occasion it would have been smarter to do the logical thing. The last leg of that rectangle turned out to be so overgrown it was impassable. To avoid a long return route, we scrambled up an embankment and took a parallel path through a cornfield. Remember, I mentioned it was windy?
Well the whipping wind was having its way with the corn stalks, and as we passed through the field we were beaten by several of the stalks. It didn’t hurt, but the ferocity of the beating made me laugh.
The most beautiful site of the day was the partially rebuilt ruin of Chapelle St Louis. It was perched atop a hill overlooking the countryside. I think we all would had preferred to linger there longer but the day was dragging on and we needed to get to the finish line of the 20mi day and get our clothes drying.
The last mile into Tournehem sur la Hem was easily 3miles long. That’s always the way at the end of a long walk. But the cute village had one last treat for us. “sur la Hem” part of the name means “on the Hem” where the Hem is a small river. Approaching town the crossed a small bridge that clearly once held a mill. It was a peaceful setting that was enhanced by the nearby remains of the town wall and gate
Closing note…this beer had a turkey wearing a pilgrim hat. No idea why, but as a pilgrim I had to have it. It was local from Licques – pretty good actually.
Day11 Wissant to Guines – Rain and Mud
Well, we awakened to a thunder storm and heavy rain. By the time we’d packed up and headed out for the day it was a steady drizzle but no downpours yet. Farewell to the sea. We won’t see you again until Italy!
Because of the rain, we took few pictures. Luckily my camera is waterproof, and we did get a little video shot.
Walking in the rain does present one danger – wet feet. We’d each brought waterproof socks. Yep, they are a thing. The waterproof socks worked perfectly, and I do recommend them. Still Allison was having some discomfort with one of her feet. One of her shoes was really uncomfortable.
History was everywhere today. At one point we climbed to a peak containing intact WWII German fortification and got to explore. It was surreal to be inside the fortification. As you might expect it was built in a strategic location and peering through the embrasure, you could easily see the sweeping coverage over the valley. It didn’t take much to just close your eyes and imagine the lives of soldiers stationed here.
And then this happened…(perhaps we’ve discovered the source of the foot discomfort)…
Walking in the rain, isn’t as bad as it sounds. We have good rain equipment except for my iPhone cord (more later). Allison and I are new enthusiasts of rain pants and waterproof socks. What great inventions they are! We stayed dry all day, and we only got uncomfortable when we had to climb “steep” hills (which made wearing the extra layers too hot) and when the rain stopped and the weather temporarily warmed.
Honestly, it wasn’t bad at all…I rather enjoyed it. I felt pretty good about the equipment we’d brought. Overall we were still on a high from making it to France.
Unfortunately 90% through the day’s walk, my phone started to die. We use it often for navigation since the signage on the VF is not excellent. There are signs, but not at every intersection. Being hunkered up in rain gear likely allowed us to miss some signs as well.
Anyway, as the battery started to die, we attempted to plug in my phone to our backup battery. However the cable must have been quite wet because we received a warning message, and the phone wouldn’t charge. Who knew that a wet phone cable could be an issue?
We had to resort to our instincts and fortunately they were good. We made it to our lodging for tonight.
By the end of the day we’d made our way to the village of Guines. Speaking of that…we found a campground that offers free camping to pilgrims. Yeah us! Not to worry, we still supported the enterprise by patronizing the restaurant on-site. It was an odd kind of place – all decorated in cartoon medieval characters. If I was to guess, the campground is used as a children’s theme adventure. Despite the odd setting the food was hearty and quite good (picture enclosed).
Our lodging tonight is our tent. This campground is what our English relatives would refer to as “posh”. The place has individual small houses to rent, a heated indoor pool, a putt putt golf course, an exercise ground, playground, and a complete laundry facility. Someone has to live the hard life. We, however, just took advantage of our small plot of grass.
Before dinner we had made a somewhat long trek back into, through and out of town to find a supermarket that sold a new charger cord. We also bought some groceries. However the extra miles after a long day really wore us out.
Pork
As I’d mentioned, we had a long day, but before we could crawl into the tent, we took advantage of the campground washing and drying machines.
The campground was nice and quiet and we had no trouble going to sleep. I’m glad that we decided to bring our tent and camping gear although I’m really unsure that it will be worth the extra weight. But it was nice to camp today. One of our few luxury items were two inflatable insulated air mattresses. We have had these for about a year and they really increase the nights comfort.
So good night all, we’ve survived our first day of rain – I’m sure there will be many more, but in general we’re pleased. It was a good day.
Day10 Dover to Wissant – Bye bye England, hello France
The morning started off bright and early at 6 am after a less-than-perfect night’s sleep. Did I mention we weren’t staying in the “best” part of town…lots of parties and shouting at all hours.
Once awake, we quickly packed up and headed off on our bikes to the ferry. The day is quite gray but it is still dry outside. The passport control at the docks went smoothly and was timely. Our only hitch was that the on-line system with which I’d purchased our tickets, allowed me to purchase passage for multiple passengers but only allowed me to indicate a bicycle for the primary passenger. When we arrived this meant we had to purchase one additional bike pass at the last minute. It was good that it didn’t take long because we barely made it onto the boat before they’d shut the gate. Whew.
Parking bikes on a ferry apparently doesn’t happen every day. I am not sure the crew knew what to do with our bikes when we arrived. But we made it onboard. Next we headed upstairs for our breakfast. This reminds me of the ferry crossing I took as a child to travel to PEI.
“When we arrived in France ….”
I ask all our readers to stop here for a moment and consider all the obstacles in place that made the phrase above almost incomprehensible just a month ago. If there is ever hard evidence of my good friend Gerhard’s motto “Nichts ist Zufall” (nothing is random), consider this:
1) We had to each get results from 5 consecutive Covid PCR tests each within 24hrs after taking them. That’s 10 opportunities for “something” to go wrong.
2) All our flights, busses and trains and boats had to run on time.
3) In the 10 days since arriving in the UK, France had to lift its PCR test restrictions (there were no indications this was even in the cards).
4) France had to resist Germany’s call for tighter UK travel restrictions AND resist the urge to “retaliate” when the UK singled them out for tighter restrictions – almost unheard of.
5) We had to find bikes for sale after learning that the ferry would no longer accept foot traffic.
6). The one PCR test that got delayed ended up not mattering because France dropped their restrictions.
7) The one PCR test that got lost ended up not mattering because we took the chance for a 5day early release test.
8). I could go on ,…
But somehow we are in France.
Disembarking from the ferry was a real treat. We were directed to lead the way ahead of all the cars. I think the real goal was just get us out of the way. A pace-truck lead us out of the docking area. I think this must be because “Tourists smushed by cars leaving the Dover Ferry” probably makes for a bad headline.
Riding our bikes through the streets of Calais heading toward the center of town was an adventure. We found the Calais cathedral where we anticipated receiving our first stamp in France. But it did not open until 14:00 so we were not waiting around for that stamp. Next up we rode to the tourist office where we did receive a stamp in our pilgrim’s passport and they kindly took our bikes to donate to charity. You will all be shocked that our next stop was to purchase a chocolate pastry and a demi-baguette. The last chore was to find the local grocery to complete our lunch options.
Walking along the boardwalk in Calais was surreal but beautiful. Lots of open space, sandy beaches, a cool breeze, and togetherness. The coastline changed to cliffs fairly quickly with open fields and cows all around. Yes, I was actually glad to see cows and no sheep all day.
We left the shore for a brief trip up and inland as the Via Francigena climbed to the summit know as Le Blanch Nez (the white Nose). The sky alternated from blue to a misty white and the monument know as the Dover Patrol (commemorating the French and British patrols of WWI ) went in and out of view.
After peaking the “summit” and through the afternoon we passed relics of the Atlantic Wall – the German defensive system designed to make an allied landing difficult. To see the remains of these fortifications so intact was a chilling reminder of what a peaceful life I’ve lived.
The day ended as most days. The last kilometers into town always seem the longest. But we made it to our lodging in the touristy seaside village of Wissant (well worth a visit if you have the chance). We did the “shower and clothes washing thing” and walked about 10ft from our hotel for dinner.
And what a dinner it was. Of course being a seaside town we had to choose seafood and both dishes were tasty.
But the real star of the evening was dessert. Sorry England…France does desserts better – no offense.
We ended our evening with a quick stroll. There was a small carnival in town and we walked quickly through it and then had a romantic walk to the beach. It was a nice way to end the day.
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