Today was one of four seasons in one. We woke to a cold northerly wind and snow showers. What a contrast with the July like weather we’d been experiencing since Canterbury. All good things must, of course, come to an end, but there’ll always be something around the corner. Matt from Brussels who was to […]
Monthly Archives: March 2022
DAY 24 REST DAY IN WISQUES
The Hotellerie Saint Charles, a former hunting lodge in the grounds of the Abbaye de Notre Dame on top of the hill, is perfect for our planned rest day (we promised ourselves no more than five days marching without a day’s rest). Its faded grandeur belies its level of comfort, with large rooms and tall […]
DAY 23 TOURNEHEM-SUR-LA-HEM TO WISQUES
Having been forecast for rain most of the day, we awoke to a cloudy morning, distinctly cooler, but thankfully no rain as yet. We scurried around the village trying to find the Tabac with the church pilgrim stamp, but had to make do with the Cafe de la Maisie’s own. However, whilst scurrying we were […]
DAY 22 LICQUES TO TOURNEHEM-SUR-LA-HEM
Having diverted by taxi to Ardres for our overnight billet, the first task of the day was to find a taxi for the return to Licques. This was where our kind hotelier stepped in and called no less than five taxi companies before finding one that was available. Most of the taxi companies seemed to […]
DAY 21 GUINES TO LICQUES
Again the day started foggy, but this time it was really quite thick and took most of the morning to clear. Even then it was only partial with occasional glimpses of sunshine. As we left Guines it was sad to see so many fields which had been treated with Glyphosate (Roundup) and were consequently without […]
DAY 20 WISSANT TO GUINES
Our overnight lodging was a typical old fashioned French family-run establishment, of the type where you’d expect to find a bidet in your room. Actually we didn’t, but there was one of those squat little baths which demands olympic gymnastic flexibility to get in and out of. Fortunately it had a shower over, which made […]
DAY 19 CALAIS TO WISSANT
It was rather foggy as we left the Auberge de la Jeunesse close the beachfront, but the sun was already beginning to break through promising another unusually warm day for March. The seafront here is a strange mixture between ‘functional’ apartment blocks possibly dating from the sixties, and newly created public leisure space. The latter, […]
DAY 18 FRANCE AT LAST!
Here we are in Calais at last! But not thanks to P&O Ferries. We wrote earlier about the message P&O Ferries sent us, saying that despite our booking they were withdrawing foot passenger services from 17th March for “operational reasons”. Subsequently they told us it was for the safety and overall well-being of all their […]
DAY 17 SHEPERDSWELL TO DOVER
A short train ride from Kearsney, near our overnight billet, back up the valley to Shepherdswell where we left off yesterday. On our walk to the station we passed a group of bin men at work. On greeting one of them “good morning”, his response was “good morning, young man”. Tom was rather tickled by […]
DAY 16 CANTERBURY TO SHEPHERDSWELL
After several last-minute panics – organising an alternative Channel crossing to P&O; new post-Brexit border bureaucracy complicated by Covid; and obtaining a data SIM that actually did accommodate roaming – we left the southwest door of Canterbury Cathedral in lovely spring sunshine. We attended Choral Evensong yesterday at the Cathedral sung by the Boy Choristers […]