Pilgrimage from Pontarlier to St Croix 03/07/07

There was excitement in the air this morning, knowing that tonight we would be sleeping in Switzerland! The weather was also looking great so it should be a good walk.

Breakfast was served at 7am and then it was off to find to do some last minute shopping (we have heard Switzerland is crazily expensive) and find an internet café.

The shopping went well with me buying a new hat and some more tapes for the video camera but in the whole of Pontarlier there is not a single place with public internet access. I wasn’t impressed ;)

We timed it perfectly. Just as we left the hotel it started raining. Fancy that…

The walk first few kms were pretty flat but then we were in to the mountains. It should have been extremely enjoyable but the pouring rain and icy wind fixed that.

We were trying to make it to the border without a brake but 4kms before it we were too cold to go on. There was nothing left to do other than find a bar and have a couple of cognacs ;)

After de-freezing our blood it was off to the bus shelter for a picnic lunch.

I can’t believe that we are trekking in the middle of summer with our thermals on and are still cold!!!

Regardless of the cold we reached the border in high spirits. The immigration office was closed but luckily for us the restaurant 100m into Switzerland wasn't. It was time for our first Swiss beer :)

Upon reaching the first town, St Croix (pronounced “Saint's Crotch” in Australian), we figured it was stupid to try to walk any further in this weather. Normally it rains for an hour then stops, rains for an hour then stops but today was just rain and wind, rain and wind. Not a good day to be a pilgrim!

Luckily Saints Crotch has a YHA so it was off to defrost once again.

We have also found that the Swiss are use to walkers, so when we walk into a bar or restaurant dripping wet and smelling like a compost heap they still just smile and say “welcome”. We love the Swiss!

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…

Pilgrimage from Besancon to Ornans 01/07/07

It was another late start today…

Dan and I were still recovering from our big Friday night so we were quite happy to be moving slowly.

It wasn’t until around noon that we finally started out of the city but within a couple of kms we thought we better stop for lunch. At 14:00 we started proper. We thought we had 33kms to walk till Ornans, which is where we wanted to spend the night, so it wasn’t looking like we would make it.

After 9kms we saw a sign to Ornans which read “15kms”. Checking our maps we were extremely happy to realize we had miscalculated and that we did in fact only have another few hours walking ahead of us.

It has been good having someone to talk to again. I was starting to go a little crazy walking by myself ;)

Ornans is a wonderful little town with the feeling of being a summer holiday hotspot.

We rocked in at 8pm and Dan decided to get a beer….Yes, only Dan :) After an hour of lounging round we then headed out of town to find a campsite.

We thought it would be quite easy to find a suitable place along one of the many walking tracks in the area but of course we were mistaken. There was nothing other than thick forest or paddocks full of cows. We were soon running out of daylight and to make it worse it was just starting to rain.

Right on dark we found a patch of plantation pines and setup there. They offered us just enough cover to get the tents up without getting too wet.

Besancon 30/06/07

Today was a complete write-off!

The only reason I got out of bed at all was because the reception kept on calling me to pay for another night. It didn’t help that I kept saying “ill be right down” and then I would roll over and go back to sleep :)

So at around 2pm I finally dragged myself down to the reception and figured while I was up I better get to the supermarket to get some food. It will be Sunday tomorrow so if I miss the shops I will probably starve to death in the hills.

I then decided to get another couple of hours sleep and at about 18:30 started getting hungry. Dan was only just arising himself so we went to get pizza.

Being Saturday night we knew that we should really go out and party again but neither of us was up to it. I figured that if we didn’t party once in a blue moon that would be OK. Luckily for us tonight is a blue moon :) After a couple of glasses of red wine it was back to bed for an early night.

Renee has decided that every full moon she will say a prayer and send me out some good vibes. It was really nice to know that while I was lying in bed looking out the window someone was sending me some good energy. Thanks lil p :)

Pilgrimage from Oiselay-Et-Grachaux to Besancon 29/06/07

I woke up to my alarm at 05:30 but it was freezing cold and my legs were still hurting. There was no way I was getting up yet!

I ended up sleeping till around 9am and then, knowing that I wasn’t going to make it to Besancon before lunch anyway, I took my time packing up and leaving.

It’s funny…I wanted to grab a cup of coffee but the first two towns I got to only sold food!!! I couldn’t believe it!

I ended up finding a coffee at a hotel in Cussey-Sur-L’Ognon. The owners were extremely friendly and said that they quite regularly get pilgrims coming to stay. They also showed me a route to take to Besancon that would keep me off the main roads.

Following their advice I was soon within the suburbs. Besancon is quite a big city and it took me almost an hour to find the city centre. Dan must have been tuned in because he called just as I was arriving. It ended up that he was only five minutes down the road.

We decided to go grab a beer (my first in about 4 days!), and then went back to the hostel. His foot seems to have healed fine and he is in much better spirits.

Being Friday night we figured we had to go out and party so after a few pubs we ended up getting extremely shitfaced at one of the local dance clubs. It was great!

I didn’t get home till around 5am…

Pilgrimage from Grenant to Oiselay-Et-Grachaux 28/06/07

Noel had to leave for work at 06:00 so it was a 05:30 wake up call. He made me a wonderful breakfast but since he didn’t speak any English the conversation was quite limited.

I was in great spirits as I started walking and managed to get about 10kms before having my first rest. I wanted to get within about 20-25kms of Besancon so I could arrive there by Friday lunchtime. This would give me time to track down Dan.

When I left Grenant I was under the impression that Besancon was only about 60kms away. This meant that I was planning to walk 35-40kms today.

While I was having my rest I started calculating the kilometres on my map. Every time I did Besancon was getting farther and farther away :( It ended up being about 80kms from Grenant! Lucky I had an early start. I was now looking at walking 55-60kms…

I tried to make 30kms before lunch but it wasn’t to be. At 26kms my legs said enough, so I set up for a picnic lunch. I was soon fast asleep and woke up freezing cold. Putting my thermals on and jumping into my sleeping bag soon fixed that problem and I ended up sleeping there for 3 hours.

It is strange though…here I was, the middle of a summer day in the South of France, wearing thermals and wrapped in my sleeping bag. Something was just not right!

When I started going again my walking legs had done the runner, so I was left to hobble. I started getting blisters and it wasn’t looking like I was going to make the 55km mark.

Another 5kms on and my legs came good again. This was a relief. I still had plenty of time so I rested a lot and ended up walking around 56kms.

I found an empty paddock at 22:00 and collapsed! I was buggered!

Pilgrimage from Rolampont to Grenant 27/06/07

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

I woke up at 6am to the sound of rain so I rolled over and went back to sleep. When I awoke again at 9am the rain had stopped so I set off by 09:30. It was only 10kms to Langes so I was still confident I could make it there before the shops shut at noon. I needed to get a map.

I had a pleasant stroll down the canal and made it to the city limits by 11:10. Once again the city was built on a hill so from here it was straight up. My stroll suddenly wasn’t so pleasant :) Upon reaching the top I was faced with an impenetrable wall between me and the city centre. The only entrance I could see was being repaired and was blocked off. Not knowing whether to go right or left I took a guess and unfortunately ended up going back downhill. It did however lead me to another entrance so it was another hard slog back up to the city. I made it just in time, managing to find a shop selling maps right on noon. I then had a quick look around. Langes is a cool little town.

From here it was another pleasant walk through the forest. It kept threatening to rain but luckily it was holding off. I got another 25kms before coming around a corner I spotted Grenant bathed in a pool of sunshine.

The town was picturesque and was emanating good vibes. I had a feeling someone was going to offer me a place to stay so I thought I would head to the church and see if I could find the priest.

I didn’t even get that far. About 50m into town a group of guys spotted me and came out to see what I was up to. They couldn’t speak any English but were extremely friendly and before long I had half the village around listening to my story. Luckily one of the women there was a retired English teacher so she acted as my translator.

Then showing great hospitality I was invited in for cherry pie and wine. It wasn’t long before I had offers of a shower and a bed as well. What a great town! Thank you all :)

Noel was the man whose house I stayed at. His family was away for the night so I got a room to myself and an extremely comfy bed. Pilgrim heaven!