Licques 11 miles

Slept in. Well not exactly slept. More like dozed fitfully. Camping is not really good for proper sleep. Firstly, you have wind. No, not me. Apparently, it was gusting up to 45mph last night. Quite believe it. My tent made quite a racket. Bought for lightness rather than robustness.

Secondly my mat, also bought for lightness. As shown in the photo it is tiny, especially compared to my old one. I can just about get my head, shoulder and bum on it if I am careful. Feels like I am trying to balance on a partly blown-up balloon. I also bought a blowup pillow. Nice idea but I’m now trying to balance my head on a balloon on top of a balloon. And then there are the kids in the campsite who seem to turn in after me but wake much earlier. Might not be the same kids of course they could be operating in shifts. And I was hungry.

Anyway I did get going eventually. First I had to walk in the wrong direction to get something to eat so it took about an hour to get back to the campsite. Luckily it was another short day. About half spent in woods.

On arrival at another campsite I got myself and clothes washed, sort of. In my desperation to get my bag as light as possible I ditched the wee shampoo and soap I had planned to take. No problem in hotels but consecutive nights camping is a little less pleasant. As I have laundry wash at least the clothes will be clean.

Lesson of the day :- I have noticed a tendency of some folk to dress according to what the weather on the previous day. I have just done the culinary equivalent. Last night I noticed the pizzas were popular and they looked lovely. But I had ordered quickly so went for that dire risotto before seeing any pizzas. Tonight I again ordered quickly at the campsite snack bar and went for the pizza. Shocking effort. While struggling to finish it I noticed that no one who came in after me ordered pizza. Might play a waiting game tomorrow and suss the scene.Read more