A rest day in St Dizier

Friday

Awake at 07:50, crawled out of bed at 08:20. Each time I changed position during the night I discovered a new ache. Anne-Marie has already got up and gone to work. I’m washed and dressed now, but I don’t feel like making porridge. I’ll grab breakfast from a boulangerie. I still have to wash yesterday’s socks. I didn’t arrange with Anne-Marie to use her machine to wash some of my clothes.

The plan today is to take the train and backtrack to one or two of the towns I passed on the way up the river and the canal. I think I’ll pick the biggest! Though I do remember Épernay town centre as being quite pleasant, compact and accessible, with a big square.

10:21: Leaving the flat after a light breakfast of dry crackers, butter and jam. The flat is so cluttered it makes me feel uncomfortable.

11:22: Parked in a café.

I’ve bought a one-way ticket to Châlons-en-Champagne​ for €12.00, but it’s not a train, it’s a bus that takes 50 minutes to get to Vitry-le-Francois, from where I take a train to Chalons. There’s an indeterminate wait there, then a ten-minute trip on train. Compare that to a forty-minute train journey when the trains are running normally. I think I’ll cut my losses and just stick around St. Dizier today. The idea of the train trip had been to enjoy some scenery and arrive quickly at a more desirable town. Buses aren’t quite as compelling an option.

11:58: Planning my route eastwards. It’s tricky enough; there are fewer back roads in this part of the country. The tartine fermiere I ordered has just arrived. It looks spectacular.

14:58: Back to planning my route after a dreamy few hours eating and reading.

€17.00 for two hot chocolates, one tea and a tartine fermiere. I’ve been here since about 11:00. I’m going to head to Lidl and shop for lunch tomorrow and the day after. I’ll live on noodles and fruit perhaps.

19:44: €9.82 for groceries in Lidl. Cheese, apples, tomatoes, lamb’ leaf, croissants, a baguette, biscuits, and 3-litre ziplock bags.