To continue the story of our host last night…Noël told him we could be away at 6:30. I thought to myself WHAT???? So when our host left I asked Noël what he was thinking!! There’s snow on the ground, we don’t have that far to go 😂😂😂 and we don’t need to leave that early. When the host brought us dinner I mentioned that we wouldn’t be leaving that early and he said, “this is your home you come and go as you like” in a beautiful French accent. Also the dinner was amazing, spaghetti bolognese with carrots from his father’s garden, a pear pie with almonds and banana bread for breakfast. Wow!!

We really got started late but weren’t too worried because we had 17 no 19 no 20 kms to go. 14 to our first stop. It was okay. We walked through farmland and along the river. It was peaceful.

After our stop we wandered out of town with a slight detour. And we ate the leftover pizza from yesterday’s lovely stop. It was so yummy still. Of course we were hungry. We were looking for the town’s Mairie (city hall) so we could get our stamp but didn’t find it. Also we decided to stay on the official route instead of taking the fastest way. We found another open cafe after 9+ kms. And after checking local restaurants we decided to switch plans of eating out tonight and cooking tomorrow to cooking tonight and eating out tomorrow. Honestly it just made sense because all the restaurants said closed open on Tuesday. 😂

So we stopped by the Lidl for provisions and came to our accommodation. We relaxed a bit and then put on a feast of steak, potatoes gratin and a nice salad.

After dinner we had a bath, a bit of relaxing and then off to bed. We are taking a rest day tomorrow. So I’m planning on doing some reflections of the trip thus far. we ended up walking 26,5 kms.

Hope you are well. Thank you for following. And thank you for contributing to our gofundme.

We left Saint Quentin a bit late because we only had 16 kms to go and checking in early isn’t always an option. We found two stops but were unsure of the first one because the information was limited. so we skipped it. And along the route saw it on the other side of the river it was closed.

As we walked along the river we were passed by cyclists and we encountered walkers and runners. There was a large walking group that past us in three groups. The first group walked by quickly and asked as walking by “Saint Jacques?” Oui was our response.

The second group came by and one man engaged Noël in a long conversation. He was very interested in where we started and where we were going. His wife and another woman from the group had walked a portion of the camino from Le Puy last year and were planning on finishing it this year.

We walked a long time by the river to our right and a forest to our left, over 11 kms. we occasionally heard gun shots in the forest so even though there were benches from time to time we didn’t feel comfortable sitting.

Our second stop was a small cafe/restaurant. As we walked in we were warmly greeted by the owner. Noël told her what we were doing and she said we could sit and drink until 1:00. The restaurant was fully reserved.

We ordered drinks and then she came back by and encouraged us to eat something since we had such a long journey. We ordered a pizza and it was delicious. A couple sitting next to us engaged us in conversation asking about our trip. It was a perfect stop. Perfect!!

We made our way to the local supermarket to get breakfast food and had to hurry because it closed at 1. No problem. And again great interest in our journey.

From there we had 5+ kms/3.5 miles to our accommodation. Again this is a beautiful story. When we booked through air b&b the host said that the linens and towels are extra. Noël said okay and he said that we are pilgrims walking the camino from The Netherlands to Santiago de Compostela and that we are in our 60s. He immediately replied the linens and towels are free and I will fix you dinner. WOW!!!

Since we left Saint Quentin we have been following both the camino route as well as the Via Francigena. Via Francigena is the pilgrimage route that goes from Canterbury, England to Rome and then to Jerusalem.

Hope you are well. We have traveled 331 kms/206 miles. Feel free to contribute 30 or 20 Eros/dollars to our gofundme.

https://gofund.me/e25bbc66

When we started getting ready this morning we couldn’t find two socks. Well we finally found them and a pair of underwear still in the washing machine. The socks we had dried were two left socks so we needed a pair. Fortunately there was a a high power hair dryer. We got them dry. And we started our walking.

We came across another First World War cemetery. Being able to sit and pray was peaceful.

We had a great day. We changed routes several times and never found a cafe open. We got to Saint Quentin and saw a woman enter a cafe and exit with a lottery ticket. We were so excited!!! We went in and saw the owner and 4 patrons drinking beer and were told they weren’t open. Okay. So we left making our way to the cathedral.

We walked another kilometer and found a lovely bar where the two women were excited to hear about our adventures. Then we found the cathedral, our accommodation and dinner.

Continue reading “Day 12 wet socks” →

Neither one of us slept well last night. we struggled to get going this morning and finally left about an hour later than we wanted. 8:00 in Cambrai France is busy!!!

We made our way out of the city and have noticed that since leaving The Netherlands and Belgium there are not many bike paths and no sidewalks outside city limits. We found ourselves on a very busy road constantly diving out of way of traffic. Afterwards we figured out a way to take a road less traveled and there were no cars!!! But we did encounter more hunters. I don’t think it was boar this time maybe quail? We never saw them just heard the shots. And you better believe walking those two kms was our best pace.

We were supposed to have 4 stops but alas again google indicated things were open and they weren’t. We had two stops and several rests on benches or walls. The last six kms were also on a very busy road. It was a bit nerve wracking. But we did find a cemetery for allied forces who fought during the First World War. That was very humbling.

We walked from church to church and none of them were open. The last church honors Joan of Arc.

We were also on the official pilgrim route following signs and shells. It’s always fun to see.

We are tired but very happy and happened into another nice booking.

Hope you are well. Thank you for traveling with us.