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08:55: Up! Into the bathroom for a wash.
09:22: Washed, dressed. Bruno is up too. It’s a beautiful cloudless day.
10:57: Walking away from Bruno’s place. What a perfect day’s rest. Bruno was such a chilled out host.
11:29: Arriving in Jaulgonne, walking along a track beside the river. This stretch is so achingly beautiful that my urge to share it makes me realise that I’m alone. Not lonely, just by myself. It’s up to me to soak up the beauty single-handedly.
I’m walking into a nippy headwind. I might need to put on a layer.
12:14: Picked up two awesome traditional baguettes. When I asked for a second bag, my request was refused. I couldn’t understand the reply when I asked the reason.
It’s just 11km from here to Dormans, my destination for the day, where I’ll be staying in the camping.
13:21: Just finishing lunch of a traditional baguette with camembert, shallot and mixed greenery, sitting on a little jetty on the Marne in the sun. The river water is almost turquoise.
Packing up now to move on.
15:19: Back on the D road. I’d spent all morning on unpaved tracks beside the river.
15:21: Trélou-sur-Marne.
15:34: Pausing for a bit of confectionary — the boulangerie was open!
15:43: Oh good lord that was outrageous — a grapefruit-sized sphere covered in tiny dark chocolate pellets, labeled “meringue”. It didn’t look remotely meringue-like until I bit into it, like a puppy trying to bite a football. It was a meringue globe wrapped in a soft icing into which the chocolate pellets were embedded. Insane, but very delicious. Shame I don’t need to walk 30km today: I’d have another.
15:51: Walking out of Trélou-sur-Marne.
16:15: Arrived at the camping, which is on the north bank. The main town of Dormans is on the south bank. The office is closed until 18:00, so I’ve parked myself by the river on a grassy spot at the river’s edge where some boats are tied up. I’ve got a lovely view of Dormans piled up on the opposite bank, the gothic tower of the church just a couple of hundred metres away.
18:09: A lovely couple of hours whiling away the afternoon, massaging my feet and reading. Going to the camping office to check in for the night now.
18:58: €7.00 for the night. I’ve chosen a spot 25 seconds from the washing facilities. The shower block isn’t heated so I don’t see myself braving that in the morning. Sunset is at 20:45 — almost two hours away, which is great. I can’t switch maps yet, because Dormans is not quite fully on the new map, so I’ve put it within easy reach for when I need to switch tomorrow morning a few kilometres down the road.
I think I’ll have dinner — just a small one with a hot chocolate dessert. There’s a bit of a breeze coming from the north, but I’ve set up the basha in the usual configuration. I’m mostly in the lee of a caravan.
The bells in the church of Dormans have set up a musical chiming. It’s quite lovely. Allah-hu akbar. Right, get some water and start on dinner. It’ll be boiled eggs on bread with shallot and some other bits. Apart from chocolate and hot chocolate I have no treats left.
20:38: Lovely mellow evening prepping and eating dinner and a bowl of hot chocolate while listening to podcasts. Hopping into the bag now.
