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I put my head down at 10:00 finally and slept fitfully until 00:49. I was kept awake by one of those incredibly annoying car-alarm birds and a full bladder. I don’t think I’ve needed to get up for a pee in the middle of the night so far, but it was no big deal. I found my shoes and limped over to the shower block. The annoying bird was blocked out by earplugs, after some flapping about in the bag to get myself oriented correctly in respect to the hood. I fell fast asleep.
I woke at probably 07:30 but dozed until 08:25. I’ve retrieved the baguette I ordered last night and I’m going to have a shower now. The day is mild and overcast. I’ve decided to stay on an extra day here for two reasons — my AirBnB fell through and my shins ache. Instead I’ll take a wander around Charmes (pop. 4.6k) and while away the day reading in cafés. Tomorrow’s Sunday so it makes sense to walk to Épinal that day and then have all of Monday to plan my trip across the Vosges.
I’ll keep the baguette for lunch or dinner. I’m looking forward to a porridge breakfast.
09:49: Taking my sweet time this morning. I’m washed and dressed. I’ve optimistically hung out some washing to dry.1 Bag and bivvy packed away and I’m going to cook breakfast after I’ve paid Damian for tonight. Oh — I need to wash my earplugs too. After breakfast I’ll explore the town, find a café, book a new AirBnB in Épinal and read for a few hours. I also have some bits to post home.
10:23: Damian gave me a moulded plastic chair (he also offered me a table) so I’m sitting peacefully in the sun, my empty porridge pot in my lap, listening to the white noise of the river and feeling very tranquil. I’m easing myself back into the next stage of the journey. It’s exactly in situations like this, when, after a period of intense exercise followed by a break of several days, you can do yourself an injury by expecting to resume your pace as it was at the time you took the break.
Right, off to wash my pot and utensils, arrange my stuff under the basha so it’s shaded from the sun all day, and then into town.
Oh, I finally finished the canister of gas (230g) I’d bought before the shakeout trip. I thought it was about to run out by the time I got to Caen, so I bought a replacement of the same size in the DECATHLON store there. I’ve carried that across most of Northern France unnecessarily. I passed a DECATHLON the day before yesterday on the short trip from Nancy Gare to Ludres. Hindsight and all that. I should look back over the trip so far and calculate how many breakfasts and hot chocolates I’ve cooked for myself since leaving Caen. Seems like a lifetime ago. I’m interested also to review my notes to plot my emotional arc during the journey — I’ve been excited, anxious, equanimous, resigned, blissed, heartbroken — but in what proportions I have no idea.
Today feels great so far — I have none of that anxiety I often felt before on rest days. Today I know it’s important to rest my legs before taking on another long stint tomorrow, and I’m enjoying the rest, faffing about and not trying to tune every movement or task for maximum efficiency. The fact that the weather is mild really helps too. It’s no fun to be idle in cold conditions.
I ought to get a move on if I want to find a post office before midday. There are still some tasks that are time-dependent…
11:39: In the town. It’s quite pleasant! €10.80 to send a torch I’ve never used, the French phrasebook which has been unreferenced since the middle of last month and the 1:1,000,000 scale map I bought in Paris to help orientate myself on the 1:100,000 maps.
Now I need to find a supermarket to discard a bunch of dead batteries. After that, settle in for a coffee somewhere.
Dinner: Tomato and bean salad, lemon dressing, dessert of tinned peaches: €3.71.
12:07: I’m at +6°W longitude, which means I’ve covered 12° of longitude, Dublin being at -6°.
12:18: Parked outside a café in a square beside the Mairie, sitting in the sun. I didn’t bring sunblock. I’m wondering if I have an appetite for lunch. I don’t see many lunch options in town so I think I’ll eat my baguette in the campsite. I have all the beverages I need there!
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12:53: Submitted another request on AirBnB for two nights in Épinal.
12:59: Quick one-sided chat with Aisling on Telegram responding to her messages from yesterday evening. Is that hunger I feel? Time to pay up and head back to the campsite for the afternoon.
13:12: €1.20 for the coffee. Making a move. It’s clouded over but it’s still lovely and warm. Feels less muggy than yesterday. The town information board says its 22°C.
13:39: Back in the campsite. Earplugs rinsed. Nothing more for me to do today other than while away the afternoon reading and having lunch. Life is hard.
14:29: BT speaker charging in the campsite office. Huge, dark clouds rolling over. The breakfast baguette is in my belly along with the last of the peanut butter and much of the butter.
14:42: Long, rolling thunderclaps from the north. I’m under the basha with all my gear, expecting a downpour.
15:04: Here’s the rain. Fat drops. I’m horizontal with my e-reader closed on my chest. Perfect time for a snooze.
15:59: Slept through most of that. Glorious. Dry as a bone under the basha, as always. It’s the first time I’ve taken refuge under the basha during the day and it’s recommended.
17:09: Spent the last hour reading, lying down. There’s a bit of a breeze coming from the South so I’ve put on my rain jacket. The thermometer on my bag reads 16°C. It’s still dark and grey and raining lightly; I hope the conditions improve. Think I’ll brew some hot chocolate or tea. My dinner may morph from a sald into a hot bean and tomato stew! Let’s see if my AirBnB booking for tomorrow night has been accepted.
17:29: Yes, it has. I’ve also saved the route on my phone. Yesterday’s route-finding was a bit niggly so it’s nice to have a large-screen, full-colour, fully interactive version too.
Oh right, this rain is due to keep falling until 20:00. The BT speaker has had three hours of charging; I’ll retrieve it now.
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18:53: Lying down reading after a brew of hot chocolate and I notice the rain has stopped pattering on the basha. To the West, I can see out from under the edge of the fuzzy overcast to high cloud flakes whose correct name escapes me.
There are a couple of hours of daylight left. I’ll cook dinner at some stage. Preparing and drinking the hot chocolate warmed me up nicely.
A gentleman in a ska hat just offered me two hot slices of Rösti! Yum! My appetite for dinner has just receded a little further.
Earlier I was reflecting on how this feels, to spend half a day creeping about under a chest-height pitched roof of dark green plastic. I’ve actually been enjoying the pure enforced laziness of it! If I had stuff to do, or a destination to reach, this would have been a much grimmer experience. I’m not on holidays though so disagreeable weather is to be expected and taken in stride. There’s no point getting frustrated at something I cannot control.
Hey, the sun’s come out. My rain jacket can come off.
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20:22: Put my phone and powerbank in the office to charge. I really want podcasts and tunes to listen to while walking along the canal tomorrow. I’m also going to prep dinner now. I can’t bring it with me. It all weighs a ton — probably over a kilo. Tomoatoes, tinned fruit, tinned beans.
21:00: Yes it was, I checked. I gave the tomotoes to Damian. I bought over half a kilo of them and they only cost me a little over a euro. Rather give them away than bin them. So dinner was warmed up “prepared beans” which was fine, and a tin of peaches, also fine. I don’t feel stuffed. I’ve put eight scoops of porridge to soak overnight in the cooking pot.
Sunset tonight is at 21:02, and sunrise tomorrow at 05:58. I’ll be wearing earplugs again overnight. They made a huge difference and they’re not uncomfortable. I still need to fold the map for tomorrow’s walk, but for following canals I’ve discovered it’s not much use. The canal and towpath aren’t represented clearly enough. The canal itself isn’t even a millimetre wide on the map.
The chatterbird has started up. It’s like torture listening to it — you can’t tune it out, it’s too loud and varied. It’s extraordinary that such a complex song doesn’t appear to actually contain any content beyond “I’m here and I’m fit”.
The forecast indicated rain.↩
