France
Arrondissement de Bar-sur-Aube

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    • 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 1

      Lac du Der

      March 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

      Unser erster Übernachtungsplatz nach 555km Fahrstrecke liegt am Lac du Der, dem größten Stausee Frankreichs. Rund um den riesengroßen See gibt es fünf Womo-Stellplätze, wir haben den gewählt, der nahe unserer Route liegt. Der ruhige Stellplatz mitten in der Natur hat keine Parzellierung, sodass wir ohne Probleme angehängt parken können.

      Wir spazieren zum Yachthafen, in dem zur Zeit nur wenige Boote liegen, aber die überall laufenden Hochdruckreiniger kündigen die nahende Saison an.

      Es sind bei angenehmen 21 Grad viele Spaziergänger am Seeufer unterwegs... sicherlich wird es in der Saison megavoll hier.

      Morgen fahren wir weiter Richtung Bordeaux, mal schauen, wie weit wir kommen.
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    • Day 38

      Stage 29: Chavanges to Brienne-le-Châtea

      May 18, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 41 °F

      Stage 29: Chavanges to Brienne-le-Château

      My last VF stage for 2023!!!! Next year I’ll need to walk the three days I missed because of my knee, and then jump ahead to Brienne-le-Château to start my VF 2024.

      Today was a long day because the first hour was spent just getting from Chavanges to the VF.

      This part of France in the Spring is lovely. So much green! I walked through fields again, as I have for the past week or so. Some small woods, too. Of course. Lately it has been fields and small woods with a few tiny villages and some churches thrown in for variety. 🙂🙂🙂

      In Brienne-le-Château I am staying at the pilgrim house. Very comfortable, and very near my bus stop for tomorrow morning.

      The town is known for a an impressive 18th century castle, now a psychiatric hospital, and the military school where Napoleon lived and studied for five years in his youth.

      The church is nice enough, with fun art projects done by children.

      It’s hard to believe this is it for 2023. It was 29 days, about 400 miles, but looking back it seems like 5-6 days. ♥️
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    • Day 36

      Day 33 - Villeret to Dolancourt

      May 23, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

      It was a hard day walking today. I couldn't get to sleep last night, and I was really drained today - no energy. In addition, I was entirely off Path due to accommodation issues; all of my own making. Today, I walked on the D2, D69, D400, D396 (mostly), D619, and ended on the D44a. The traffic wasn't heavy, but there were a lot of trucks. I came across a very cute street library in a bus shelter and what appeared to be a Roman style, public bath house in a place called Hampigny! I also walked past two darling little 'shelters', both with fireplaces inside (nothing else). I'm in a really lovely place tonight, a Spa, and am looking forward to a good meal and a very good night's sleep. The river is l'AubeRead more

    • Day 1

      Start in ein neues Abenteuer

      November 15, 2022 in France ⋅ 🌧 13 °C

      Heute Morgen war es endlich soweit. Unsere Reise nach Marokko geht los. Wir haben uns in diesem Sommer von unserem Frankia getrennt und uns etwas vergrößert. Da ich im Concorde mehr Platz zum arbeiten habe, können wir in diesem Jahr auch länger unterwegs sein😁 In Luxemburg haben wir nochmal vollgetankt und Kaffee eingekauft. In Brienne-le-Château in Frankreich haben wir einen Übernachtungsplatz unterhalb des Schlosses auf einem großen Parkplatz gefunden. Da es regnet und wir nicht mehr in die Stadt möchten, nutze ich die Zeit um noch etwas zu arbeiten. Andrea bereitet inder Zwischenzeit ein leckeres Steak🥩 mit Folien Kartoffeln🥔 zu. Laut Wetterbericht soll das schlechte Wetter noch einige Tage bleiben 😪. Na ja dann kommen wir schneller nach Spanien 😉Read more

    • Day 6

      Paying respect

      April 20, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

      Today we planned a 2 hour road trip to Drappier in Epernay situated in the Côte des Bar. Incredible drive through forests, canola fields and tulips....

      Kudos to Karl for navigating driving in a right-side steering vehicle on the wrong side of the road while interpreting French road signs.... 👏👏👏👏 Not so funny when he let me drive... think he had a slight sense of humor failure 🤣🚙

      Here's the thing.... take the time to explore the villages and visit some of the independent champage makers which are still family owned and run. It's a LOT cheaper but frigging just as delicious! We happened upon Olivier from Paul Sugot in Avize. He told us he only knows other South African, which turned out to be thee JAN with a Michelin star restaurant in Nice! He supplies his restaurant. And we also happened upon Marrion Bosser in Haute Villiers one of the very few female champage makers around. Just delicious!

      Drappier, also family owned, was entertaining but I wouldn't go back in a hurry.

      Aside from the 2 small independent maker surprises, the highlight was paying respect to Dom Perignon himself 🪦
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    • 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 13–15

      Lac du Der-Chantecoq

      December 8, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

      Unser zweiter Stop in Frankreich führte uns an den größten Stausee des Landes, der bei Wassersportlern und Naturfreunden bekannt und im Sommer wahrscheinlich ein sehr beliebtes Ausflugsziel ist.

      Jetzt im Dezember ist von dem See nicht viel zu sehen (von November bis März wird das Wasser abgelassen), vorallem nicht bei Dauerregen und Nebel 🫣

      Dennoch bleiben wir zwei Nächte, versuchen dem Regen (es regnete den ganzen Tag) zu trotzen und enden am Ende doch in einem großen Einkaufszentrum wo wir Robert mit neuen wasserdichten Schuhen und Regenhosen ausstatten. Nun sind wir alle drei für das nasse Wetter ausgerüstet.

      Das Fernglas haben wir dann doch noch vergessen, weshalb wir in Paris noch einmal den bekannten französischen Outdoorladen ansteuern werden. Beim nächsten Besuch können wir nun auch die Kraniche am See beobachten. 👀

      Bei unserer Weiterfahrt durfte ich meine ersten 500 Meter mit Anhänger fahren. 🥳
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    • Day 41

      Lac du DER

      July 9, 2023 in France ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

      Bin nicht geblieben, da Regen und Gewitter angesagt war, also kein Badetag. Es ging erst gemütlich am Stausee entlang, dann kamen moderate Steigungen, die aber immer mehr wurden. Steigungen sind in diesem Gebiet obligatorisch und man muss sich mit abfinden. Wenn jedoch in der Abfahrt auch noch Gegenwind dazu kommt, ist es sehr anstrengend, werde kürzere Etappen fahren. Ob das Wetter sich morgen für einen Badetag hält, werde ich sehen.Read more

    • Day 24

      Chavanges 15 miles

      August 5, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

      There are days like today when writing this diary is not easy. It was just another day in the life of a pilgrim which is probably a lot more limited and routine than the life of all those reading this. I got up. Didn’t have breakfast (because none was available). Started walking. It rained a bit as it has almost every day so far. It was sunny for a bit as it has almost every day so far. Some of it was muddy etc, on roads etc, through fields etc. you get the picture.

      The only remote thing of interest I passed all day was a 16th Century half-timbered church which claims to be the largest such church in the Champagne region. Mmm.

      Staying tonight in another chambre d’hote place. I do find these a little strange. A sort of bed and breakfast cum Airbnb. Sometimes they are just a simple room, usually en-suite, in the host’s house and other times a large apartment with full kitchen, dining room and living room but in the latter case there might well be other families occupying the apartment as well. Tonight was the simple room and I had been able to arrange an evening meal. But of course I had no idea what this meal might consist of. Was given a very small quiche with a wee bit of salad and some bread. Was that it? No other cutlery. Would have been rude to ask even if my schoolboy French let me. Turned out it was a starter and the main was a dod of meat and some mashed mixed veg. A lot nicer than it looked.

      All finished and back in my room. Get this written and teeth done and off to bed by 9pm. Another day done.

      Beyond my writing skills to make it any more exciting than that. Very sorry. We have all got a long way still to go!
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    Arrondissement de Bar-sur-Aube

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