France
Baroville

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  • Day 9

    Stage 31: Clairvaux

    July 13, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    The hills are starting and the temperature is rising, but so far so good.

    Except for……..MOSQUITOS! 🦟🦟

    We walked on muddy paths and huge puddles through forests, and through lots of Champagne fields.

    Baroville was a tidy, friendly town with a 14th century Madonna and statues in the cemetery.

    Clairvaux is famous for its abbey. It was once a prison….Carlos the Jackal was there.
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  • Day 38

    Day 35 - Clairvaux to Chateauvillain

    May 25, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Another beautiful sunny day with a lot of climbing and only a little coming down. I think the Roman 'style' bathhouse actually was one as I have come across a few more; one at Baroville yesterday (all barred up, no access), two at Cirfontaine-en-Azois (another very small place with a large name), one at Aizanville (the prettiest: photo included), and one just out side of Marmesse (the cleanest and therfore the most tempting: photo included). When I got to Orges, the map for the last 5.5 km of my walk would not load in the VF app (I still can't get it to load)! I wasted a lot of time and phone charge trying to fix it, eventually gave up and relied on the way markers and my map reading skills to get me to Chateauvillain. I'll have to do the same tomorrow. Tonight, I have a genuine complaint: the only accommodation I could get was an apartment. "Ok," I think, I'll make good use of the washing machine - there isn't one! And, to add insult to injury, there is no hot water! Last note: that man on the bike is the only person I saw, and spoke to on the path today.Read more

  • Day 37

    Day 34 - Dolancourt to Clairvaux

    May 24, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    OMG! What an amazing day! I rejoined the Path both literally and figuratively. Most of the walking was up and down what I think could be described as undulating hills. There were some serious ascents and decents. The highlight of which was the ascent up Chemin du Saint Germain (St. Germain's path) out of Bar sur Aube - which, by the way, is an incredibly beautiful city and somewhere I could spend a lot more time. I've done something to my right ankle! I'm just hoping that it will be fine in the morning. The day peaked, to be my best day here, when I got to Clairvaux. The Abbey here was founded by Saint Bernard in 1115, taken from the monks as part of the French Revolution, made a prison by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1808, I think, and is now a maximum security prison for 10, possibly less, prisoners (the guide wasn't 100% sure). It will close as such at the end of this year. For the very modest sum of €9.50, I got a guided tour of many of the old buildings (including one of the original restored medieval buildings), no photography allowed, with just one other person, a Dutch woman, in English! It made my day! The tour was supposed to end at 5:30, but we didn't finish until around 6 pm as we had so many questions. Like, did you know that until 1905 the law in France made it compulsory for everyone to attend church on Sunday and that capital punishment was not stopped until 1981 (the last execution was conducted in 1977)? Final observation: all vines in Champagne are planted on slopes. It must be a drainage thing.Read more

  • Day 26

    Bar-sur-Aube 14 miles

    August 7, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    What is it with kids and trampolines? Do they never want to stop? I have had a go. It’s OK but a couple of minutes, tops, and I’ve had enough. For some reason they put the glamping tents beside the kids play park in this campsite. Oh yes, there was a hedge in between but there isn’t a lot of sound-proofing in a hedge. So there I was, lying in my tent which was beside the glamping tent, just building up a fine head of steam as blasted kids kept bouncing up and down on this massive trampoline just outside. Finally the damn great church clock near the campsite struck 10pm and silence reigned. But I had lost an hour of much needed beauty sleep.

    Now there is a strange thing about my tiny blow-up mattress. In the early days I found it almost impossible to sleep on. But last night I had little trouble. I don’t think I am that much smaller. It could be that I am getting used to a different place every night. I have now slept in 26 different places so I think I am just getting less fussy about where my head goes down.

    No possibility of breakfast this morning in the campsite or as I left town. Did come across a boulangerie later in the morning but it was a Monday wasn’t it.

    All roads today as I am going off route to save a day. The official route meanders a bit. No need.

    As I was walking along thinking I was miles from anywhere I heard a lot of squealing. Damn great tower sticking up out of the trees. Appears that there is an Alton Towers type of place very close by.

    Early arrival at tonight’s hotel so I dropped the bag and headed into town to see if I could catch a restaurant before they closed after lunch. No such luck but I did get a patisserie for quiche and cake. Bit cheaper. Caught up with domestic duties in the afternoon. Washing, charging phone, some advance booking etc. Tried out a Vietnamese carry out for tea. Not a great success. Made a change though.

    The one drawback with hotels is they often have TVs and there are few things more annoying than hearing your fellow guest’s TV blaring out through the paper thin walls. And unlikely to have a 10pm curfew. I do think I am becoming Victor Meldrew sometimes.
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  • Day 11

    Stage 32: Châteauvillain

    July 15, 2024 in France ⋅ ☀️ 57 °F

    Mud. Lots of mud. Mud fields and mud puddles.

    The temperature is rising so we were happy to walk through the shady forests. We also passed through farmland and a couple villages where the people were friendly.

    Châteauvillain could be a nice little town if anything were open. 🤷🏻‍♀️

    Thunderstorm now. I wonder about the track tomorrow.
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  • Day 91–92

    Bar Sur Aube to Clairvaux

    May 20, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    A steep climb out of Bar Sur Aube then on to gravel and forest paths. It is a day of climbing and descending through forested hills, valleys and vineyards. The Abbey of Clairvaux is our destination. When in the champagne region is it remiss not to partake of a glass (or two). Unfortunately, there are no restaurants open this evening - it's a public holiday. However, the bar kindly made up two large ham and cheese sandwiches for us.Read more

  • Day 2

    Essoyes - Heimat der Renoir

    May 19, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Schon am Mittag erreiche ich meinen Etappenort. Am Nachmittag möchte ich mich auf die Spuren der Künstlerfamilie Renoir machen. Ich besuche das Renoir-Center und mache den interessanten Renoir-Rundgang in der kleinen Stadt. Natürlich darf hier auch ein Gläschen Champagner nicht fehlen.Read more

  • Day 90–91

    Brienne LC to Bar Sur Aube

    May 19, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    A long day covering about 32 KM. The most direct route is the bike route along the D46, although uninspiring road waking it does remove the worry of steep, wet and muddy forest paths. Surprisingly there were no amenities out side of the the amusement park Nigloland in Dolancourt. The options for eating were not that much better in Bar Sur Aube - it being Sunday and restaurants closing because they can. We ended up at MacDonalds!!! We were in luck though, the bars were open and serving champagne.Read more

  • Day 68

    62. Etappe: In den Weinbergen

    September 8, 2018 in France ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Kaum hab ich mich gestern beklagt, da tauchen sie wieder auf - die Jakobsmuscheln 🎉 Ab der Hälfte der heutige Etappe weisen sie mir wieder den Weg. Bin gespannt, ob sie mich auch die nächsten Tage wieder begleiten.
    Zunächst hatte ich leider viel Straße zu überwinden, aber nun geht es malerisch durch die Weinberge. Und mein Mittagapausenplatz kann sich sehen lassen!
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  • Day 67

    61. Etappe: Clairvaux

    September 7, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Ganz unbeschwipst gings weiter und so erreiche ich trotz 32 km mein Ziel nicht allzu spät. Die zweite Hälfte führte mich ruhig durch Wald.
    Seit Vaucouleurs weist mir leider nicht mehr die Jakobsmuschel den rechten Weg und ich muss öfter auf mein Handy gucken, damit ich den richtigen Abzweig nicht verpasse. Aber Dank moderner Technik komme ich auch heute wieder gut ans Ziel. Morgen muss ich dann besonders gut aufpassen, denn hier kreuzt der Jakobsweg den Weg der Rompilger "Via Francigena". Aber bisher konnte ich noch keinen anderen Pilger entdecken. 😉
    Ich übernachte dieses Mal in einem christlichen Gästehaus für die Frauen und Kinder von Strafgefangenen, die Ihre Männer im nahegelegenen Gefängnis besuchen (Mama, keine Angst! Die Mauern sind hoch - heut bricht hier keiner aus 😉).
    Gleich werde ich zusammen mit den Schwestern, die das Gästehaus pflegen, zu Abend essen und bin etwas beruhigt, da sie gut deutsch sprechen. 😊
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