Another wet night, light rain brought out our plastic attire in the morning. The chicken farmer came back to see us off, after saying goodbye to his 20,000 long term guests 2km away. He will be kinder to us I hope and leave us with our heads on, the others will lose theirs prior to being plucked.
A croissant breakfast with our delightful hosts, who joined us for both meals even though they didn’t eat, was great, as we joined a Frenchwoman who was walking elsewhere. A theatre nurse from Germany and her husband were only there for initial arrival drinks but quickly got to talking with us. She spoke Spanish which was a bonus as Corrie and she had a wonderful time speaking their second language in a country that doesn’t appear to speak it much. She rushed out as we set off to give us both a big hug.
Our host told us that it would be unadvisable to walk through the fields tomorrow because of the mud and swampy areas and suggested the canal route, and then the back tarmac roads. Great idea, many villages to explore and time to do this.
You know it’s been a hassle not finding many cafes along the way. Standing on a corner resting my backpack on someone’s shuttered window sill, Corrie noticed people walking into a house every minute or so and coming out with a parcel. On closer inspection behind this very ordinary door was not only a tiny boulangerie but coffee and a table and two chairs. This just doesn’t happen in France, as mostly you need to take your pastries to a bar for the coffee.
This finally got us off the streets at last, following the French government’s earlier efforts to stop us sleeping rough by removing seats from most bus stops. Let’s hope they don’t lock the grave yards otherwise we will just about be out of options.
We left the canal behind with its boat tours, and huge silos of some sort. Adjacent to this was a large river flowing the other way, with water at times flowing from about a metre or so below the water surface of the canal into the river. Not sure what is happening there but will try to find out.
Seeing a few Poppies today mostly in people’s gardens, some much larger than I’ve seen before. I am really taken with these beautiful wild flowers (as my friends will attest to). I am sure on my biggest Poppy day yet, that it was a significant coincidence that our room was called – Coquelicot, and the walls were covered with beautiful framed ones.
We’ve reached home, a huge antique decorated room upstairs with three double doors opening on to a courtyard and vegetable garden below. No dinner tonight in this Chambre d’hote, owned by the town’s mayor, so Corrie has gone to the supermarket (a rarity in small towns) to buy a salad – many of our meals have been without greens or salad so this will be a much needed change.
