Tuesday 3 July 2007

Pilgrimage from Ornans to Pontarlier 02/07/06

I awoke at 6am to the sound of heavy rain, so it was once again time to roll over and wait for it to calm down. By the time I awoke again at 8:30 it had stopped.

Everything was a bit wet so it took a while to pack up.

We were both really looking forward to today’s walk as it was going to be on the walking tracks the whole way. Finally, no more bitumen!

The first few kms were pretty hard as it was all up hill but the forest was amazing. I wish it had been like this the whole way. It beats the wheat fields any day!

We were both in great spirits when suddenly we came across a town that wasn’t on our maps. Being unable to spot any walking track markers were a bit confused. Studying our maps a bit harder we realized that we had taken a wrong turn and were miles of course! What a bastard! :)

So, just as it had been looking sooooo good we were back to the bitumen once again. It also meant that we would have to walk an extra 5-10kms.

We made reasonable good progress and staggered into Pontarlier by 20:30. The McDonalds on the edge of town was looking mighty tempting but considering this would be our last night in France (YES!!! Our last night! I never thought this day would come!!!), we thought we should go and splurge and eat something nice.

The walk into town was quite a hike and after following the signs to the YHA we were at a loss as to where they were sending us. We couldn’t find it anywhere! After asking one of the local shop owners we were dismayed to find that it was closed for renovations.

We had also spotted signs to a camping ground so we headed over there. Once again after about 2kms walking we ended up back at the YHA construction site. The signs to the camping ground had taken us in a huge circle! I couldn’t believe it! It felt like someone had us on “Candid Camera”.

Dan was getting rather irritable and I was starving so we figured we would just go grab a bite to eat and work the accommodation out later. It was already 21:30.

While looking at a menu posted in a window, we spotted the room rates for the hotel next door. It was only €55 for a twin so we figured this would be us. It was a good choice.

It was then straight downstairs to have dinner. Just to top the night off the kitchen was closed! We should have gone with the Maccas!

The only place we could see that was open was a kebab shop. Funnily enough Dan had sworn not to eat another kebab until Turkey but he was too hungry to argue. It appears that we were just destined to have a kebab as our last meal in France

2 comments:

Steph said...

Hi Ben!
Good to read the update. Last day in France - woohoo!! Beginning to anticipate walking with you awhile in September. Longing for all that outsideness. Your candle is burning brightly for you here in the great south land. I still have a hankering to walk Italy . . . Greece is fine . . . actually I'm still gobsmacked at how bad my geography is. I truly thought the world ran the other way . . . :) . . . now exposed as a geographical dimwit it's amazing how often I win Trivial Pursuit with the blue spot :) Speaking of winning, Dylan's learning to lose gracefully at backgammon. They're excited to be on the Great Barrier Reef - although Reb's still reeling from the length of the train trip. I'd rather walk!!! We fantasise about bringing the kids on pilgrimage. Ha ha. Happy trails and hi to Dan!!! OOO, by the way, we were in the Sydney Morning Herald on Saturday. They used the big photo of us silhouetted against the dawn at Finis Terre. They also published your blog address. :)

Ben :) said...

Hi Steph

WOW!!! Thats really exciting. I was wondering why I had over 200 hits within the last week.

Thanks :)