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I first woke at 07:45, but as forecast, the mist was very heavy, so I dozed until 08:20. I’m starting to get up now. It’s still very damp and misty, but it’s not raining. The mist may lift, but I’m not counting on it. It rained consistently for the first part of the night after sundown. I was warm, snug and dry in my bivvy under the basha. The first part of the night was warm, then as before it cooled considerably towards dawn.
09:52 Packed, breakfasted, socks washed, (basha wipe-down plus small splash and wring-out,) no toothbrushing. A white van pulled up seventy metres past me while I was having breakfast. The guy looked over but didn’t approach me. He’s still there and now I’m about to walk back to the road.
I need porridge, water and matches.
10:14 Feeling good: energised, optimistic. The road is dry but it’s still chilly. The sky is a near featureless overcast of low stratus. I can’t point to the sun.
11:05 Mézidon-Cannon is a few hundred metres away. Perfect timing for elevenses. I really hope there’s a café there because I would love to sit down at a table to mark out today’s walk. I’ve stopped to take a stone out of my shoe. Country village footpaths are surfaced with grit that hops into your shoes at the slightest provocation.
11:16:50: Posters for Marine Le Pen, candidate of the far-right National Front party in the 2017 presidential elections.
11:51 €4.60 for a soft warm baguette topped with cheese and salami and a traditional brown baguette. Now to find the café which I’m assured exists and is open today.
12:03 Parked in the bar. I also need to charge the camera.
12:18 No sign of my coffee. No table service, perhaps? I’ve mapped out my route to Brionne via Lisieux. Brionne brings me within hailing distance of Rouen where there’s a youth hostel. I think I can crack across the map in three or four more days.
The Carrefour here is closed so my next chance to stock up on porridge (essential if I’m camping) is Lisieux, which I might get through today. If not, I’ll stop a couple of kilometres short and get breakfast in the town in the morning. OK, time to get moving again once I’ve got a water refill and have refolded the map for the rest of today’s walk.
12:40 Back in the street with 4 litres of water, a new lighter and a KitKat.
lighter: €1.50
almond croissant: €1.30
Stopped at the Coccinelle Express supermarket:
I was the last customer in the place. They closed at 13:00. There’s a little bit of blue breaking through the clouds.
13:46 Stopped for toothbrushing to shed some of the excess water. In fact I probably only used half a litre.
14:10 Stopped to take off my trouser legs, put on my sun hat and smear my neck and face in factor 50. The landscape around here is entirely Irish: small fields and bramble hedges - apart from the steep-roofed yellow stone farm houses - compared to yesterday’s huge vistas across oceans of farmland.
14:48 Stopped for a slurp of water and to check if the camera is fully charged; it is. I’m approaching Crevecouer-en-Auge. I’ve just passed a group of chocolate-box horse-breeder’s mansions.
15:10:58 
15:15:49 
15:17:39
15:18 Crevecouer-en-Auge. About half the buildings in the village are half-timbered 15th Century survivors. About half of those are for sale and obviously not occupied.
15:21:49 
15:25:03
15:30 Climbing gently out of town. Stopped for a drink of water.
15:34:17 
15:34:55 
15:38:22 
16:01:59 
16:06:07 
16:07:09 
16:10:04 
16:10:38 
16:17:45 
16:18:10 
16:18:37
16:20 I’ve found the first house I’d like to have as a holiday home if I won the lottery. Soaking up the sun listening to insects and birdsong and taking in the view for a few minutes.
16:50 I’ve turned onto the main road earlier than I intended - instead of crossing it, I’ll have to follow it for 2.5km. Earplugs in, crack on.
17:33 Whew, back on the back roads again. That was tough - most of the walking was in the long grass in the soft shoulder. At least there was a shoulder.
17:49:36
17:51 Looks like the main road is the border of the stud farm and unspeakably expensive 15th century mansion territory. I’m back among crops and fields of grass.
18:20 It’s cooling considerably. The sun has gone behind a black cloud. I’ll walk for another hour or so.
19:20 Lisieux is 7km away and sunset is an hour away. I’ve found nothing suitable yet. The river valley I just crossed was very steep-sided and full of cattle fields. If the worst comes to the worst I can probably find a hotel in Lisieux.
19:48 This is a bit dodge: I’m in the corner of a field silhouetted by the setting sun. I can see my shadow being cast onto the farmhouse and cattle sheds. I’m invisible from the road and I can see the cathedral at Lisieux, but I daren’t yet put up the basha or test… oh fuck I can hear voices down in the farmyard. I’m out of here.
20:08 Heading on down into the town. Some kind of retriever came galloping up to me just as I was building up the courage to stay and was squirming around on my mat to test the ground. He’s a working dog but not vicious.
20:14 I’m back on the road and the dog has latched onto me.
20:27:01
20:37 Lisieux town limit. Dog still following me.
20:41 Lost him, finally. He didn’t want to pass an Alsatian in a suburban garden.
21:30:18
21:35 Checked into a hotel for €45.35 for the night. The room has a shower but no loo. I don’t care. I have a roof over my head. When I arrived in Lisieux at dusk, I started making my way to the train station, expecting to find a cheap hotel there. What hotels I found were full. I put my head in the door of one of the few places that was still open, a pub, and the proprieter took me on a half-hour tour of the town, looking for hotels. It was dark by this stage. Finally we found this one. I was expecting to pay €60. One of the hotel proprieters we visited had had an operation on his neck and had to press his hand to his throat to talk in a rasping voice. Norique is the guy who guided me around the town. He told me he’s from Armenia. He wasn’t totally impressed when I told him I was walking to Istanbul - the Armenians still have a certain genocide they want acknowledged by Turkey.
I seem to have lost my red beanie. At some point I switched it for the sun hat and stuffed the beanie in my pocket to avoid taking my bag off. It must have popped out somewhere. Either that or I left it in the field where the retriever was hassling me.
