Pilgrimage from Chaumont to Rolampont 26/06/07

I was wrong!!!

Not only did it bucket down last night but it was windy as well. I didn’t pack all my stuff up last night as I was a bit lazy so most things are soaked! Luckily I was not silly enough to leave any electronics out so there was no real damage done. I still wasn’t very happy though.

We left the camp ground pretty late as I had tried to make an attempt to dry my stuff out. It didn’t work…

As we left we met a cool Kiwi couple who were touring around Europe in a van, we decided to do lunch. Of course there was no better place we could think of than McDonalds.

The girl was a nurse and hearing of Dan’s rotting foot, much to Dan’s dismay ;) , told him he should not walk on it for a few days to dry it out. So he will train it about 120kms down the road to Besancon.

I figured that before I started walking I needed to dry some stuff out so I headed to the laundry mat. I made a bit of a scene as I spread shit out everywhere but the best thing was when I put my shoes in the dryer. Everyone thought I was mad but luckily I had checked with the owner before and she didn’t mind :)

I was also sick of walking hungry so I stocked up on food from the super market. The extra weight wasn’t nice but it beat being hungry.

The walk was great. I was back along the canal and the rain had mostly stopped. I made about 30kms before once again finding a motorway bridge. Thinking that a bit of noise was worth it in exchange for staying dry I camped there.

Pilgrimage from Mussy-S-Marne to Chaumont 25/06/07

I was awoken at 5am this morning by cars whizzing by about a feet away from my head. It appears that this small little road isn’t so quiet in the mornings. I also didn’t get much sleep as the trucks above make a real racket and I think someone had to change their tyre above me.

I got going around 05:30 and made it to the first town at 07:00. Just in time for the bar to open but surprise surprise, no food :( The bakery was also having a day off so I had to survive on a Snickers for breakfast.

It was still about 15kms to Chaumont, the next big town, so I was really hoping one of the towns in between would be able to supply me with some nourishment. I only ate a single kebab yesterday as well…

It was not looking good. I was still about 4kms out of Chaumont and I felt like I was going to pass out. My body was aching, I was tired, and I felt like I was about to throw up my only source of energy, the Snickers I ate for breakfast.

And then it started to rain. It pissed down! The only good thing about it was it took my mind off vomiting :) And then to really top it off, the last 1km into town was straight up hill!!!

So as you can imagine, by the time I got into town I was a wreck. The first place I spotted with food was a bakery and I went and stuffed myself. It was great!

The food warmed me up a bit, which was well needed as it was freezing! I wasn’t expecting it to get this cold here in the summer.

Then I went to town to try to find an internet café. The whole place was deserted! It didn’t take me long to realize that they had had a festival the night before. I asked one of the only shops that were open what was going on and the shop keeper explained that because of the big party last night most of the shops wouldn’t open.

After finding a hotel which was kind enough to let me use their internet I went to try to find Dan. There was a caravan park on the edge of town so I thought that would be a good place to start. It was a good guess. He was just setting up as I arrived.

Dan’s toe is rotting away because of spending too much time walking in the rain so he trained it the last 25kms. It’s not looking so good for him…

I figured because I hadn’t been eating much I should go and eat something nice. The staff at the hotel had been so friendly today I went back there for dinner. I had Salad, foie gras (naughty I know but God it tastes good :) ), fillet mignon, a cheese platter and of course chips. It was amazing.

I wasn’t so sure about camping earlier today as I thought it might rain again, but when I went back after dinner it was all blue sky. It looks like I made a good choice…

Pilgrimage from Laneuville-A-Bayard to Mussey-Sur-Marne 24/06/07

We slept in once again this morning but it was well needed. Dan was still getting ready coming up to 11am so I decided to start walking alone.

It was also good to have some time to think as it was still bothering me why people need to find some greater meaning in everything they do. Or why I don’t???

Is there something missing in my life that things like this seem to fill…or am I happy doing these things because there isn’t anything missing in my life at all, so it doesn’t really matter how I spend my days…

I still don’t know…

I managed to make it to the first major town by 2pm but everything was shut as it was Sunday. Everything that is except a kebab store of course ;) Then I waited around for Dan but he was nowhere to be seen.

I left town by 18:00 and on the way out I was once again contemplating what people get out of pilgrimages and why they do them. Then as I stopped to read a poster on this wall a man came running out of his house and dragged my in for a drink.

It was the weekly meeting of the local evangelists. Nobody spoke any English and no sooner had I coffee and biscuits in hand, being good evangelists, they all tried at once in perfect French to ensure I was on the path to Jesus. I told them that I was on the path to Rome…this seemed to keep them happy :)

It was great to once again be invited in out of the cold by some caring people. To me this is exactly what doing a pilgrimage is about. Leaving yourself open to the kindness of the universe…

Unfortunately, getting my mind back on track didn’t translate into the physical universe because I was soon trudging through paddocks unable to relocate the canal. I followed the train tracks for a while before getting on to the highway.

There was lightning and thunder all over the horizon but luckily very little rain. I walked until midnight then as it started to drizzle a bit harder I took shelter under a highway bridge. After a few minutes I decided this is where I should sleep. I didn’t really feel any desire to put my tent up in the rain…

Pilgrimage from Vitry-Le-Francois to Laneuville-A-Bayard 23/06/07

We were freezing cold when we woke up this morning. It was still raining on and off so neither of us was keen to make a move.

During a brake in the rain we emerged into the town square and headed straight for a café.

The rain was to continue on and off the whole day which made for slow progress. When it wasn’t raining it was too hot to wear our rain gear so it was “stop, start, stop, start” the whole day.

We were starving by the time we arrived in St Dizier at around 18:00 and I was having dreams of spaghetti or stake frittes but it didn’t appear like I would be in luck. The only food they sell here are kebabs. I think it must have more kebab shops per head of population than any other city in the world!

But we did find one little pasta restaurant and it was great!!!

After dinner we went and crashed in the main square for an hour so we could continue walking tonight.

It was then into a café for a couple more cups of coffee. We started videoing ourselves and Dan started questioning the whole idea of what we were doing. He doesn’t see the point and I couldn’t really help him :)

I remember the same thing happened with the camino in Spain. About two weeks into it everyone looks at what they are doing and thinks that it is mad. It is quite amusing.

So then it was back to the canal. We only made it about 10kms before deciding that we must have walked at least 15-18kms and called it a night.

Pilgrimage from Chalons-En-Champagne to Vitry-Le-Francois 22/06/07

It was always going to be a late start after last nights effort…

Over dinner yesterday, we decide that we would try to walk 150kms in the next four days…Well 3½ days, today was always going to be a bit of a write off. We noticed that we could follow a canal all the way and figured that it must stay pretty flat.

The only reason I managed to drag myself out of bed before lunch was to go get my computer. They told me it was fixed but after 15 minutes of use it crashed again! This gave us a good excuse to wait till 2pm when the shop opened again. It ended up costing €30 for them to tell me that it was just the battery. Funnily enough, this is what I had tried to tell them yesterday but they didn’t understand English. But at least now I know for sure :)

So as it was getting later and later and rainier and rainier our enthusiasm to start walking was diminishing. Finally around 17:00 we thought it was “now or never”.

Apart from the wet it ended up being quite an OK walk. With thoughts of a Friday night out on the town when we got to Vitry we managed to walk 30kms.

Unfortunately, neither of us were checking the time so when we stumbled into town at 01:30 all the bars had shut! It was very disappointing.

So feeling very wet and miserable we crashed out in the main square with the idea of continuing walking after a short rest. After five minutes we realized this was just not going to happen, so spotting a stage that had been left over from the previous nights celebrations, we took shelter.

Because we were wet and it was still raining we just slept in our clothes without sleeping bags. Needless to say we didn’t get much sleep.

Chalons-En-Champagne 21/06/07

I have found that when I drink too much alcohol I get irritated and depressed. I am definately drinking too much so it was no surprise that this morning I was irritated and depressed :)

My computer is broken, i have lost my hat and it is raining.

It didn't stop me from once again having a champagne breakfast though ;) This gave everything the appearance of being good once again.

Dan stopped at a cafe in the middle of town before leaving so I could run back to where a thought I had left my hat. When I returned I was still hatless but Dan had made friends with a band that was setting up for a show tonight.

We found out that they were part of a huge music festival to be held here. Of course we couldn't miss this! It was straight back to the hostel.

It was well worth staying! The whole city was full of people but the strangest thing was that nobody danced. Even at the "house and techno" tent in the park at 2am the crowd was still. It was very bizzare but a great night anyway.

Pilgrims Needed!!!

Hi guys :)

I am writing this to invite anyone who is interested the chance to walk with us. We are trying to get a film/documentary made while we walk so an extra set of hands or two would be great.

If you like to walk, drink, eat, laugh, party, any of the above, or none of the above we would love for you to come along.

If you can make it for a day or a month it doesn't matter. The more the merrier we say.

Hope to hear from you...

Ben :)

Pilgrimage from Ludes to Chalons-En-Champagne 20/06/07

I find it amazing that we can sleep in when sleeping outdoors. We didn't wake up till 9am this morning and after a wonderful champagne breakfast headed off around 10am.

The morning walk was a lovely stroll through the forrest. We even managed to spot some wild pigs. There seems to be a lot of them around.

The first couple of towns had a few wineries but we had seen on the map a town by the name of Bouzy so we thought this sounded much more like us and pressed on.

Bouzy was great. At first none of the wineries wanted to let us in, telling us that they didn't do tasting. One guy even had a sign above his door saying "open for tasting" and still did't let us in. When we pointed out the sign he was a bit embarrased but then just laughed and told us to go away :) it was very amusing...

i think it might have had something to do with not showering for two days ;)

But then we found finally found a champage house to take us in. (I will have to get the names later because i don't have them on me). The woman was extremely friendly and soon had us laughing with a wonderful little champagne buzz.

We thought that would do us for the day but just as we were leaving town another winery caught our eye. Luckily we stopped because their Pinoit Noir was AMAZING! All the red wine made in this town is called "Bouzy Rouge" :) I had to buy some. The woman here was also great. She spoke perfect English and filled us in on some of the subtelties of the champagne business.

It was then 16:30 before we left and we still had another 20kms to go.

The first 15kms were great. We walked along a canal with trees for shade and an otter or two swimming around. But then it started to hurt.

The last 5kms into Chalons were painful. We didn't get into town till 22:30 but luckily the hostel was still open. I wouldn't have been able to make it much further.

Pilgrimage from Reims to Ludes 19/06/07

It was a bit touch and go once again about whether we would start walking today or not. Dan was looking for any excuse he could to stay, but finally we made the move. We are back to being pilgrims!!!

Once again we were planning on getting an early start but it just doesn’t seem to happen. We slept in, missed breakfast and then checked out from the hostel around 11am.

I needed to get my passport stamped so we stopped back in to the cathedral and then grabbed a sandwich for lunch.

It wasn’t until around 15:00 that we finally left the city. It felt great to be walking again. The body has recovered, all the blisters have dried up and we both feel fitter than when we started.

The great thing about this part of the walk is of course the abundance of wineries. It is incredible! The first little town we came to probably had a population of 100 and about 20 “Champagne Houses”. Most of them weren’t very interested in having smelly pilgrims sampling their wares but finally we managed to win someone over :)

The winery was Coquert-Benard in Ludes and Mrs Bernard was a gracious host. She showed us around the gardens and ensured that when we left we had some home-made rhubarb dessert and some champagne biscuits for the journey.

From our brief samplings we have to say that the smaller wineries have much finer champagne than any of the mass produced stuff.

We bought a bottle to have with dinner but realized we didn’t have any glasses. Dan went and asked the local bar owner if we could buy some, but because they were kind enough to give them to us without charge, we decided we better stop for a beer.

They were big movie fans so Dan and the owners were soon deep in discussion about actors, directors and whatever else it is that movie fans talk about. One beer soon turned into three but we did finally manage to drag ourselves away before dark.

Dan seems to have got his head together again and is looking in much better spirits. I’m glad he’s decided to keep at it. There are times when I think he is going to chuck it in.

Another 1km down the road and Dan realized that he forgot his staff. I stopped to mind the bags and Dan ran back. This turned into a blessing because a big storm was just about to brake when he returned. Where we had stopped was an old shooting range so we found shelter in there for the night.

The storm had the loudest thunder I have heard in a long time. Absolutely amazing! The whole building was shaking. It felt great not to be in our tents.

Reims 18/06/07

We really are going really slow!!!

Dan is struggling to get his head around walking again so we are having another day off. When we look at a map of what we have done compared to what we have to do it is quite depressing ;)

I also tried to stay off the booze today….But I failed miserably :) I managed to make it to the early afternoon just bumming around and catching up with everything I needed to do on the net. But when we went for dinner Dan was feeling depressed and needed a beer so being a good friend I joined him. Then when we got back a cool American couple invited us to share a bottle of champagne with them. Thanks guys!

After that I decided I better say goodbye to Vincent who has been showing us around over the last few days so it was off to the Irish pub for a few more pints.

But we are determined to start walking tomorrow!

Reims 17/06/07

Great to have another lazy day…

People come from far and wide to see the cathedral here in Reims, so I figured I better go check it out. I have been in town now for one and a half days and still haven’t done anything I came to do :)

The cathedral was impressive. It had an extremely high ceiling as well as some great stained glass. Very cool!

And then it was off to McDonalds for lunch. I don’t know why we keep doing it??? It could just be the name of the “Mythic Chicken Burger” but I think it also helps that the meal deals come with beer ;)

So before long we were once again sitting in the sun, watching the people go by having a quiet drink.

I did have one drama today though. I realized that I had left my jacket somewhere during my drunken exploits. This was quite depressing. But to make it worse, when Dan got his pilgrims passport stamped at the cathedral I realized that mine was in my jacket pocket!!! What’s a pilgrim to do without a passport?

But all was not lost. I managed to get hold of one of the guys whose place I had been at Friday night and he had my jacket. What a relief! It was a good excuse to have some celebratory beers…which we did ;)

Then it was off to see the latest Tarentino movie. Very strange, and a bit over the top but well worth watching.

Pilgrim life has definately taken a turn for the better...

Reims 16/06/07

Finally a day off!!!

I didn’t wake up till after lunch today and was defiantly feeling worse for wear!

Dan was sensible and had left me to it the night before. I thought I would try to go track him down. I couldn’t…

At one of the bars I went to yesterday I happened to meet a girl who worked as a tour guide at one of the big champagne houses. She told me if I could be there by 15:30 she could give me a free tour so I thought I better go check it out.

It was well worth it. It was pretty cool walking around all the caves and learning how they make the stuff step by step. But of course the best part of the tour came with the tasting! My stomach wasn’t too impressed but after the first glass it recovered ;) thanks Fanny…

I then went and tracked Dan down at the youth hostel and finally got the chance to use the internet. It has been a while!

This is also the first rest day I’ve had so far. It’s been great. I think I will do it again tomorrow :)

Pilgrimage from Pontavert to Reims 15/06/07

We were about 25kms away from Reims, which is a big town, so I wanted to get an early start and get there around lunch time. It wasn’t to be….

Dan was going a bit slow so I left him still in his tent at around 08:30. It was great to get some food from the bakery and after demolishing that I headed off. It wasn’t long though that something didn’t feel right. I had left my bloody staff behind. I couldn’t believe it but I knew I had to go back and get it.

Dan was just finishing packing when I got back so we went for coffee. It wasn’t till around 10:30 that we finally left town.

The walk was pretty boring as we were next to a main road but then finally we found what we had been waiting for the whole trip…a winery!

After getting really excited we knocked on the door only to be told that they were closed for lunch. Luckily we had our staffs though because the man then recognized us as pilgrims and let us in anyway.

Francis is a fifth generation wine maker and obviously loves his job. He was a real gentleman and took the time to explain all about the champagne process. It was a real treat to have this as our first winery experience. And out of the 12000 wineries in the Champagne region he is one of only 20 that grows organically. Check out his website at http://www.champagne-boulard.fr/

Then it was off to Reims. The first thing we wanted to do was eat but once again we had our timing wrong. The restaurants weren’t serving food so we found a greasy chicken van on the side of the road. This ended up being a blessing as we started talking to these two French guys who invited us back to there house to eat. Cheers guys!

After a few wines, way too many beers and a couple of glasses of champagne I found myself playing poker at one of there friend’s houses at about 5am. It wasn’t pretty…

Pilgrimage from Laval-En-Laonnoise to Pontavert 14/06/07

I only managed to get a couple of hours sleep last night but at least no-one came and found me on the church steps.

After a quick breakfast of fruit and nuts I was actually feeling quite good. The morning walk was really pleasant but none of the towns had a café. I stopped for more fruit and nuts at around 10am and was surprised to see Dan walk into town. He had kept walking for a few hours the night before as well but took a completely different route. We were lucky to meet back up.

He told me that there was a restaurant a few kms down the road so I decided to leg it down there. They had coffee but weren’t serving food. I was going hungry for a while longer.

We passed along a lake which probably would have been quite beautiful once upon a time but now was being turned into a huge resort. There was construction everywhere.

I haven’t showered for the last three days so it was tempting to go for a swim. It was lucky we didn’t though because the lake was right next to a golf course and judging by the sludge on the surface it wasn’t so clean.

We had spotted this place on our map called “Cavern Du Dragon” which we figured we would have to go and check out. Running the last few hundred meters as it started to rain was a mission and when we finally got there we were exhausted. Running with 20kgs on your back is just plain stupid! ;)

I was hoping for beer and food but all they had once again was coffee. This place was a WW1 memorial but we were too tired to look around and just collapsed in the canteen.

It wasn’t till after 16:00 that we finally left and I was REALLY needing some food. The first town had nothing so we thought we would head for the closest “biggish” town nearby which was 6km away. We got there at around 19:00 only to find that the restaurant closed at 15:00!!! We weren’t happy and feeling very demoralized we sprawled on the footpath for an hour. My legs couldn’t make it any further without food so we found a patch of grass and camped here for the night.

Pilgrimage from Septvaux to Laval-En-Laonnoise 13/06/07

Today was another great day.

We survived the bugs and managed to get off to a reasonably early start. The first town we came to had a little café so we stopped for coffee.

The main feature of town was a mental hospital so there were quite a few strange people around. As we were leaving town one of the more strange ones tried starting up a conversation with us. Since he was speaking in French we weren’t even sure he was talking to us but I muttered that I didn’t speak understand anyway as we walked past. Finding out we spoke English made him even more excited before long he had invited us in for a drink. Being good pilgrims we couldn’t refuse. All he had in the fridge was rosé...so rosé for morning tea it was. Antoine is his name and he is a champion. He kept us entertained and laughing for over an hour. It was great!

As we went to leave he decided he had a present for me so rushing back inside he came back with a perfect walking staff. I was very impressed. Thanks Antoine :)

The walking was really nice through these parts. We were trying to stay off the roads as much as possible but at one point we lost the track and went a bit off course. Looking at the map we should have been 2kms south. We came across an intersection with three roads heading in roughly a south direction but none of them were on our map. I have a feeling nature was trying to give us signs to avoid going down any of them but we weren’t listening. Firstly, we saw a dead crow just before the crossing, then while we were trying to decide which road to take I trod on Dan’s staff and broke it and to top it off just to make it clear a farmer came by and told us that all these roads were dead ends and “NOT TO TAKE ANY OF THEM”.

Well…we didn’t listen to any of these signs and compass in hand headed off. It wasn’t long before the road did end and we were trekking through waist high nettles. It was worse for Dan as he had shorts on but we both got pretty stung. Then we came to a stream that was about knee deep but with a muddy bottom that seemed extremely soft. Neither of us was keen to test the mud so while we were looking for a place to cross we realized that we were in a hunting lane. There were platforms set up every 50m or so. It didn’t appear to be a good place to be wandering so after about 15mins of searching for a crossing point we had to give up and head back.

This is one of the worst things that can happen to you as a pilgrim. Walking for a couple of hours and ending up back where you started. Our arms and legs were stung to the buggery and we weren’t impressed! We were also covered in ticks but luckily we managed to shake them off before they dug in.

So now we decided that we would give up on the walking trails for a while and stick to the main roads.

When we stopped for a rest at the next town Dan went to ask someone for water and before we new it we were in this wonderful little house with an amazingly friendly French family for dinner. A big thankyou to the De Clerk family. You are wonderful people.

After dinner and a few glasses of wine they offered us a place to stay but considering we hadn’t actually made it very far today we thought we should get some more kilometres under the belt before stopping.

It was around midnight before we left and five minutes after walking out the door it started pissing down with rain. It was really looking like we had made a wrong decision!

The roads aren’t very well marked in these parts so it wasn’t long before we were lost once again. Dan was keen to set up camp and wait till morning but because it was wet I was more inclined to keep walking. I found a small track which appeared to go in the right direction so Dan reluctantly followed. After a few hundred meters we were going down quite a steep hill ankle deep in mud. I was finding it all quite amusing but Dan obviously wasn’t. I think he had followed me into one too many stupid situations today because when I emerged from the track on to the main road Dan was nowhere to be seen :) He was either eaten by a Yowie or turned back.

So now it was around 2am, still looking like it was going to rain and I was all by myself. But at least I now knew where I was.

The walk ended up being quite pleasant but I was sore when I finally stopped. Still not wanting to set the tent up in the wet I managed to find shelter in the foyer of a church. I think I would have looked quite a sight if anyone had seen me but it sufficed :)

Pilgrimage from Tergnier to Septvaux 12/06/07

Today was what being a pilgrim is all about! It was great!

We arose around 9am and decided to go have a McBreakfast. We unpacked our bags at the back of the restaurant and then continued to plug in all our electronics to every power point we could find. We didn’t leave till after mid-day. I don’t know what they thought of us but at least they didn’t kick us out.

We also had the chance to stock up on rations and considering we have been going through stages of being hungry we both went a bit overboard. I ended up with about 5kg of food! Lunch was an amazing feast of different cheeses and ham. Mmmm…

The walking was at a leisurely pace and it wasn’t long before we were starting to climb some foothills into a forest. Finally we are leaving the bloody wheat fields behind!!!

We came to a beautiful little country town where every house was immaculate and met this young guy called Baptiste. He was really cool and decided he wanted to practice his English, so he walked with us for a kilometre. He then disappeared and turned up 15mins later driving a car. He offered us a lift to the next town and really couldn’t get his head round the idea that we wanted to walk. He did have beer in though so we found a place to sit and chat. He then went to get some cigarettes so we said we would meet him in the next town.

The place was Septvaux and it is beautiful as well. It had a 12th century abbey on a hill above the town and a great little restaurant. We sat around and had a few more beers before saying our goodbyes.

We then decided to camp in the forest a couple of kms down the road. The area was wonderful but there were more bugs, mosquitoes and creepy crawlies then I had seen in a long time. I got my first tick here as well…

Pilgrimage from Etreilers to Tergnier 11/06/07

I woke up pretty early this morning planning on having a big day. I was ready to go by 7am but Dan had still not made a move so we arranged to meet up at the first café.

The first town didn’t look like it had anything resembling a place to have breakfast so I trekked another 6kms down the road to the next one. I arrived around 07:45 and had two great cups of coffee before Dan staggered in at 9am.

We have an idea that we will try to drink whatever the locals are drinking in the bar/café we are in. Dan wanted to have a coffee and I didn’t feel like another one so looking at all the other customer’s drinks, it appeared like I’d have to have a red wine….which I did. I figured it was good warm-up for Champagne where we will no doubt be having a lot of “champagne breakfasts” ;)

Unfortunately the café didn’t serve food and there were no supermarkets in town. Once again it was destined to be a hungry day. It seems like in these parts it is only possible to by alcohol but not food. We were forced to live on beer all day! It’s a hard life being a pilgrim!

At about 18:00 we spotted a McDonalds advertisement which said “this way one minute”. We were starving so even though it wasn’t in the direction we wanted to head we went for it anyway. It took us 15 mins but it was well worth it.

Since we didn’t have any food on us and the McDonalds was next to a supermarket, which was closed, we decided to camp close by. We found a great little spot just down the road.

Pilgrimage from Peronne to Etreilers 10/06/07

After such a big walk yesterday Dan obviously wasn’t feeling like getting up too early! By 10:30 he was still nowhere to be seen. I was starting to think that he had gone out drinking after setting up his tent and hadn’t come back…

It gave me a good chance to dry out all my stuff though. Everyday till around 15:00 there has been a fog and there remains a lot of moisture in the air all day. It’s not so good for camping but it is great walking weather.

I also got a call from Renee this morning. It is really nice to here a familiar voice and I also got to speak to all my family which was wonderful. Thanks lil p :)

After Dan awoke we stuffed around for a bit, had a coffee and then didn’t start walking till after 12:00. We still managed to make 15km before stopping for dinner at this little pizza shop.

The funny thing was it didn’t open until an hour after we arrived so we decided to wait on the footpath until it did. The locals didn’t appear too impressed and all the houses in the near vicinity went and let their dogs out into their front yards. So for an hour we had to listen to this constant barrage of barking. It was very amusing and also well worth it because the pizza was amazing!

Then after a couple of beers we managed to stumble another 5kms down the road before finding this empty bit of land which looked perfect for camping. Luckily our next door neighbour didn’t mind so we were set for the night.

Pilgrimage from Boiry-Becquerelle to Peronne 09/06/07

What a boring day. Walking all by myself with nothing but wheat fields, wheat fields, and more bloody wheat fields!

I slept in a little bit and didn’t start walking till around 9am. I took it quite easy and managed to make around 20 km by early afternoon. I then ran out of water so I was forced to find a bar and have a few drinks…

One of the main differences I have noticed between this pilgrimage and the Camino De Santiago is that in Spain people are use to extremely smelly pilgrims making themselves at home in their villages. Here in France they are not. I have defiantly been receiving some strange looks :)

There were only two points of interest the whole day. One was a large ruin on a hill about 7kms out of town which I was meaning to ask about but forgot. And the other was a memorial to the Australian soldiers who took back St Quentin from the Germans in WW1.

My body was feeling great until the point of entering the town. It then it fell apart….

It really didn’t want to take me any further and the problem was multiplied by the fact that I couldn’t actually find the centre of town. It was horrible! I arrived at 18:30 but then didn’t manage to put up my tent until 20:00.

Peronne looked like a pretty cool town and being a Saturday night I would have liked to have gone out to a few bars. But after my shoes came off there was no way they were going back on before tomorrow. And even though it was early, I was already getting funny looks staggering around in my flip-flops.

And then around midnight I was awakened by a familiar voice…Guess who had walked all the way from Arras? Dan! He is crazy! He had decided that if he didn’t start walking again he probably never would…

Pilgrimage from Arras to Boiry-Becquerelle 08/06/07

A very lazy day today…

I drank way too much last night and if it wasn’t for the hostel kicking us out at 11am then I think I would have stayed in be all day :)

Went down and did some laundry, had a coffee, and then went to the internet.

Since Dan needed some time to recover I was seriously considering going to Belgium to party for the weekend. When I was out last night and was asking the locals where to go there were only two answers…”Paris, 45 minutes TGV” or “Brussels, only one hour away”. They both sounded pretty tempting!

But alas, it wasn’t to be…At about five in the afternoon I decided I better start walking.

I got about 1km out of town before deciding I better sit down and have a rest. I really wasn’t in the mood for walking! But not wanting to go back I soldiered on…for another 2kms anyway ;) It was then that I was reached the outskirts of town and considering I still wasn’t feeling inspired to walk anywhere, I figured I better have a couple of beers to motivate me.

The bar was pretty cool; it was full of the dodgiest looking characters I’d seen in a long time. The owner/bartender only had one arm and a pet parrot so he made for quite a sight himself. Everyone was really friendly though…

The beer didn’t really motivate me but it did make it easier to keep walking. I managed to get about 10kms out of town before my blood alcohol level seemed to be getting close to the very dangerous level of 0.00. Thinking it was Saturday night (even though it was only Friday) I decided I best find a bar to spend the rest of the daylight hours so I could pitch my tent as it was getting dark. Unfortunately, the only people in the town I was in were about 15, so when I asked them where I could find a bar they didn’t know but still informed me that they there was one in the next town, but not in the direction I was walking. I decided to try it anyway but was destined to be disappointed. The town was a ghost town! Not only no bar but also no people…

So that was my Friday night…After trekking back to the road I was taking I pitched my tent in a field.

Prayer List

This is one of the best things about doing a pilgrimage. Many people would like to but never get around to it, so ask us to say a prayer for them when we arrive. It is a great feeling to be able to walk for everyone!

This list will constantly get updated so we can remember everyone by the time we get there...

Margaret - Canterbury information centre
Denis and Caterine - Licques caravan park
Lucy and all the nuns at the Abbey of Notre Dame - Wisque
Antoinne - Fresnes
Francis Boulard - Reims
Noel and the entire village of Grenant
The Joyet family- Grancy
The entire village of Culli

Pilgrimage from Olhain to Arras 07/06/07

It was such a nice walk this morning but it was a shame it went so quickly. From the top of the mountain I walked down to the main road through the forest. It was only a small dirt track and it was great not to be walking on bitumen for a change.

As I was coming up to a crossroads this rabbit came hurtling around the corner full tilt and didn’t even spare me a glance. Before I had a chance to react this huge black dog appeared in hot pursuit. I thought it was going to go me for a second but then it too brushed passed missing me by inches. It was a shame that I didn’t get to catch it on video.

I took it easy for the rest of the day and arrived in Arras around 2pm. Unfortunately Dan had forgot to tell me that the reception of the hostel was closed between 11am to 5pm so I had to trudge back into town. It was a good excuse to have a beer though…
So Dan finally turned up at around 8pm and it was good to catch up. The funniest thing was that he did turn up to the abbey I was staying in but there was no one at reception. He waited out the front for 20 mins and then got told by a passer by that only females could stay there. So he went back to the other one. Hahahahahaha…..

His foot is also pretty bad. I think he will catch a bus a few days ahead and rest some more.

So after exchanging stories we decided to hit the town. The nightlife was OK but nothing special. This is a pretty cool town though.

Pilgrimage from Auchy-Au-Boise to Olhain 06/06/07

Today was a funny day. I started from my camp quite early, 07:30, with the hope of reaching Bruay-La-Buissiere before lunch. I wanted to be able to check the internet early to see if Dan was anywhere to be seen.

I stopped at a service station just out side of town to ask where an internet café was and the woman behind the desk was kind enough to let me use hers. No message from Dan though. I think he has caught that Easyjet flight to Greece that he keeps joking about.

I decided to go into town anyway and just bum around for a while it was a couple of kms out of my way but I had time to spare. I found a Post office and thought I should send some stuff back. I wanted to give it a week because I figured if I hadn’t used it in that time then I could probably do without it. I managed to skim off 4kgs.

Sending it was quite amusing; it reminded me of being in Japan. I went to the counter and told them I wanted to change some money and send my stuff. They informed me that I had to go to another counter to change money which I did. The woman there then bought me back to the original counter, and continued to do her thing. After finding out the exchange rate I decided to only change ₤100. She then disappeared and I was asked about my parcel. I explained that I wanted it to go the slowest way possible, by donkey would be perfect, but after checking on there computer they told me that it was too big to go the slow mail and had to be sent express??? So I asked about splitting it into two packages. This was going to halve the price!!! So after repacking them into two boxes they then asked me for a French address. When I explained that I didn’t have one they told me the parcels couldn’t go! After five minutes and much debate with the managers we decided to use the Post office as my address. It seemed simple enough to me. Then to top things off when they asked me to pay I passed across the ₤100. They then told me I had to send the parcels first and then change my money??? I was starting to get really confused??? After trying to explain that this was what I was actually doing first I had to pull out the Mastercard. funnily enough as soon as it hit the counter they decided that the money could actually be changed first??? I really did think that things like this only happened in Japan…

I then met a very lively woman at the Information centre. She was great! I explained that I wanted to find a camp ground between here and Arrass. There weren’t any open this time of year but she then told me about this wonderful place in the forest that catered for large groups and “tramps” as she humorously referred to me. I then asked her about internet and because she didn’t know of any, and the one in her office was broken, she invited me back to her house. A big thankyou Chris :)

But still no Dan…

So, after a couple of hours more walking, I finally came across the hostel for “tramps”. It was in the middle of nowhere and the whole place was booked out by a school camp! I must have turned quite pale (it was after 7pm and I was really looking forward to a hot shower) because they then decided they did have a room available for me in the infirmary :) It was all good. I got a room to myself, dinner and breakfast all for just €19.

And then just before I got kicked off the internet, guess who emailed me??? DAN! About time the slack bastard! He pushed himself a bit hard and “fucked his foot” but the good news is he is only 20kms ahead of me. I will see him tomorrow. Hopefully his foot isn’t too bad…

Pilgrimage from Wisque to Auchy-Au-Bois 05/06/07

I am starting to get my head around being a pilgrim again. My body is also starting to get use to the idea. I managed to walk the first 15kms today before lunch. I was very pleased with myself but then promptly fell asleep in a field. luckily after a couple of hours the farmer came and gave me a kick because if he hadn't I think I would have been there the night.

I walked another 10kms before dinner time and stopped into this place called “Auchy-Au-Bois”….now is it just me or does that sound very funny to others as well :)

The bar didn’t serve food but the one across the road would in another one and a half hours so this gave me a good excuse to get pissed, which I promptly did…

It was a really friendly bar and I wished my French was up to scratch. Every man who walked in had to shake everyone’s hand in the pub and every woman who came in had to give everyone a kiss on the cheek. I got caught out though because I started reading my book and a kid of about 7 came up and nervously stared at me from about half a foot away. After prompting from his father I realized he was waiting for a kiss on the cheek as well. The kids couldn’t even get away with not doing the rounds.

On realizing I was a pilgrim bound for Rome the bar owner promptly presented me with a big bottle of water and a big bottle of coke. I was very impressed with his generosity but I did cringe at the extra weight :)

So after 90 minutes I staggered across the road for dinner. When I asked for a menu I got the reply “stake frittes” (stake and chips). This was all they served but it didn’t bother me as it is probably what I would have had anyway.

I went to leave town about 8pm and I could see a bunch of trees off in the distance which I figured would be ideal for camping. They weren’t. So I was faced with the possibility of either camping in the wheat fields or continuing to walk. I didn’t like either option and probably because of the beers I decided to practice my French and ask if anyone minded if I camped in their yard. Amazingly enough, the first person I asked understood me and even more amazingly said “yes”. Once again I wished my French was better because they were quite keen to have a chat. Thanks anyway guys, It was greatly appreciated :)

But still no sign of Dan...

Pilgrimage from Licques to Wisque 04/06/07

Today was boring!!! Dan went to the Postoffice to send some of his stuff off so I decided to start walking alone. Not a good day for it!

It was flat wheat fields the whole way with only tiny towns in between. They didn't have any shops or restaurants so my ham and bread was soon finished. I was destined to walk the rest of the day hungry.

Dan never caught up...

All ended well though. We had been told that there was an abbey near Wisque that would put up pilgrims for free. I was not to be disappointed. The nuns at the abbey of Notre Dame not only put me up in a beautiful room but also gave me dinner and breakfast. I also got to watch evening prayers which was really special. The prayers were sung and the accoustics in the hall made it sound awsome!

It was great and to top it off there was even a wonderful young French girl who had been sent there by her parents to study for her uni exams. It was nice to get some female company so we sat up and talked for a while after dinner. Neither of us wanted to risk the wrath of God so we were well behaved and slept in our own rooms...well, she didn't want to risk the wrath of God, I figured I'd have enought time to walk off my sins ;)

Dan never appeared...

Pilgrimage from Guines to Liques 03/06/07

Today was a much better day...

We started a bit late, 11:00, but i was feeling much healthier than the day before. The walk took us through some national park which was beautiful.

We were once again aiming for around 20kms but it just wasn't to be. My feet started to really hurt after about 12km so when we rocked into this small town with a bar a couple of kms later I was glad to sit down for a beer.....well, it was more like sprawling out on the footpath for three beers, but nobody seemed to mind.

The bar lady informed us that there was a camping site 1km down the road so we decided that would be us.

It turned out to be great. Its the Pommiers des Trois Pays in Liques, run by an extremely friendly local couple, Dennis and Caterine. They built almost the entire park themselves over two years and you can feel that they have put a lot of love into it.

After an awesome dinner we sat round the bar drinking some local French liquor. After a few too many glasses I manged to get the best sleep I have had in a long time. Thanks guys, I hope to see you again sometime :)

Pilgrimage from Calais to Guines 02/06/07

Today was absolutely HORRIBLE! After totally overexerting ourselves yesterday we were feeling it today.

As we were sleeping in a public park we were lucky to be able to sleep in to 09:00. We were both very slow getting moving and by the time we had had breakfast, rested on the beach and read a bit it was 11:00.

The walk started OK and once we had a map we were looking good. Our aim was for a minimum of 20km with the first major town being 12km away. It didn’t take long before our bodies started to complain and we had to stop every few kilometres.

After about 10km we stopped in a small town of about of about 100 people to get some water. Unable to move any further we collapsed out the front of the only shop. It didn’t take long before the local “mafia” showed up to check us out. They were four kids about 16-17, dressed out of a gangster film (one even had pants with one short leg and one long leg), and keen to see what these strange foreigners were doing on there street corner. I have a feeling that after seeing us the first time, they only came back 15 minutes later to see if we had died so they could steal our stuff.

We did manage to hobble the next two kilometres to the bigger town where we were going to stop for lunch. Once again we collapsed in the first bit of shade we found but unfortunately we were not able to make it to a restaurant. We then had to take turns minding the stuff while the other went for food. Funnily enough it was only about 200m down the road but there was no way we were making it with our packs at that stage.

We were planning on trying to keep on going but we didn’t end up feeling like we could move until about 17:00, so we decided to stay in this town, Guineas. We had managed to stagger only 12km in about 6 hours! Things weren’t looking good.

I don’t know if it was just the smell of us or what, but amazingly enough the people at the campground recognized us as pilgrims! This was the first time anyone had done this since we started. (Even the information people at Canterbury cathedral had never heard of the Archbishop who had started this walk. They were very surprised when Dan pointed out his name one of their walls).

This was a turning point for us both. The people at the campsite were so friendly to us and gave a very good discount. They also gave us information on where we could stay for free in the next few days. It was just what we needed. Obviously the powers that be had wanted us to stay here…

Pilgrimage from Canterbury to Calais 01/06/07

It all started out really well today but it was very short lived. We left Canterbury at 07:00. There are a few different paths from Canterbury to Dover but the one we were hoping to take should have been about 30km. We lost the path for a while but found a different one so we decided to follow it. Luckily after 12km Dan spotted a signpost because after finding the trail again we had taken it in the wrong direction!!!! We still had 30km to go! And if we had kept walking we would have been back in Canterbury within the hour. Obviously this was quite demoralizing. Especially since we decided not to eat breakfast when we woke up but rather wait till the first café. It still hadn’t appeared..

So after this two extremely hungry and slightly subdued pilgrims started back on a 30km walk to Dover. We heard from some other people there was a bakery just off the track so I decided to track it down while Dan decided to carry on. The bakery ended up being about 1km away so gave it a miss as well. It was a blessing though to be able to walk by myself as I was starting to feel very sorry and sore. It was great to be able to rest whenever I felt like it!

After another 8km and still on an empty stomach I got a bit of relief. The signposts for the trail looked a bit dodgy to me so, not wanting to get lost again, I decided to follow the motorway. This led me to a caravan on the side of the road where these two lovely English girls made me the best “hotdog” I have ever eaten. They called it the “wide load” and it was more like a hot breakfast in a roll. Three eggs, bacon, tomato, sausage and mushrooms all piled into the biggest hotdog bun I had ever seen. It was AMAZING!!! Truly heaven sent J

After that my walk became pure torture. Having not trained before starting and having way too much weight in my backpack I was starting to become more and more demoralized. I was psychologically prepared for a 30km walk the first day but a 40km walk wasn’t doing it for me. Especially walking the next 20km along the motorway.

But after many rests, two blisters and many mp3 songs later I managed to stumble down to the ferry terminal at around 18:00. Luckily Dan had made it as well so we set straight off to Calais.

We arrived at about 22:00 and heard there was a camping ground just out of town. We decided to eat first and each had a well earned stake.

After walking for about 1km after dinner, and the camping ground only having meant to have been 200m away, we decided to camp in a park. Luckily there was a hedge around it so we were invisible from the road and if it wasn’t for a few drunken teenagers we would have had the whole night in peace.

And thanks for the tent Debbi, it is GREAT!

So, not quite the start I was hoping for but a start nonetheless. It is beginning to bring back vary vivid memories of the Camino de Santiago. Its funny, people (me included, but after doing one you would think I would know better) seem to have a very romantic view of pilgrimages. But after doing one you realize it is just really bloody hard work!!! I’m giving my pack a week and if I still struggle after that then there’s a lot of stuff going back…