France
Trefcon

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    • Day 24

      Stage 15c

      May 4, 2023 in France

      Anic Urier is a member of the Via Francigena FB group. It turns out she lives right across the street from my gîte. When she found out I was there she invited me over for a chat, laundry, dinner and (tomorrow) breakfast.

      I also finally got a photo of a bottle of colza oil. Colza is all those yellow fields.
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    • Day 25

      Stage 16: Trefcon to Saint-Quentin

      May 5, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

      I had breakfast with Anic Urier, who had also invited me to dinner last night. I explained to her what a Camino Angel is, so she was pleased. I had arrived in Trefcon not knowing there was no food. My gîte was weird, too. The shower only had scalding water and the toilet didn’t flush. If I had known that I would have spent the night at Anic’s house, which was literally a 20 second walk from the gîte.

      Today’s walk went well……until my phone almost died after only three hours and the charger didn’t work ( I thought I charged it all night but maybe it wasn’t plugged in all the way?). I was pretty unnerved since I needed the GPS to find Saint-Quentin as well as the name and address of my hotel. At 3% I found my first bar and plugged it in. Very nice…..except for the drunk lady who kept stroking my raincoat and hat. 🤨 It was only 12:30! Sheesh!

      The walk included a few small woods but mostly it ran along farmland. Wheat, colza and newly planted beets.

      Lots of cemeteries. This region was devastated by WWI and WWII. The towns were pretty much razed by the fighting and rebuilt afterwards, so most everything is less than 100 years old. Red brick everywhere.

      The French war dead are grouped together in big cemeteries. The English, Germans, Canadians, Australians, etc., are in their own cemeteries where the battle took place. Each country takes care of its own cemetery, usually through local associations. I was told there is a lot of WWI tourism, as people want to see where Great-Grandpa fought and was buried. A lot of that, which explains all the tour pamphlets I see everywhere.

      The countryside is beautiful. Some of the villages are nice but the towns make tge countryside look even better.

      No sighseeing because I need to rest my legs for tomorrow and because it’s RAINING.
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    • Day 14

      Trefcon 11 miles

      July 26, 2023 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

      A new problem today. Nice short day, less than 4 hours walking, the trouble was I couldn’t check in to the next accommodation until after 5pm. It was in a tiny village so nothing to do there if I arrived too early. Therefore no point in leaving Peronne before 1pm. Luckily Peronne had the largest WWI museum in Europe. Not something I knew much about but thanks to 3 hours spent there this morning I am now a bit of an expert. With my memory I probably won’t remember anything by the time I get home but it was really well done.

      And I bought a sandwich before I left town. Organised or what? Truth is tonight I am in an old farmhouse with no possibility of any food if I didn’t bring it with me. Sanny and water for tea. Plus some half melted Lindt chocolate that was wonderful.

      Initial misunderstanding when I arrived meant that I thought I was going to be in this fairly dire dormitory with no hot water, dampish mattress etc but it turned out I have an old but quite adequate room, sheets on bed, proper mattress etc. that I am delighted with. Amazing how if you think you are getting nothing you are quite happy with a little something.

      It is time I talked about feet. I have talked about eating quite a lot as well as sleeping but I don’t think I have mentioned my beloved tootsies. A pilgrim’s life revolves round that blessed triumvirate, food, bed and feet, after all. Anyway there is good news and bad news. Firstly the good - my left foot is grand, thank you. 2 weeks in and no blisters so far. Somewhat tender certainly but a combination of 9 months of twice-weekly training walks with full pack and a comparatively low mileage over the first 2 weeks have done the job. On the other foot as it were, its partner is not quite so happy. Don’t ask me why. Pretty sure they both have taken the same number of steps. Only a couple of blisters but together just a bit of a nuisance. Not burst yet, though.

      The real trouble is things are about to get more serious. I have averaged a comfortable 13 miles a day up to now but the next 4 days are over 20 miles a day. And just to start things off well, tomorrow’s forecast is heavy rain. I am of course camping tomorrow night. Luckily tomorrow is all on road. Hard on the feet and not fun dodging traffic but at least I won’t have mud to contend with.
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