Last night’s billet was very comfortable and quiet, being a well equipped gite at one end of a farmhouse. We were given a room looking out onto the farmer’s fields and woodland beyond. Our friendly hostess, who positively welcomes pilgrims, fed us well with a delicious omelette made from their own hens’ eggs and homegrown lettuce salad. Breakfast included a homemade pear compote and, but for limiting what we carry, we could have bought some of their honey.
Just down the road are the remains of an important medieval abbey and hopital located on the old Roman road linking Boulogne-sur-Mere with Lyons and Milan. It was founded by Augustinian monks in the twelfth century, then taken over by the Knights Templar and similar Orders, before being dismantled into an agricultural estate before the French revolution. Since that time much of the stone has been reused for modern houses, but the abbey continues to house lots of swallows.
The official VF route would have taken us across open countryside towards the noisy A5 motorway. In view of today’s forecast for temperatures in the high thirties we decided to take a more direct, shorter, and shadier route along the old Roman road which runs through forest. But first we had to tramp down the modern road between huge fields of lucern, wheat and sunflowers. At least there was a good breeze today, to take away some of the heat.
Today’s theme was the wildflowers growing along the road verges, which were very varied once we started being more observant. It is such a pleasure to see this, in contrast to the heavily mown verges at home on which only grass, nettles and cow parsley survive – also depriving birds, small mammals and insects of food and habitat. What a waste of public money too!
As today’s walk was also very short, at about 8kms, and we couldn’t get into our chambre d’hote until 5pm, we planned to find somewhere in the forest to while away a few hours through the midday heat. The track was heavily dug over by wild boar, making for rough walking. We wondered why they’d not dug more broadly in the forest but on the path where people like us might twist our ankles or trip!
Having found a nice shady spot, clear of undergrowth, adjacent to some good backrest trees, with a soft bed of dry leaves, we settled down to read, rest, and enjoy a long lunch.
Not long into our siesta Julie’s phone rang, and our hostess for this evening asked us to arrive earlier as she had to go out. So we packed up and headed on, out of the forest, onto a minor road which we followed for a couple of kilometres into Marac. On the way we disturbed several deer resting up in the shade, but they were too quick to photograph.
Emerging from the forest, we were hit by a wall of heat, but there were far-reaching view across the next valley southwards. The land is looking very parched after weeks without rain, and we’ve noticed some of the crops are yellowing for want of moisture.
Today, all outside public events were banned in France to avoid large numbers of people getting heat-stroke, but farmers were out getting in the last of their hay before the rain forecast for a couple of days time. We watched a pair of buzzards hunting over a freshly harvested meadow.
The final stretch along the road into Marac was rewarded by sight of a marbled white sitting on a scabeous flower long enough for Julie to get a photo this time!
We found our night’s lodging easily and were grateful for the cool shade of the old stone house, and a cold glass of home pressed apple juice.
We spent the rest of the afternoon washing clothes and making use of the perfect drying weather – 35.5 degrees C, even at six o’clock! Next task was picking the sticky tar and gravel, picked up on the melting road, from the tread of our boots. Ugh!
High point of the day? Well that has to be the glass of cold apple juice!
