Author Archives: Tom and Julie

Our billet last night was a comfortable studio room in the courtyard of a renovated farmhouse in the centre of the village adjacent to the church. It is run by a friendly Dutch woman with impeccable English who also has an art gallery and tearoom in the courtyard. Although she married and brought up a […]

We awoke to see that it had rained overnight, the sky was full of ominous dark clouds and the air was humid. On the plus side, Tom’s left calf muscle had eased and he was able to move around without pain. Of the two possible diagnoses cramp was the most likely and thankfully recoverable with […]

Having climbed the direct route to the cathedral on our rest day we opted for the zig zag road to the top of the mont this morning with our full sacks. Unfortunately the old funicular railway is no longer operating! Once again we were overwhelmed by the beauty of the cathedral and the space in […]

If walking from Tergnier to Laon after having had a rest day in Laon sounds a bit back to front, then it is. Remember Day 34, when, because there was nowhere to stay overnight in Tergnier we got the train to Laon? We then took a rest day, and then had to get a train […]

After a good night’s sleep we awoke to bright sunshine and with slightly less aching feet following yesterday’s long walk. By late morning we felt sufficiently rested to find somewhere nice to have lunch, and walked – perhaps more accurately, we climbed – up a very steep and long set of steps into the old […]

The Val Domignon in Trefcon was a very comfortable place to stay. The Wynand family have diversified from farming to provide, not only chambre d’hote but also canoeing, horse riding, carriage driving and livery. They make leather saddles and harnesses using a very substantial sewing machine. Hubert is a fount of knowledge about the natural […]

Once again the forecast of rain was not wrong. Why are these French meteo forecasts so depressingly accurate? Our lodgings for the night at the Auberge des Remparts was ok, but nothing special. They don’t do evening meals but we found a restaurant close by. We set off in light but persistent rain. Our route […]

Our billet for the night, Le Gourmet, wasn’t quite that, but it was comfortable and we didn’t have to leave the hotel to find a meal, which was a blessing after the long walk from Arras. The forecast of rain the following morning wasn’t wrong, so we set off in full wet weather gear with […]

It seemed to take ages to get out of the city of Arras. Our route took us out the same way we’d come the day before to visit the Carrieres Wellington. It was nearly an hour before we reached countryside again to the south of Beaurains. Prairie farming dominated the landscape for most of the […]

We discovered that our hotel was the oldest building on the Grand Place, which is itself a marvel of rows of grand Flemish style houses originally built in the 1400s. We learned later that all of it had to be rebuilt after WW1 when 80% of Arras was razed to the ground, including eventually the […]