DAY 48 DROSNAY TO VILLERET

The morning sky was a little grey and the temperature had dropped overnight, with a forecast for possible showers during the day. Today’s walk was all about wooden churches – which were open and proudly part of a recognised tourist route, so completely different from what we’ve seen so far.

As we left our very comfortable overnight accommodation, our hosts for tonight happened to drive past and very kindly offered to take one or both of our packs in their car to save us carrying them all day. As we don’t have separate day packs we regretfully declined and headed up the road to look at Drosnay church which Matt assured us was well worth visiting as he’d been up there last night before supper.

This, the Eglise Notre Dame de l’Assomption and the other nearby churches we saw today, are completely different from any of the stone churches we have so far passed. Drosnay’s was built in the 17th century, with a timber frame infilled with what looks very much like chalk cob of the kind many walls are made of where we live in Hampshire.

From the church we backtracked past our lodgings down the D55 to the village of Outines. Despite roadwalking it was not unpleasant.

At Outines is another timber framed church, this time early 16th century, the oldest wood dating from 1512. The Eglise Saint Nicolas was built in much the same style as the church in Drosnay, and is regarded as one of the best examples in this region. It is noted for the wood shingles protecting the west end, and for its rose window which is rare in these churches.

Outines itself contains many timber framed houses in varying states of repair, and is a very attractive village.

From Outines we struck out across farmland using a mixture of gravel tracks and grassy tracks around the fields. Although fields here are still large, there is noticeably more woodland than and more mixed agriculture than further north, though there is also evidence of crop spraying here too.

At the junction of paths we found two chairs on which to rest – more or less in the middle of nowhere, but very welcome. Nearby there were two small ponds, as well as ditches around the fields, suggesting that this land doesn’t drain well, though today it was pretty dry. There were animal tracks in the grass where something regularly travels to use one of the ponds but we couldn’t work out what it might be. Nearby there was a profusion of wild blue bugles in flower.

In the next village of Bailly-le-Franc there was another lovely wooden church dedicated to Sainte-Croix-en-son-Exultation. This one was lighter as well as smaller than the church at Outines, and was built earlier too, in 1510. It is noted for the variety of roof angles and coverings, including roman tiles, slate, and chestnut shingles. Unfortunately the floor of the church was very damp, with green algae growing between the paving stones, probably due to rising damp.

A convenient seat outside the church suited our purposes for lunch, though afterwards we realised there was a picnic area a few hundred yards along the road! Matt produced some leaves of wild garlic to garnish his very healthy green salad, which Tom bravely tried, whilst we ate our usual bread and cheese with tomatoes and oranges. Fittingly, we learned that Matt’s rucksack was his grandfather’s. Alan was a very keen walker and loved going to the Lake District which wasn’t far from their home in Southport.

After a rest we walked on down the road, with large areas of woodland offering shade and birdsong, and some offroad walking on dirt tracks, to Lentilles.

The church in Lentilles was also built in 1512, and is considered one of the most typical examples of the champagne area’s wooden churches. A particular characteristic is that its steeple is twisted!

Inside, there is unusual diamond patterned woodwork above the nave which was rediscovered in 1970 when a later plaster ceiling was removed, and unusual small circular windows in the choir, some retaining their medieval glass.

From Lentilles we walked down the road to Villeret and our billet for the night, which wasn’t quite what we expected but turned out to be comfortable if compact.

As we went into Villeret we crossed the railway line again, and noted again that it looked little used. In fact we were later told that there is a plan to convert it into a cycle track, but for now it is illegal to walk along it – unfortunately, as it would have been our most direct route and, like canal paths, makes for easy level walking.

Having dropped off our bags at our accommodation, we went to have a look at the church, but found it closed. The church in Villeret is made of stone, and has large windows and impressive flying buttresses, but otherwise we discovered nothing about it.

At 5pm our host yesterday, Christophe, came to pick us up and return Matt to his car back in Drosnay. He either drove a roundabout route, or we had walked a long way today! As Matt needed to fill up with petrol we then drove to Montier en Der, and also bought more food to eke out the suppers for two left in the fridge by our hosts so that Matt could eat with us. It was about 30 minutes’ drive to find fuel and a supermarket, which reinforced our impression of the isolated living in small country villages, without public transport and many kilometres drive from supermarkets and other services. On the other hand, we have found internet services to be excellent even in isolated villages – unlike the poor service we have to put up with at home!

On the way back to Villeret we diverted to Giffaumont to have a look at Lac Der, famous for the mass migration of cranes which takes place in October. The lake is vast, and much used judging by the services on the lakeside, including rather bizarrely a casino! Tom was thrilled to see a number of swallows swooping around us.

Highlight of today? The pleasure of Matt’s company and the very interesting discussions we had about: politics in Europe, Climate Change, modern socio-economics, agriculture, environment, the dangers of social media and political disinformation, indeed disinformation generally…………can’t remember what else, but it was a very enjoyable day!