Into Normandy

From Chartres the countryside improves. I follow the river Eure out to a very nice warm showers. A retired teacher who worked at the « special » school in the chateau just down the road, which aims to teach struggling youngsters a profession. She has three grown adopted Haitian children.

The next day I wind my way past fields and small lakes hidden behind huge hedgerows and some very nice woodland. Alain is right. As I move towards Normandy the countryside becomes reminiscent of England. Cows, hedges, green fields, and many small lanes.

I have found another warm showers for tonight which seems a good plan as its due to rain once more. This time it is a young family with a happy crawling baby. They have bought a large house that was once a coaching inn. It has a huge garden and a lot of potential. They will have their hands full.

Sure enough the next morning I am off in the drizzle and cloud, observing that there would probably be a good view here or there if only it were visible. By the afternoon it is drier. At some point there is a shift in the architecture changing from only stone houses to a mix of timbered houses and stone houses. I follow a disused railway line for a while. Its easy… but enclosed between huge hedges. I prefer the roads which have more chance of a view. I reach the next accommodation before the next band of rain.Read more