Vitry-le-François

Woke this morning with a bad case of trigger finger. For those unacquainted with this rather upsetting condition, it happens when a finger “locks” into a tightly curled position and you are unable, without considerable discomfort or pain, to straighten the finger. I occasionally get it with the middle finger of my right hand. Wasn’t able to straighten the finger for some time and I did briefly wonder what the rest of this trip would be like if I couldn’t fix it. Bloody awkward I would think. Anyway, with some patient massaging from my other hand and brute force I got it straight. Not pleasant. Not recommended.

Getting on better terms with both feet just now, so that when I had to make a choice of route this morning I wasn’t sure what to do. The official route was a further 5 hours or 15 miles walking but I noticed that a shortcut alongside the canal would only take 3 hours or 9 miles. Decided not to take the shortcut which seemed fine for the first hour or so but then the weather took a turn for the worse. Had a couple of hours of on with the jacket, off with the jacket and repeat. Thought it was clearing up a little until I reached the top of a small hill and looked at the weather approaching and it really didn’t look good. My jacket was bought for lightness rather than any sort of waterproofness and my shoes just have a trainer type mesh upper so got well and truly soaked. Had an unpleasant road crossing to negotiate in the middle of it.

But by the time I reached the chambre d’hote I wasn’t feeling too bad. Interesting version of en-suite room. Cupboard with a toilet in one corner and a muckle big Jacuzzi in another corner. Not unpleasant.
Suitably refreshed and out into town hunting for a restaurant. Found a Japanese one not taking its annual holidays. Have noticed before that in France these are quite reasonably priced so gave it a go. Less than 12€ for a very pleasant dinner. Excellent.

Even got some Lindt chocolate for back in my room. All is well with the world again.Read more