Beaumont-sur-Vesle

Stage 23: Beaumont sur Vesle to Condé sur Marne

Because I had to go off-track yesterday to find a place to sleep, this morning I had to walk about an hour just to get to the starting point of the VF.

Luckily (!) I bought a baguette from the vending machine, because in Condé sur Marne all I could find to eat were eggs from another vending machine. I keep a stash for situations like this, so today I ate half the baguette with dried tuna, a chocolate bar and Prince biscuits. I’ll eat the other half, with dried chicken, while I walk tomorrow. If I had been more on the ball I would have stocked up on fruits, nuts, etc., before leaving Reims!

The day was very, very misty. No rain and minimal puddles. I walked through fields of grapes that will become champagne. The vines are just starting to bud, and I would have liked to see them closer to harvest time. I tried to take photos, but the mist obscured most of the vines.

I had heard years ago that champagne grapes thrive in chalky, clay soil. That means that a lot of the paths are white (chalk) and extremely slippery (clay). I’ll probably take the rubber tips off my walking sticks tomorrow. Because of the mist my hiking shoes are soggy again.

After leaving Verzy I entered a huge stand of beech trees. Very, very green! I was unnerved for some reason about going through it alone, but I tag teamed via text with my Camino friend Bob (thank you, Bob!) so I didn’t freak out.

The VF is very different from the Camino in many ways. What I am finding most notable on the VF is the solitude. For sixteen days now I have seen nobody on the VF during the day. Same for most evenings. A couple times I have come across pilgrims in the evenings (Hello, Andrew!) but on the actual walk I have seen nobody. Today, for example, I walked for seven hours and saw three men about 300 yards away working in the fields. That was it. I rarely see people in the villages I walk through, but that happened a lot on the Camino, too.

The beech stand eventually turned into vineyards and farmland, and I later ended up walking along the canal until I came to Condé sur Marne.

A good day. Obviously.Read more