As promised in the forecast, today was very hot from early morning onwards, but we had slept well after a sumptuous evening meal and wide-ranging conversation with our delightful hostess, Elisabeth. Much of what we were offered had been home grown or home brewed, and it was all delicious! We were again aghast at the moribund state of the church in France, with one priest expected to cover 62 parishes and Elisabeth’s village church getting just three services a year. Thriving rural parishes in England may have been sadly neglected in favour of chasing new recruits in cities in recent years, but seemingly we are still in a better state than rural churches in France.

We were left to pack our bags and leave the key as Elisabeth (comme la Reine!) had to leave early for a family gathering near Pontarlier, where we should be in couple of weeks time. We declined a lift as not being in the spirit of a walking pilgrimage!
Before she left we told Elisabeth about Canon Emma who had blessed our pilgrimage and prayed with us at Canterbury Cathedral. She had impressed upon us the responsibility we carry with us to undertake the pilgrimage not only for ourselves but for those unable to do so themselves, for whatever reason. So, today we dedicated our pilgrimage to Elisabeth’s son, Pierre, who we met yesterday. Pierre is a handsome young man with a delightful smile. He has autism and is non-verbal, requiring assistance with every aspect of his daily life. Now aged 32, Pierre spends weekends at home and is cared for away from home during the week. We shall carry him and Elisabeth in our thoughts.

From Marac we took a direct route to Beauchemin along a minor road. As we left the village we were greeted by an elderly gentleman inquiring about our pilgrimage, wishing us well and insisting that we carried plenty of water in this awful heat.

Out into open countryside we were again amongst huge fields of arable crops, with a wide variety of lovely wild flowers along the verges.

Just before we crossed the A5 motorway we came across a perfect night shelter for pilgrims, complete with fireplace and space for two to sleep.

At Beauchemin we found the church open and the tap in the churchyard a welcome opportunity to fill our bottles. It was also a place of cool refuge in the building heat.

From Beauchemin our route took us to Saint Ciergues perched on the steep side of the Mouche valley overlooking the lake. Passing the village church we called in, found the door open and Sunday Mass in progress. So we gently shed our rucksacks outside and slipped into the back of the nave to join in. How lovely it was to find a church not only open, but an opportunity to celebrate communion with about 35 other worshippers. Everything we’d said about the Church in France being dead was washed away. Afterwards several members of the congregation were very encouraging about our long walk.

Down the main street there was a wash house, this one with a new roof and evidently used by local gardeners.

Overlooking the dam at the end of the lake we found a bar-restaurant conveniently placed for lunch, or so we thought, but we were informed that they were “complet”. Given that there was just one other couple in there and about 40 tables unoccupied, the “je suis desole” was unconvincing – another example of backpacker prejudice?

However, we found a nice shady spot in a small field beside the lake on the other side of the dam to eat our own lunch and watch the fishermen out in boats on the lake. Tom reckoned they were too far out in full sunlight to actually catch a fish, and should instead have tried the lake margins in the shade. We also saw what we thought was a dragonfly shedding its exoskeleton, only to watch two dragonflies fly off, so the apparent struggle was probably mating!

Half way up the hill from the lakeside we used a spring fed water trough to cool off, but carefully noted the warning that this was ‘eau non-potable’, making do with throwing cold water over our faces.

The next several kilometres were across a plateau, initially in woodland with intermittent shade, and later in open arable fields with the sun beating down on us relentlessly.

Eventually – after much longer than we anticipated – we came down off the plateau through woodland. It was not until near the bottom that we got our first glimpse of Langres, our day’s destination, through the trees.

At the bottom of the hill the woodland path opened out into the village of Brevoines where the church was closed but the churchyard had a tap with cold running water to replace the tepid contents if our water bottles. From there we had a good view of the medieval city walls of Langres, with the prospect of a daunting climb up the hill to get there but also for an interesting day off tomorrow.

At the bottom of the valley there was a very attractive mill house. Turning back to photograph it, Julie was hailed by the owner asking where we’d come from, where we were going, and asking if we needed water. We explained that we’d found water in the churchyard, and accepted his encouragement for the rest of our walk, by which time Julie felt unable to invade his privacy by taking the photograph!

Taking advantage of several conveniently placed benches on the way up the hill, we eventually entered the centre of Langres through one of the medieval town gates and found our way through the cobbled streets and attractive squares to find our hotel.

Highlights of the day? Attending communion with the community we’d been passing through, and thoughts of Pierre. And of course, the prospect of doing very little tomorrow!

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!

Yesterday evening’s walk to the supermarket was thankfully short, but the heat was still stifling at 6-7pm. Chateauvillain has evidently seen better days, with almost all the shops now closed down. There is a busy pharmacy and three not very busy tabacs, one doubling as a betting shop and another with a bar. The boulangeries and epiceries have long since gone, and yet there are two schools for younger children in town, and plenty of renovation work going on. It seems everyone these days uses supermarkets, even in France. A bit of a sad place.

The night was hot. Plastic mattress covers (though essential) are a nightmare in such conditions, so we woke early to another hot day. Breakfast was a novel bowl of meusli as we’d had to buy a large bottle of milk to have tea. Washing up done, we left just after 8am, dodging children arriving for school next door.

The road out of town quickly changed from tarmac to gravel, wending through small allotment gardens and then alongside huge fields of arable crops broken up by areas of woodland.

After about 1.5 kilometres our route took a left turn into an extensive area of woodland which we walked through for several hours, at times within hearing of the A5 motorway we had crossed under yesterday, and mostly in shade. We later learned that it is the Foret Dominiale d’Arc – Chateauvillaine, one of France’s many national forests.

Today was good for butterflies and caterpillars. Unfortunately butterflies rarely settle long enough to be photographed but caterpillars, though moving in haste, aren’t too quick for a determined photographer. Tom reckons this one is a moth caterpillar – do any of our readers recognise it?

As it was so hot, we decided to have an early lunch and siesta in the shade of the forest, rather than taking our chances later. Just as well we did as Richebourg had nowhere for weary pilgrims to sit and there was standing room only in the shade of the locked church. However, we were able to top up our water bottles using the tap in the churchyard, and a very helpful woman in La Poste kindly stamped our pilgrim passports as the Mairie across the corridor was closed until July. The postmistress told us the church is very beautiful but closed because of thefts of statues. We suggested they lock away the statues and open the church as it proudly recognises that it is on the Via Francigena pilgrim route!

As Julie’s left hip was playing up today we took the more direct route down the road to Mormant rather than the longer path through fields and forest. Just as Tom was complaining it was uninteresting and without shade we found ourselves walking along the edge of the forest in shade with clouds of butterflies flitting around us! And another caterpillar intent on getting squashed crossing what turned out to be a busy road.

The shade ended and we were mostly walking in full sunshine with the occasional puff of wind to keep us going. The tarmac was so soft in the heat of the afternoon that Tom has left his boot prints in the road! Julie probably did too but as she was behind there was no-one to notice.

The final stretch was relieved by walking along the margin of a field where hay had been mown……..but we paid for that later with lots of seeds to be picked out of our socks! We’ve found that with road walking it’s best to use every opportunity to walk on mud or grass to relieve the hammering our feet get during a day of walking.

As we came into Marmont our hostess was at the end of the track to greet and guide us to our billet for tonight, a large gite adjacent to the farmhouse which we seem to have to ourselves.

Laundry done and hanging out in the sun to dry, showered and changed, and now well fed, we anticipate a good sleep tonight. We’re looking forward to a short walk tomorrow in what promises to be the hottest day so far, well up into the thirties.

Highlight of today was probably getting the walk done so we could cool down and relax with a cold drink!

The second day in on any hiking trip is in our experience always a challenging one. Today was no exception.

Despite being right out in the countryside, the Hotel de l’Abbaye where we spent the last night is located on a crossroads of two quite busy D roads and our room, right on the corner, had the full benefit of both of them. Hot as it was, we needed all windows open and so enjoyed the noise of truck traffic most of the night!

Again we tried for an early start but the shortage of enthusiasm after a sleepless night got the better of us and we didn’t get away until at least twenty past eight!

Our route took us straight southwards and soon we were off the D road and onto a rural track. As we passed the last of the houses Tom greeted a dog walking lady. “Via Francigena?” she inquired. “Oui” he replied. “C’est dur?” she asked “Non, non” replied Tom “Mais, au midi, peut etre avec ce soleil!”

Once clear of houses we were onto a dirt track climbing uphill and winding through fields of arable crops. We were overtaken by two huge logging lorries which we caught up with later parked up in the woods ready for loading. Because of the logging activity there was a good track through the woods, though in damper places the vehicles had gouged out huge ruts which were fortunately reasonably hard due to the recent lack of rain.

We then turned steeply uphill onto an escarpment of mixed deciduous trees, still walking in dappled shade as the heat of the day began to build.

After following the ridge for several kilometres, our track plunged downhill and into the village of Cirfontaines-en-Azois. The village had not just one wash house, but two! Unfortunately for us neither wash house had a tap so we were unable to replenish our water bottles.

We thought we might have our lunch at the church but couldn’t find anywhere to sit, and were doubly disappointed to find the west door open but a grill preventing us from getting beyond the porch.

There was nothing for it but to carry on out of the village hoping to find a nice shady spot where we could sit, which we did on a bank adjacent to a drainage ditch. Sitting in ditches for lunch is in danger of becoming a habit! We then crossed over a pretty little millstream on the River l’Aujon, which was very thin and fishless, and past fields of maize, asparagus, flax and wheat.

We decided to go straight down the road to Orges, rather than climbing up onto another escarpment and then back down. We got a good view of the escarpment, and for a while watched a farmer turning hay on the hillside, braking hard on the way down and revving hard to get back up again. Tom also watched a kite hunting over a newly mown field. Anything to take our minds off the heat!

Orge seemed largely asleep, with very few people around. As the church wasn’t on our route we decided not to divert to look at it. We’ve quickly reverted to checking churches we walk past on the off chance they may be open, but not diverting, especially on these searingly hot days when the extra effort is unlikely to be rewarded.

We crossed over another pretty small stream, and then left the village, heading gently uphill towards a low col.

Over the brow we had a clear view of the A5, a whizzing road south we’ve used in the past, and eventually walked through an underpass to get to its west side. There was a lovely cool wind blowing through so we rested a while in its shade to cool down.

From there it was a long slog to Chateauvillain in 30 degrees with no shade and little wind, with a minor diversion to tell an aggressive Rottweiler what to do with itself as it lunged at the fence separating us!

Once in Chateauvillain we found our billet reasonably easily and let ourselves in with a door code. No meals are provided so we have an additional short hike to a supermarket for forage.

High points of the day? The walk up through the forest from Clairvaux was lovely. Otherwise it was the cold shower at our billet at the end of a very hot day…..………..but tomorrow’s forecast is hotter!

It felt wonderful to be back on the trail again today. Was it a feeling of guilt, we wondered – resting at home rather than moving on with the pilgrimage? Or was it the lovely countryside we were back enjoying?

We tried to make an early start, but by the time we’d breakfasted, found a boulanger for lunchtime bagettes and somewhere to get some oranges it was 0830 when we crossed the bridge back over the Aube and onto the Via Francigena once more.

The path took us quite steeply up onto the ridge above Bar, through deciduous woodland. After a climb of some 200m we arrived at a plateau with stunning views across Bar and the Aube valley. On the way up we passed a sloe worm waking itself up in the dappled sunshine.

And a few wild strawberries already ripe enough to eat. Delicious but tantalizingly tiny!

Once the woodland opened up we became aware of just how strong the sun was even at this stage of the morning. After a climb of about 200m we arrived at a plateau with stunning views and a designated taking off point for paragliders. There were far-reaching views eastwards across Bar and the vineyards beyond, which have all greened up since we left in late April.

Plunging back into the woods we quickly joined a dirt road taking us back out into full sunshine and a field of spring wheat with a few poppies. A rural police car slid by us but didn’t stop so we assumed we weren’t looking too suspicious today!

Soon after we were grateful to be back into the cool of dappled woodland shade, our path taking us further southwards along the ridge we had joined above Bar-sur-Aube.

Eventually we came out above the extensive vineyards above Baroville – just after Tom had commented that he thought we had come to the end of the vineyards at Bar-sur-Aube. Au contraire! As well as greening up since late April, we noted that the grapes are setting already, weeks ahead of our vines at home.

Baroville has its fair share of champagne houses and, when we went to get our pilgrim passports stamped, the mayor was keen to tell us about a champagne festival being held there in late July.

As we were walking past it anyway we tried the church – and it was open! There was the usual war memorial with multiple family names outside, surrounded by a cemetery of immaculate family tombs. There are regulations requiring people to maintain their family graves, and this seems to ensure they are well tended. Perhaps we need similar regulations at home?

Inside, the church was cool and simple in style, though quite large for such a small village. It is currently undergoing a major restoration, starting outside with re-roofing the apse and chancel, before moving on to work inside. Compared with many of the churches we have seen further north it looked to be in a reasonable state, but on the other hand Baroville looks more prosperous than many of the rural villages north of the champagne area so maybe there are higher expectations.

Although we had had breakfast at 7am we decided that 11.30 was too early for lunch so we carried on up the hill through more vineyards and on towards another stretch of woodland atop a ridge. The next convenient shady patch happened to be at a ditch and bank just before entering the woods, so there we dined, watching the marbled white butterflies serenaded by a blackbird in the tree behind.

Unfortunately the alignment of our track and wide cleared margins gave us almost no shade at all, and very little wind penetrated the trees so there was no respite from the heat as we tackled a sequence of rising undulations until eventually coming out onto a tarmac road not far from Clairvaux. We did see several pretty wild orchids. We know there are very many types of wild orchid, but have no idea whether these were the same as ones seen previously, or not. Any orchid experts reading this?

At Clairvaux we skirted the boundary wall of the former Cistercian abbey, passing a cloud of lovely butterflies which wouldn’t stay still long enough to identify but looked like some kind of fritillary, and found our hotel. We need to find out what they are. Dave Rumble from the Rivers Trust mentioned some special butterflies we might see. We must check his email message. As planned, we were in good time to have showers and get changed before going on a tour of the abbey.

On entering you think you’re going to see restored medieval buildings used by an internationally important monastic community from 1135 until the French revolution….but, in fact, you see mostly the repurposed prison buildings used from Napoleonic times until 1971, when the male prisoners were moved into adjacent buildings with single cells and the women were moved to prisons elsewhere in France.

Because there is an active prison next door, we were required to leave a piece of ID at the reception desk – not that anyone in their right mind would have wanted to stay overnight! – and we were not allowed to take any photographs. Unless you’re an elderly Frenchman, in which case you ignore the rules and take pictures on your phone regardless!

Suffice to say that the cells for 30 prisoners with one hole for all of them to ‘slop out’ and the alternative ‘hen coops’ two cubic metres in size where the unruly were locked up alone were pretty shocking, especially when you realise these facilities were all in use until 1971, well within our lifetimes. Not surprisingly, the death rate was also very high – from cold, malnutrition, and disease.

More positively, the restored medieval building used by the converts, or working class lay brothers who couldn’t read and write but did all the manual work of the abbey, were very impressive with massive bays of simple stone vaulted ceilings and plain rendered walls, consistent with the Cistercian approach to monastery life.

Unfortunately the abbey’s church was quarried to make other buildings and is no longer. The buildings used for milling, tanning, etc will be a major restoration project for the future as they have not been maintained by the Ministry of Justice. There is talk of some being converted into an hotel…

For a speculative side trip, taking a tour of the abbey was fascinating. We felt it was a good use of an hour and a half before supper, and it was the cultural highlight of the day.

It’s good to be back in Bar-sur-Aube again nearly seven weeks after we left off our walk. It’s been a tad warmer today with the temperature still around 28 degrees in late afternoon.

We left St Pancras on the Eurostar at 1022, after a dreadful night’s sleep in a hotel in St Pancras right on a busy main road. However we did enjoy a very happy evening last night with Goddaughter Az in a nearby curry house.

The Eurostar all went reasonably smoothly despite being so much more complicated now since Brexit. Another example of the utter stupidity of Brexit. Sadly you don’t see much of the countryside as most of the way the line is sunk into a cutting. And, of course, the train is travelling at about 180mph. Lots of whizzing!

Paris was warm but refreshing and it was an easy walk from the Gare du Nord to the Gare de l’Est. We were a little confused as to where our train departed from but we soon worked it out and arrived tickets in hand to the right quai. Tickets in hand but nobody or machine to check them, either in Paris or Bar-sur-Aube. The train was very full as far as Troyes. We wondered how many of the passengers had bothered with tickets!

In Bar the flags were still up by the Mairie advertising the forthcoming Tour de France stage, and the gardens had been rejuvenated in the square since we were last here in April.

Having found our hotel the Pomme d’Or and checked in, we spent the rest of the afternoon sizing up and adjusting Julie’s new rucsack.

Tomorrow will be warm so we’ll go for an early start, and see if we can get to Clairvaux before the heat becomes oppressive. We’re going to have to get used to this. They’re forecasting 38 degrees for the weekend!

We have enjoyed several weeks of R&R at home, but the time is drawing near to get going again. Tom has enjoyed several days of fishing during the mayfly season and Julie has worked, but we’ve done very little walking. Somehow we just didn’t fancy it much! Panic set in last weekend and we had a lovely walk through woods near the IoW prisons, onto the coast path and back to Cowes. Just long enough to remind ourselves how to do it rather than regaining any lost fitness, but great views and nice to see the sunshine after a grey bank holiday weekend.

The next stage of our pilgrimage will see us resume at Bar-sur-Aube to walk on through France, over the border into Switzerland just after Pontarlier, along the eastern shores of Lake Geneva, up over the Grand St Bernard pass, and down the Aosta valley to Vercelli on the edge of the Po valley. We are aiming to get to Vercelli by late July, by which time it will be too hot to continue across the Po valley. That’s the plan. However, just as we were nearly scuppered by P&O ferries with our last Channel crossing, so we are fervently hoping not to get caught up in a rail strike for this one. Fingers and toes crossed!

Apart from dealing with a mouse infestation which has damaged both our sofas and wishing we had a cat or dog – amazing what damage just four mice can do! – we have been sorting out our kit over the last few weeks. There have been two priorities: boots and weight.

As for boots, Tom has worn down the outer edges of his boot soles and will have to send them back to Scarpa for resoling. Fortunately the soles aren’t too worn for this to be done, and he had bought a second pair of the same boots last year in case they went out of production. New boots for the next stage. Sorted.

Julie’s boots have been more difficult to sort out. Even with plasters Julie’s wide feet, particularly the two small toes, took a hammering. So, a visit to a chiropodist plus toes socks and wider boots will hopefully be the solution.

The old boots had to be sent back to Scarpa as the rubber rand split from the leather, and the leather also split, allowing damp feet on those very wet days when the roads and tracks ran like rivers. Luckily, despite the two year delay in our walk, the boots were still within their warranty period. Sending them back has provided an excuse to look for lighter boots which still have robust Vibram soles to cope with tough alpine tracks and the inevitable road walking.

The next task is to cut down on the weight we’re carrying. Why is it that we think we need to carry more for a 5-6 weeks trip than we did for a few days, when we know there are shops in Europe, even if they are not to be found in every small village, and we have quick dry clothing?

We sent our silk sleeping bag liners back home with Rhyd as we realised we had no use for them. The Covid test kits and crocs (for use in communal showers) also went unused, so they too are out this time.

Much of the weight we are carrying is in toiletries, so the deodorants are also out. Who needs a deodorant when you’re outdoors pretty much alone all day and getting showered and changed as soon as you arrive at the evening destination? Tubes of stuff that are bigger than we need will be squeezed down to a more realistic size, like toothpaste, Savlon and shampoo. Julie liked the idea of a giant towel, but as that was hardly used it will be replaced with a smaller one for emergencies. As the advertising jingle goes, every little helps!

Then there is the clothing. We’ve been debating what weight of trousers to take. Last time we took shower proof lined trousers and mid weight quick dry ones, plus shorts which we didn’t use. The former are too hot in warm weather, though a real boon when it’s cold and wet, and even the medium weight trousers were too hot on sunny days. As we are going into summer we’re hoping the shorts will get good use this time and pondering whether to take light weight trousers instead of the thick ones. On the other hand, the mountains of the Jura and Alps could deliver cold and snow even during July, though apparently the winter snows melted early this year.

All this agonising seems very self indulgent when we recall that medieval pilgrims had no gortex or windproof gear, just linen and woollen garments which must have soaked up the rain! Our main priority has been to do all we can to keep the weight down which we reckon will have been the aim of every walking pilgrim since time immemorial.

Time to clear out the fridge and get going!

We woke to bright sunshine and crisp temperature – perfect weather for walking. Last night’s billet was very comfortable, and we enjoyed supper adjacent to the millstream, within sight of several chub feeding in the backwash. Tom particularly liked the way the table napkins had been folded!

It was with mixed feelings that we set off this morning for the last day of this tranche of our pilgrimage. We are quite tired, that’s true, and we’re looking forward to getting home for some rest and respite, and maybe a bit of fishing. However we’ve got ourselves into a routine which we shall miss, and there’s the beautiful countryside we’ve been travelling through. We also know that our state of fitness will diminish over the next few weeks at home before we return for the next stage.

We started the day with a steep climb up through the woods behind Nigloland, emerging out of the trees onto high ground above Dolancourt which was a mix of meadows with cowslips and arable crops.

On the way up through the woods we spotted several wild orchids, as well as other more common wild flowers.

In fact, the walk this morning took us in and out of woodland for several kilometres, before coming out onto high ground and an isolated farm. It was one of the prettiest stretches so far.

From the farm we had a steep descent, mostly on a winding country road, down into the pretty village of Fravaux nestled into the bottom of the valley.

On the way down we saw another type of orchid growing on the roadside, and the oak trees were just coming into leaf.

Fravaux had the usual array of aggressive guard dogs, but no one seemed to be around to control them! Outside the village we climbed back up another hill through a large vineyard. Most of the vineyards we’ve walked through have been on south facing slopes, but this one faced west.

Back into more lovely mixed woodland for a couple of kilometres of easy and pleasant walking in dappled shade.

In the woods we passed a number of derelict houses in a row, now overgrown with trees. Interestingly, they’d all been dismantled to a similar level about a metre above the ground. We wondered what they had been; who had lived in them?

Soon we were back onto the plateau, with huge fields of winter wheat spread before us. Needless to say there was the big spraying machine at work. Awful stuff. You can smell it from miles away. We hurriedly curtailed a rest stop as the tractor approached and scuttled back into the shelter of the woods.

Finally coming out of the woods we descended steeply into the Aube valley, with stunning views of Bar-sur-Aube and the countryside well beyond to the south opening in front of us.

There are extensive vineyards on the slopes around Bar-sur-Aube and a thriving champagne industry which gives the area a prosperous feel, despite the rather bleak look of acres of vineyards only just coming into leaf, especially when all other vegetation has been killed off by spraying. Interestingly, part of the vineyard above Fravaux had what looked like winter wheat sown between every other row, which made that section of the vineyard look more lush and green.

On the way down to the river at the bottom of the hill we passed through the satellite village of Proverville, on the north bank of the river, before crossing the bridge into the centre of Bar-sur-Aube.

Unusually the Mairie was not flying a Ukrainian flag, as we’ve seen in almost every town and village we’ve passed through so far, but it was proudly announcing that the Tour du France will be coming through in late July with some rather naff publicity and advertising of sponsors. The Mairie building itself is a former Ursuline convent built in 1643, part of which was burnt down in 1814 by prisoners locked in the chapel. It seems to have been well restored!

Having found the Collegiate church closed for a couple of years for major renovations we went to have a look at the other main church, Eglise Saint-Pierre, which was open. It has a wooden porch on the west end reminiscent of the wooden village churches we saw a couple of days ago with Matt. The main building is in simple romanesque style dating from the 12th century and, unusually, you go down several large semicircular stone steps on entering at the west end.

Inside, the church is simple and lacks the gilding and ornamentation of other churches of similar size. There was a statue of the Virgin Mary given in 2019 by a congregation in Portugal, and a notice alongside sternly asking whoever had taken pieces from it to return them as the donors were distraught about their loss.

Our last task was to find someone with a ‘tampon’ to stamp our pilgrim passports, particularly important as this is the last day of this section of our walk. With conflicting instructions from signs for the tourist office and google maps we opted to return to the Mairie nearby and found a helpful receptionist who was only too pleased to oblige with her stamp and wished us ‘bon courage!’

Little did she know that within the hour we would be whisked off by car by our nephew Matt and his fiancee Emily to an auberge we have stayed at several times on our whizzing drives southwards or northwards on the motorway. It is about 20 kilometes away at Mesnil Saint Pere adjacent to Lac d’Orient – the largest of the three lakes in the Aube valley – and would have taken us a day of walking but we were there within half an hour! The auberge happens to have a very good restaurant suitable for a double celebration, of Matt and Emily’s recent engagement and the completion of the second stage of our pilgrimage from Salisbury to Rome.

We have walked 922 kilometres from Salisbury and 658 kilometres from Canterbury. We are now two thirds of the way through France, and two fifths of the way to Rome! Curiously, for many weeks it has felt like we weren’t really getting far, but just by plodding along each day we have in fact covered a significant distance. As Polar Preet said, the key thing is just to keep going, focused in the moment, and not think about what you have or haven’t achieved that day.

It is slightly depressing to think that for every week’s walking Matt will drive an hour up the motorway to take us home, but we have got far more out of our stately progress through the countryside than we ever had by dashing through it in a car. Once rested and restored, we will be keen to get going on the next stage of the walk from Bar-sur-Aube on through France, into Switzerland around Lake Lausanne and over the Grand Saint Bernard pass, into northern Italy and the Aosta valley.

Finally, we would like to thank all our supporters and encouragers. It has really helped us to keep going, knowing that there are friends and family looking out for us and cheering us on, especially during those late afternoon slogs to get to our billet which is further away than we really wanted! It has also been a real pleasure to share some of the walking and to chew the cud with Julie’s cousins, Rhyd and Matt. We would be very pleased to have company again when we resume in June, whether to walk or share meals. For anyone interested, we will get on with putting together an outline itinerary just as soon as we’ve done the laundry and cleaned the boots!

We had difficulty getting to sleep last night because our room was over the communal ablutions and recorded ‘musack’ started up every time someone went in there – we mainly got the benefit of the bass beat, which was especially irritating after the soothing choral music we’d heard in the church earlier! Unfortunately the owners were not about before we left this morning to suggest that they turn off the musack in the evenings – or preferably do without it. We did like their little electric Citroen though!

This morning was overcast but dry. We walked the 100 metres to the boulangerie early to collect croissant and fresh bread for breakfast, and treated ourselves to our first cups of tea with breakfast for over a month. Our experience is that it is never a good idea to ask for tea in France. We also had a very interesting fruit juice we’d bought in the epicerie last night, comprising juices of orange, carrot and lemon – excellent for giving you energy, according to the shop owner. It was actually very good.

On the outskirts of Dienville there is a large flour mill and enormous chicken rearing sheds, bounded by prairie fields of arable crops. We also noticed a well established encampment of caravans and tin shacks discretely tucked behind a hedge beyond the flour mill, and wondered whether the inhabitants might be migrant workers, but we didn’t think it appropriate to go over and ask!

Our track took us across flat arable land initially before we joined a minor road to cross the River Aube near the village of Unienville. The river looked very attractive with riffles and pools, clear water and flowing well, but there we couldn’t see any fish.

We then had to make a decision on our route. Should we take the official VF path up onto the ridge to the west and the Foret d’Aube, or a more direct route using farm tracks in the valley and go up onto the ridge later? We opted for the latter and turned left to walk through the hamlet of L’Autre Monde which is in the commune of Unienville – is that a tautology?

Further on the road crossed over a canal, part of the flood relief scheme for the Seine valley, connecting Lac d’Amance to the Aube river. In effect these Foret D’Orient lakes are used to hold water high up in the catchment during periods of high rainfall, to be released at at a steady rate. We were saddened to see that the water was constrained into a concrete channel, completely at odds with and disconnected from its surrounding environment. Wouldn’t it have been so easy to build it in a more sympathetic way?

Just over the canal we took a dirt road off to the right, and followed it for several kilometres between fields and, at times, between hedgerows with mature trees. Wherever there were trees there was lots of birdsong, but out in the fields only the larks sang for us. It was good, easy walking.

However, all good things come to an end eventually and so we began the short uphill climb onto a farmland plateau, passing numerous large stacks of chopped and split wood, presumably being weathered before being sold for kindling. We’d already noticed that many houses in this area have their own quite large stacks of logs in the garden.

Just before the top of our climb we passed a delightful small cabin with wonderful views out over the valley, and wondered who lives or holidays in such a special location.

Once at the top there were more very large stacks of chopped and split wood. As there was no other obvious place to sit for as far ahead as we could see – the track was just running across level ground – we decided to stop for an early lunch at the wood pile. In fact, as we were going to be too early arriving at tonight’s lodgings, we lingered for a siesta in the sun. Beats working every time!

Our onward track took us across a plateau of arable land with occasional far distant glimpses of other areas of high ground, but a lot of the time we could see only the vast field we were in. The larks were singing their little hearts out for us!

After passing an isolated farm and crossing more vast fields, we suddenly descended into a wooded valley and then came upon the main road into Dolancourt.

Dolancourt is known for its theme park, Nigloland, which is owned by two Romanians. We could hear the screams of pleasure, or was it fear, from some distance! It is, apparently, very popular and attracts many visitors every year.

We first had to negotiate the fast main road, but fortunately there was space for us to walk on the field margin and avoid dicing with speeding traffic on the road. Once off the main road we passed through a couple of small vineyards, and got a closer look at Nigloland across the vineyards.

We don’t know what it’s called, but the tower is used to take people up sitting on a sort of doughnut with legs dangling outwards. After they’ve admired the view, and built anticipation, the doughnut drops with gravity before screeching to a halt before it hits the ground – and there was a lot of screeching as it descended too! Not our idea of fun. For Tom it is too reminiscent of descending too fast in a mine cage when the automatic braking kicks in.

As we were still too early to get into our hotel we attempted, without success, to have a look at the church. Its nave is apparently 12th century and the rest of the building is gothic, but significant changes were made during the 19th century. It is probably very nice inside!

Highlights of the day: siesta by the woodpile.

Our lodgings were very comfortable, and supper was enhanced by delicious freshly picked radishes grown in our hosts’ garden! We were relieved to learn the outcome of yesterday’s presidential elections, but disappointed to hear that with so many Ukrainians losing their lives defending democracy, 28% of the French electorate had not turned out to vote! Our host’s view was that Macron would be better for us, but maybe not for the French. This we found puzzling.

This morning was sunny initially, and then there was a short sharp shower whilst we were breakfasting. By the time we were ready to leave the rain had stopped and the clouds were lifting. Our route out of the village took us past gardens with cloches full of lettuces and leeks ready to be picked – spring is certainly well ahead here.

There is a substantial tree and shrub nursery business based in Precy Saint Martin, and they grow grapes too. Sadly, they also spray to eliminate weeds and were out doing so today. We resisted the temptation to persuade them that spraying herbicide is so damaging.

We walked along a ridge for the first hour, passing areas of woodland and fairly small fields in between. Eventually we descended into the village of Saint-Leger-sous-Brienne where, yet again, the church was locked.

Leaving the village we climbed back uphill onto another ridge, giving us good views back over the flood plain of the Voire, which we had crossed yesterday and the ridge beyond. In small patches in the fields there were small vineyards, some of which had not been tended for some time as they were completely overgrown.

Once on top of the hill our route took us along tracks through mixed deciduous woodland, until we came to the edge of Brienne-le-Chateau where there was an arboretum consisting of a wide variety of trees, all labelled but a bit too close together to appreciate the variety of their shapes and forms. Further on we passed horse paddocks and what looked like small plots on which people park their holiday caravans, as we’ve seen previously in Brittany.

Our arrival at Brienne-le-Chateau was unremarkable in that we couldn’t actually see the chateau for trees and high walls. The entry gate is underneath the driveway to the chateau, and there are some pretty timbered houses lining the streets. We need to do some more research on the history of the chateau, but we understand that it has a military past and that Napoleon either owned it or otherwise used it.

The town itself has seen better days and seemed quite run down, with few shops. Most of them were closed today as it is Monday. A boulangerie was open, though, so we were able to buy a couple of small, light and tasty quiches for lunch as a welcome change from our usual bread and cheese.

Having restocked on tomatoes and oranges in the supermarket, we headed out of town, in effect walking most of the way around the chateau’s grounds. We then worked out that all the modern housing in the grounds and high surrounding fence contained a psychiatric hospital. Sadly, it looked as if staffing levels in France limit patients’ access to the grounds, just as they do in the UK, as we saw no one outside except for grounds maintenance staff.

On the west side of the château we turned off the road and onto what was once the main carriage drive lined by an avenue of tall trees. This gave a good view back to the château itself.

The next several kilometres of walking took us through mixed woodland on some quite muddy tracks where the sun had not penetrated to dry off last night’s rain. There were lots if wild flowers and much birdsong, making for very pleasant walking.

On this path we came close to the river Aube, though initially we were about 50 feet above it with just the occasional glimpse through the trees which are now so full of leaf it was impossible to get a good look at it – or to get a photograph. Apparently in medieval times the Aube river was used to float logs down to supply the King’s need for heat in his Parisian palaces.

Approaching Brienne-la-Vielle we crossed a railway line which looked like it hadn’t been used in a long time. Note the very old style telegraph pole beside the line!

Brienne-la-Vielle has an Ecomusee, or museum of rural life, with old agricultural machinery and explanations of how people lived on the land in the past. Amusingly one of the posters mentions the ‘old’ practice of leaving land fallow every 3 years and using animal dung for fertiliser….as would an organic farmer today. A lesson for the big agribusinesses flooding the land and rivers with chemical fertilisers and pesticides, perhaps?

More woodland walking brought us out into fields and in sight of our destination, Dienville, beside the first and smaller of the three lakes in the Aube valley, Lac d’Amance. These lakes supply Paris with water, and control flooding of the Seine, as well as being a tourist attraction. At Dienville there is a Port complete with Capitenerie.

Another couple of kilometres brought us into Dienville, with its mix of old wooden houses and more substantial stone buildings.

Here we again crossed the Aube river, and Tom was pleased to spot a shoal of good grayling in a patch of gravels near the bridge. There is a very impressive looking church the other side of the bridge and market hall just behind, making for a grand entrance to this small town.

The church is dedicated to St Quentin and was built in the 16th century. Inside the church is light and airy. A recording of well known choral music (Locus Iste, Cantique de Jean Racine, etc) starts playing as you enter. We can confirm that there is a good acoustic in there too!

At the back of the church there are two locked glass cabinets containing the silverware that was once used during services in local churches, and in the other cabinet statues taken from those churches. Quite why these items have been taken away from their local communities is a mystery to us, but then we couldn’t understand why you would manage a problem with theft of objects by preventing anyone from going into the church rather than locking away the objects (but not removing them from legitimate use).

Back on the street we eventually found the boulangerie where we will go to buy tomorrow’s breakfast as our chambres d’hotes doesn’t provide breakfast. The epicerie was open, so we have fruit juice and milk for tea in the morning. Our room is adjacent to a communal kitchen, so perhaps even tea in bed in the morning?!

Later, we walked up the road to the lake where there are three restaurants to choose from for supper, none of which was very appealing. We were surprised to see that no kayaking, sailing or windsurfing is allowed on this lake though there are motorboats moored in the ‘port’. Perhaps we will find that water sports are allowed on one or both of the other two bigger lakes that are nearby.

Highlights of the day? Beautiful countryside, great views back to where we’ve walked from, lovely woodland walking. And seeing grayling in the pristine river Aube.