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07:15 Awake. It rained pretty consistently during the night - I have no idea for how long or how heavily - but all my stuff is dry apart from my sun hat and GPS. I hope the latter is waterproof.1 Breaking camp. Sky is overcast.
07:58 Broke camp. Just a few odds and sods [to pack away]. No breakfast, no toothbrushing, no sock wash. Rain held off. Hands cold but otherwise comfortable. No hat necessary.
08:31 Ready to move. No idea where the path is, but GPS will get me there. Breakfast was the rest of the mandarins and several butter biscuits. Decided to follow the cycle track to the next town/village.2
08:40:41 
08:40:52
08:40 Back on the track. Not a soul around. Birdsong.
08:55 Not yet warmed up. Stopped ostensibly to examine something in my shoe but the strap holding the carabiner onto one of my gloves has come unstitched. There may be a simple solution.
09:02 Glove fixed satisfactorily. There was a blade of grass under my heel in my shoe. It’s a very grey morning. I hope the day brightens up.
09:05:41
09:19 Rather than brightening up, the rain started to fall, lightly at first in a “soft-day-thank-god” way, but quickly got heavier just as a ruined cottage, dry inside, came into view. I’m going to boil up some well-deserved porridge!
09:29:27 
09:29:43 
10:04:25 
10:06:56 
10:12:07
10:24 I had a delicious bowl of butter porridge with a small handful of nuts and fruit. I took some snaps of myself using the self-timer. I put on some layers. Now I’m brewing water for tea.
This experience is so utterly different from any I’ve ever had. [Normal life requires that I’m] always moving, always pressed for time, always with a goal in mind, always compromising with what other people want. Not today. It’s raining. I could walk in the rain, but that would be unpleasant. This ruined cottage is dry and protected from the wind. I don’t have to be anywhere today, so I might spend the rest of the day here. I have some stale bread and plenty of cheese and butter.
11:12:43
11:13 Tea made, and enjoyed while watching the weather arriving over the horizon. Looks much better. Blue sky among the cumulus. Fewer black clouds. I’ve sketched out my route for the next day or two and eyeballed where I might like to go next. Onwards! It’s nippy!
11:19:39 
11:36:06 
11:40:43 
11:53:14 
12:00:48
12:02 I’ve hit a lovely stride, but I’ve decided to stop for toothbrushing and maybe shed a layer. 7km to the next town, Saint Saveur le Vicomte. The temperature on my backpack says 10°C.
12:19 Moving again. Bit of a rigmarole.
12:36:18
14:11 At the “Super U” supermarket in Saint Saveur le Vicomte. €8.41 groceries:
€1.20 grande rustique from the boulangerie.
14:35 Back on the trail to La Haye-du-Puits. 14km. Need to stop for lunch and sock wash. There’s camping in La Haye-du-Puits. Need to get into the camping network. Sunny, fluffy clouds. No sign of rain.
14:48:18 
14:48:27
15:24 On the road again. Feeling a bit anxious. Lunch was 2/3rds of a short baguette, cheese, butter, two scallions and the heart of a head of lettuce, followed by the apple I bought in Carrefour in Cherbourg on Monday.
15:47 Shoe inspection. Also anxiety inspection.
15:50 Moving again. Nothing in my shoe.
16:37:51 
16:50:04
17:22 5km to La Haye-du-Puits. Ate the last of the Wexford pound shop Bournville.
17:41:22 
17:41:36 
18:12:55
18:20 Arrived in reception at Camping Les Haizes. No one around but I’m not leaving!
19:12 Completely surreal - I’ve left a message at reception and now I’m setting up a pitch for the night. Hope this doesn’t get ugly.
