14^th day Trefcon to Vendeuil 17.34 miles. 0800 to 1645
As of this evening, we have walked 175 miles towards Rome & 186 miles in total.
The equestrian gite in Trefcon is well recommended by all those we've spoken to who've done the VF & our experiences would back that up.  The Wynands family looked after us really well & were a great help in sorting out our next stage.
Today was another difficult one through an area with few bars & fewer shops - we only saw two of the latter all day.  The mini-supermarket where we bought our lunchtime picnic took one look at us & asked if we were en route to Rome!  There is a Swiss man on the VF about a day ahead of us - as well as the 4 Canadians (1 man + 3 women) 3 or 4 days ahead & the Norwegian about a month ahead.  Last year, we are told, there was only 1 pilgrim; this year there seem to be lotsl.
Anyway, off we set at 0800, through very flat countryside, with vast fields on both sides & we saw 2 cars in the first hour.  There are usually cuckoos to be heard & almost always skylarks above us.
We had coffee & bought lunch (including a plastic litre bottle of red plonk for €1.5) in Etreillers & then continued through similar countryside, crossing the Somme again at Seraucourt-le-Grand. 
Most of these little French villages have pavements made of chippings, if they have pavements at all - these are not kind to sore, tired feet & must be hell in stilettos (or so C says).  There are also lots of garden gnomes - in the widest sense of the word - from 1/4 sized cows to powered, rotating windmills.
Anyway, before we go down any more rabbit holes, there isn't much to say about today except that the rain mostly held off so it was delightfully cool (10 degrees below what it should be Mme said last night) & our feet are still OK, even if pretty tired & sore - A also has his first hole in a sock.
Tomorrow is still unresolved - we were going on to St Gobain, but it seems that the only hotel there may be closed & we don't fancy 20+ miles of twisty, hilly tracks between here & Laon - so we'll probably miss St G & go straight to Laon & our second rest day.

15^th day Vendeuil – Laon

Well, we really will have to get better at estimating distances on maps.  Yesterday we walked for 9 1/4 hours & covered exactly 19 miles.
We've now been on the road for two weeks & are reminded of one of the books we read in which the author (who was following Hillaire Belloc to Rome) talked about his body looking 20 years younger after the first two weeks & his pack seeming to weigh nothing.  Not sure how different we were 20 years ago, but we can't see much difference & our packs are not yet inconsequential. 
Yesterday's route should have taken us S to St Gobain, but there was nowhere to stay, so we headed in an approximation of a straight line from Vendeuil to Laon.  There is a nature reserve, a railway line & several military areas on this line, so of necessity, it was something of a zig-zag - hence the distance.  We also found our first French stand & deliver loo yesterday - the first public loo (a Clochmerle) was seen today.  This lack of facilities has accentuated the superiority of the male 'picnic equipment' - poor C is noticeably disadvantaged, especially in open country. 
In general, the landscape has become more rolling & wooded - with much more to come yet.  Fortunately yesterday was cool & overcast - ideal walking weather, nevertheless, we were both pretty exhausted by the time we found a hotel & were in bed by 2030.  We did hear a couple of cheers for the football & some tooting, but didn't know the result until we got Harvey's match report this morning. 

 

16^th day   Laon
After a good night's sleep, we were out of our hotel by 0800 (yes - we does include C!) & caught the POMA (tram) to old Laon - which is a remarkably well preserved medieval city on top of a walled hill.  We breakfasted in the cathedral square, then visited the cathedral (** in Michelin with a deservedly *** nave - wonderful with the early morning light flooding in - less impressive when the sun was in the south).  After the cathedral, we visited the Tourist Office - as helpful as Peronne (hope they would be as so  in UK), where they spent 30 minutes ringing round trying to find somewhere for us to stay tomorrow - in the end, by dint of us being on the VF, the girl found us a woman who will put us up in her home for an optional charge.  With tomorrow sorted, we tried the Youth Hostel in Reims (150 beds) - it's full.  We are booked into a cheap hotel, but accommodation is rapidly turning into our biggest problem & the one that defines our route & how far we have to walk each day.
We are going to resist seeing the new H Potter film in French tonight & expect to be on the road for another 15+ miles tomorrow.

 

17^th day 15.6. Laon - Chaudardes

Another long day, 'though this one didn't seem quite so bad.  Last night, we did fall for the lure of H Potter (cheap seats on Mon nights), but were certainly not 100% sure about the story when we left the cinema (& C has read the book).  We then had one of those 'unfortunate' restaurant experiences.  There wasn't much still open at 2030 & so we ended up in a place near the station.  We ordered 2 salads & different ones arrived, our 1/2 litre of wine turned out to be half of an already opened bpttle, for which we were overcharged & by the time we left, there was a 'working girl' sat by the door.  I suppose it's what we should have expected in the part of town in which we can afford hotels - lots of educational experiences to be had on this trip.
We left our hotel at 0730 & headed round the E end of the old city.  Within an hour, we were completely out of the city & heading SE towards the wooded hills.  In the first village, Bruyeres-et-Montberault, there was a large Romanesque church, which we visited.  It was worth the minor detour - including a v graphic fresco of the Circumcision of Christ.. 
We continued SE up & down (not too bad) - passing the Ferme d'Hurtebise - where Napoleon fought Blucher in 1813 & there were several major engagements in both WWs.
Further along the ridge was the Basque Memorial - to all those from the regiments raised in SW France.  Clearly, we were now out of the British sector from WW1 & into the French one.
The final section of the day really seemed to drag - we were on a partly-overgrown cart track & C was suffering from (completely unjustified) doubts about the map/her navigation.  If you're wondering why C is doing the navigation, it's because she can read the map without her glasses & A can't - so C has the mapcase around her neck.
Anyway, at 1745 after 18.35 miles we arrived in Chaudardes.
We were in Chaudardes because the Tourist Office in Laon had rung the Mayor & asked if anyone in her village (pop 84) did B&B.  As we arrived in the outskirts, a woman in a car stopped & gave us directions - clearly we were either expected or could only be going to one house!
On arrival at No 9, we were greeted warmly & offered a drink before being shown to a lovely double room.  The couple who'd volunteered to take us in looked after us really well - even showing us around all (including the roofspaces) of their 'cathedral' - the vast CXII Romanesque parish church - now looked after by the French heritage body the Beaux Artes.  The stained glass - original to the building & by the same mastercraftsman as Reims Cathedral was particularly impressive.
During a long evening of conversation in our terrible French (A's is now about 60/40 French/Italian), A was actually told that he spoke French with an Italian accent!  Perhaps it will be Italian with a French accent......

 

18^th day Chaudardes to Reims  18 miles - 0810 to 1730 –

 Total mileage on the VF now 231.2 miles - total walked since Canterbury 250.71 miles.
This part of France is dominated by the Aisne valley, which has both the river & the Aisne Lateral Canal running through it with large flat floodplain areas on each side.  We had to walk nearly 2 miles NW (gloom) initially to get to the first bridge (at Pontavert) & then over 4 more before we started off the valley floor.  It was obvious during all this time why Chaudardes had had such a big church built all those years ago (the population was about 2000 in the CXII as against the 88 of today) - Chaudardes is actually on a headland & the church was visible from far away.
Anyway, as we climbed out of the river valley, we came across our first vines - for champagne of course.
We had, in fact, cut the corner & were soon back in the Aisne valley, by this time running SE down to Reims. 
We had our picnic lunch (bought as the previous evening's supper) at the village washing place in Villers-Franqueux.  This consisted of some Norweigan smoked salmon, a camembert, yesterday's bread & 2 25cl plastic bottles of Spanish 'table' wine.
Shortly afterwards, we tasted our first glass of champagne at Thil - leading to a slight disagreement as A drank his & wanted to get on (we still had over 4 miles to go) & C wanted to savour the moment......
The final leg into the outskirts of Reims was down the N44 under the circuit of a French Air Force training base - so not that quiet.  Fortunately the traffic wasn't too heavy & the hard shoulder was fairly wide.  The strip then onwards took us about 90 minutes of crossing minor, & not so minor, roads into the centre.  At least there were now things to look at & people to comment on & even bars at which to have a beer.
Our * hotel only had us booked in for one night, but we managed to change that & then the credit card machine wouldn't accept our card - wouldn't we rather pay cash?  We negotiated a discount (3 years of practice in Pakistan) of free coffees before agreeing.
After removing our boots, donning sandals & a quick wash, we went into the central area, had a brief look in the cathedral (mainly to catch the sun through the W rose window) & then had a pizza savoyarde & went to bed.

 

19^th day In Rheims being tourists.
Cathedral first thing (having checked if the cybercafe was open).  As all the books have it, the stained glass is just amazing - lots of it is CXII, but there are also the 3 altar windows by Chagall & 3 in the S transept given by the Champagne producers in 1954 & showing their craft from the wedding at Canaa onwards. 
After the Cathedral, C went into the tourist office to try & sort out our next couple of night's accommodation, whilst A went to see if the cybercafe was yet open (as you may have noticed the BlackBerry has indigestion again - & it's far from clear to A which bit of the system is constipated this time).  As the big Union Flag in the cathedral square (right next to the equestrian statue of Joan of Arc) was upside down, A explained this to the staff in the Justice Dept, in whose grounds all the EU flagstaffs were.  They were most receptive,n but the flag was still upside down 8 hours later.
The cybercafe wasn't open & so A rejoined C to find her being offered nothing but a country house hotel (compulsory DB&B), but with a bit of persistence, we were found a gite (still €62 for the night without any meals). 
By this time the cybercafe was open & A set to to clear the 186 emails out of the Blueyonder inbox and to switch off all the junk-mailers like Amazon & Friends Reunited, whilst C went to have a coffee & to Gallerie Lafayette to buy a couple of plastic tumblers.
They met as A came out of he cybercafe, which was fortunate as A had forgotten the published R/V.  This could have led to discussions!   
We then visited a photoshop, where the proprietor was v helpful & both made us a CD to send to Pete Stadnyk (for the website & the Evening Herald) & said that he'd keep them on his PC until we let him know that they were safely in UK.
It was now time for lunch & to make up for C being rushed yesterday afternoon, we bought a bottle of chilled champagne from Monoprix (€12.40 - 1/3 the cheapest price in a bar) + a couple of ham baguettes & headed off to the park, where we christened our plastic tumblers.
We have decided to follow the Marne canal from Chalons to Langres (several days), but sadly this just takes us to the E of the maps we have with us.  These maps have been trimmed to keep their weight down & one of A's trimmings is now to be walked.  C'est la vie.  Unfortunately, we had to make 3 trips to the map shop before we were convinced of this.
We also had to make another visit to the tourist office & 2, it may have been 3, to the cybercafe before we'd done what we could about Sat & Sun nights in Chalons & BB's indigestion.
We had supper in the Place de la Forum (more Roman remains) where we'd found a brasserie serving Illy coffee, our favourite.
By the time you get this, the BB problems, at least, will have been resolved. Let's hope we find a bed on Sat night.

 

20^th day  18.6. Reims- Bouzy  17.7 miles

We left at 0700 this morning, hoping to see the Abbaye S Remi on the way out, but it didn't open until 0800., so we had breakfast looking at the facade & went on our way to join the Marne Canal towpath. 
We walked along the towpath - easy walking - for a couple of hours.  The weather has been good for walking all day - overcast, with a bit of a breeze.  We had a coffee stop, a glass of chapmagne stop & were about to have our picnic overlooking the vineyards, when A saw this couple & wondered if they could be part of the Canadian foursome preceding us down the VF.  They were & so we joined them all for lunch & exchanged views on our various problems.  Their worst is as ours - finding places to stay at the right distances apart.  They are much braver than we are (but they are all Quebecois) & just start looking at the end of their walking day.  They are taking 6 months & hope to bein Rome by mid-Oct.
After lunch, we continued on towards Chalons & stopped in Bouzy at about 1630, where we had a gite booked.  We bought a bottle of champagne from our hostess, got some quiche etc from the local Shopi & were in bed by 2100.
Today's distance only 17.7 miles - we must be getting fitter.
Tomorrow - on to Chalons, where we have faxed the YH, but have no reply as yet.

 

21srt day  Bouzy-Chalons 17. 34 miles –20 miles for cybercaffe

Still without BB cover & with the weekend here, this may continue for a bit yet.
We were only just out of our gite at 0725 this morning when A realised that he'd left his poles in the kitchen, but fortunately we had been told to just shut the door & pull the shutter down, so little problem to retrieve them. 
We headed on to the next village, Anbonney, & then turned S towards the canal.  It was a lovely morning for walking &, after a coffee in Conde-sur-Marne, we joined the canal path & strode out.  It was about an hour later, just after we'd seen a red squirrel walking across the end wall of one of the lock-keepers houses, that we realised that we were going ENE - there were 2 canals joining at Conde & we'd joined the wrong one......
We'd probably gone over 2.5 miles in the wrong direction & so we headed cross country (inevitably over a ridge) to rejoin the correct canal.  As we breasted the ridge, it started to rain - it was to rain intermittently for the rest of the day.  Our morale was not high at this point & our feet reflected this!  Surprisingly, we did not have words.
Having been told by a workman that there were no cafes in France, we found one in the next village & had another coffee.  As it started to pour whilst we were in there & it was after 1200, we had a beer & ate the first of our sandwiches.  At about 1245, still drizzling, we rejoined the canal & headed off towards Chalons.  Canal walking is much easier than walking the countrside & we intend to spend most of the next week following the Marne canal down to Langres, where we will rejoin the VF proper.
We got to Chalons at about 1545 & hoped to find the internet point in the PO.  French POs close at 1200 on Sat, so we went to the Tourist Office - manned (so to speak) by 3 smart looking girls (BCBG A thinks they're called, but can't remember what the acronym stands for).  They were all obviously in completely the wrong jobs!  Our every Q was met with a shrug & an irritated glance at each other.  Was the youth hostel open - of course - why had we been unable to get an answer from them over two days? Could they ring (it wasn't in the centre) - €1.50 to make a booking - one rang - no response - we'd heard that it might only be open during the school holidays - oh maybe - were there any cheap hotels? No all full because there was an exam on & it's Father's Day - anyway, enough, you get the gist & this is written 24 hours later, not in the first flush of irritation!
Fortunately, on the final stretch into town, we'd met a couple who'd asked if we were pilgrims & had then told us that the church of ND en Vaux had a list of those willing to put pilgrims up.  So we went off there & found 2 v helpful ladies (of the troisieme age) who rang all of their list without finding us anywhere & then started ringing cheaper city centre hotels.  Having found us one, one of the ladies actually escorted us there.  Tres gentile.
Whilst C washed (at A's suggestion, we've invested in some travel wash stuff- much better than soap) herself & the dirtier clothes, A went to look for the cybercafe (on a bus, but he didn't realise that the required stop was on request) & continued his attempts to resolve the BB problems - it seems that the problem lies in BB's server, but not yet sorted.  He then walked back to the hotel, as the centre of Chalons, which used to contain a 60s shopping centre is being redeveloped & feet were probably quicker.  We had pizzas again for supper. 
For those who are worried about our diet - you may be justified!  Today, up to supper, we'd had a litre of O juice, 6 eggs (A ate 4 of them), 1/2 baguette, 2 vacuum packed sandwiches bought in Reims (tuna + egg, chicken & bacon + egg), 2 oranges, 2 coffees each & a beer each.  We don't seem to be getting that much thinner, but the diet is well balanced between eggs & oranges.  A has taken his belt in a couple of notches, but C, having seen herself in a full mirror for the first time in a couple of weeks, fears that she looks as chubby as ever.  A, of course, does not agree.
Distance for the day 17. 34 miles, but A covered exactly 20 by the time he'd been to the cybercafe.

 

22^nd day A rest day in Chalons en Champagne.
Not really much to report.  The weather almost too chilly for our rest day clothes - C in her dress & A in a shirt + both in sandals.  In fact, we resorted to waterproof jackets in the evening.  It would have been a good walking day....
We bought a picnic, visited a couple of churches (ND de Vaux has marvellous stone work, old stained glass & an interior that is harmonious - not surprisingly, it is a UNESCO world heritage site), wandered around, had our picnic in the park, visited the Cathedral (in restoration & not a UNESCO site, but some impressive glass) - then C back to the hotel & A back to the cybercafe.  Hopefully you received his short report.
In the evening, we wandered a bit (Chalons has lots of pretty half-timbered buildings & several stretches of water in the city centre), supped & went to bed early, as usual.

 

23^rd day Chalons-en Champagne-Chaussée

A short day & a bit of a late start as we didn't wake up until 0710.  We popped out to buy a picnic & have a breakfast that was cheaper than the hotel's.  Whilst doing so, we met another walker, who turned out to be doing the Camino from Utrecht - 2800km in total. 
The hotel, Le Pot d'Etain was v helpful & even rang the priest in Vitry, where we had been told that there was a pilgrim house.  There is & we are booked in there.
We finally set off along the canal at about 0855.  The canal path was mostly tarmac'd & we made quite good time to St Germain la ville, where we diverted into town for a beer.  Shortly afterwards, we were eating our picnic on the bridge at Pogny, when our fellow Dutch pilgrim (Chris) came along, so we chatted & then he walked with us as far as Pogny, where we diverted inland to follow the road into Chausée-sur-Marne, where we had a hotel booked.
To our irriration, we discovered from Chris that the YH in Chalons had been open after all.
 One look at the climb out of Pogny & we returned to the canal path.  We passed Chris having his lunch about 10 minutes later & ploughed on towards Chausée.  We had been told not to arrive before 1700, but had made it at 1510, so we sat on the grass outside until the owners came back from town (about 1530) & let us in.

 

24rth day  Chausée- Vitry  9.1 miles

To start with a PS on last night. 
When we got into the Clos de Mutigny, we were not offered anything to drink (they knew that we were on foot & this was not a cheap hotel) & our room wasn't quite ready - no problem about that, we had been told that we couldn't arrive before 1700.  So we quickly dumped our bags, changed into sandals & left the staff to finish the room.  At about 1810, showered & changed, we returned to reception & asked if we could have a drink.  No, the restaurant wasn't open until 1930!  Seeing our amazed looks, Madame gave us a glass of wine each & we sat outside (the only place to sit - it was spitting a bit & getting chilly - after a while there was another couple + their son in the same position).  At 1928 we were all trying the restaurant door & so were, a bit reluctantly, let in.  Imagine our surprise on seeing a pleasant waiting area - plush sofas etc - just inside the door.  We sat down & were offered the menu.  Qs such as what is St Pierre?  Produced - a fish - what kind of fish - a fish - shrug - the Patron wasn't so much rude, as, couldn't care less!  This from a place that produced a very upmarket meal - A's scallop souffle was excellent.  It was v difficult to believe that he was incapable of describing St Pierre to us, he just couldn't be bothered.  Perhaps the whole place was being run to generate a tax loss!
Anyway, this morning we didn't have the £6 breakfast & found a local bar.
Today was a half-day - we only walked 9.1 miles & were in Vitry by 1230.  Nothing much to report really - walking the canal bank is easy - lots of herons & terns (A thinks - black heads?).
One thing that we forgot to reort in the Think Piece, is that A has been carrying a pair of binos since we started - at Veronica O'Connor's suggestion.  We only get them out today, to look at the Terns & suddenly realised that A should have been wearing them all the time - they are so useful for everything from checking canal signs (how far to the next bar) to looking ahead down the track.  Thank you Veronica, we wish we'd realised the wisdom of your advice earlier.
We had been told that the parish had accommodation for pilgrims & so applied at the parish office, to be sent to La Maison de Doyenne, run by the Polish Sisters of Jesus Misericordieux - one of whom (there are only 3) is Canadian.  Tomorrow is a long day - planned to be 16 miles along the canal, but fortunately the forecast is still overcast.

 

25^th day   Vitry-St Dizier 18.2 miles,

We started off from Vitry at 0730 this morning & at 1600, after 18.2 miles, we strode (well almost!) Into St Dizier.
We were on the canal bank for 95% of the time - really apart from a detour into Orconte for a beer, where the landlady, foolishly, tried to serve C short measure!
We are now on the Marne to Saône Canal, which is much quieter than the Marne one - in fact we've only seen one working barge all day &, because of the speed restrictions, we were walking faster than he was going.  We also met a Brit (an early retiree we guess) who was travelling the canals, in his de-masted yacht, en route the Med at a v leisurely pace & saw an Aussie in his gin-palace heading N.  Otherwise, the canal was empty.
The weather has been v Autumnal - just teetering on the edge of rain, lots of wind, but overall ideal for walking.
St Dizier is not a major tourist resort, perhaps just as well, as we will probably eat at German time & then go straight to bed.
More of the same tomorrow - 'though after a day going E, we now turn S towards Joinville & in 5 days time, we hope to have our next rest day in Langres - about 70 miles S of us now.  We will need a rest day by then'

 

26^th day 24.6.St Dizier to Joinville 19.34 miles 0810 to 1715
Total distance walked towards Rome 325.17 miles
Today was comparatively easy walking along a flat & level canalside track in cool weather - we doubt we could have achieved the same distance over either hilly terrain or in real summer temperatures, as we only just made it in ideal conditions & are both 'tired' & a bit tetchy.
The canal can be a bit monotonous, but today, as we move into the hills, with the river, the canal, the railway & at least two roads in the same valley, it has not been.  We've seen lots more herons, dragonflies, the first 2 gechko, those insects that walk on water & several FAF Jaguars, a couple of Alpha Jets & even a pair of Super Etendards - in aircraft terms, this region seems to be a bit like E Anglia.  The only boat we saw moving on the canal all day was another Brit yacht (friend of yesterdays) moving S.
One PS from yesterday - a postman stopped & offered us a completely spurious letter just to find out who we were - if we'd been quicker off the mark, we'd have opened it!
Joinville has a wonderful formal renaissance garden (prob **), but we were too tired to pay €4 each just to walk further.  The town is based around a tributary of the Marne & is v pretty on the river sides.  Several properties for doing up.......
For the second night running, we find ourselves eating Italian style (really a French interpretation) - this isn't through choice, but there is almost nothing else (except the US style in larger towns) at the cheaper end of the market - a real change since we were last in France.
Tomorrow should be only about 14 miles on S to Vignory - let's hope so!

 

27^th day Joinville- Vignory

We are, of course, still speaking - even kissing under the many globes of mistletoe on the canal banks!
We left Joinville - probably the prettiest town we've visited so far - at 0815 in ideal walking conditions.   The French reporting of last night's England defeat seemed to be pretty balanced.  Certainly, no-one asked us how we felt this morning.
The Marne-Saône Canal is advertised as one of the most beautiful in France - this seems to be a very fair claim.
We've walked along lovely often-shaded canal banks with an abundance of wildlife - from frog pretending to imitate humans pretending to be frogs, to lots dragonflies (most flying locked 'nose to tail'), butterflies & frogs a-leaping.
At one stage, when we wanted to confirm which side of the canal the path ran on, we asked a teenage boy - he was perfectly polite, but all those parents out there will be relieved to know that teenagers do not need foreign languages, the grunt is universal!
We have a guide to the canal which mentions a restaurant 400m from a lock about where we expected to be at lunchtime, so we charged on (well A did, with C valiantly scurrying behind) in case we were too late - recent observations have reminded us that the rural French seem to have lunch at 1200.  We saw an ad for a restaurant about 500m before the lock, but could see nothing at the lock, so asked the madame in the lock cottage if there was a restaurant nearby (gone 1300 by this stage & we'd already walked +11 miles) - behind she said - we worked our way round the back - could see a building, but couldn't get in.  After a good few hundred metres back along the canal, we discovered the road into the restaurant & found a proper French Country Restaurant.  On entering (with packs on backs & A with poles in hand) - “had we reserved?”
No, but fortunately this was not a problem.  The meal was superb & V good value - &  afterwards Madame let us out of the gate directly behind the lock cottage.
The Logis we were booked into was shown as being 400m from Vignory on the RN towards Voecourt - in fact it's 400m past the Vignory turning on the RN & then 400m down a side road on the edge of Voecourt - these things matter when you're not in a car!
After walking the canal all day, we left it just N of Vignory & headed W (the canal does a loop to the E here).  We got to the RN to find no sign of Vignory or the Logis, so headed off S down the RN (not fun walking) until we saw the sign off to Vignory & then the sign to the Logis - off down towards the canal......  We probably walked over a mile, mostly uphill to boot, because it wasn't clear where the Logis was - or I suppose really because none of us normally considers directions from the point of view of anyone but a car driver.

 

28^th day Vignory – Chaumont

Fortunately today was a short day - only 12.9 miles from 0845 to 1500.
We were quickly back on the canal bank (less than a km from our hotel.....) & just kept going S, apart from a minor diversion into Biébil for coffee & to buy our picnic lunch. 
Surprisingly, there has been quite a bit of activity on the canal - a couple of barges (one of which we could hear scraping along the bottom) & several pleasure boats - mostly Dutch, but one Belgian & a few French.  The gulls have all disappeared, there are still lots of herons & we saw two pairs of blue/green dragonflies connected nose to tail, making a charming heart shape.
The main excitement on the canal was walking through the 300m long tunnel at Condes, just N of Chaumont.  This is wide enough for two barges to pass inside & shows how economically important the canal must have been in the late C19.
The weather has, again, been perfect for walking - a bit overcast, some breeze & only a bit hot towards the end of the day.  Oh, and A has his first blister - between the little & the second toes on his R foot - as he found it at the daily foot examination, rather than felt the pain, it's not a major problem.
We got to our hotel (within 100' of the canal & another Logis), at 1500 &, as we'd been told, it didn't open until 1600, so we changed into our sandals & sat outside & waited.  We'd also been told that the bed was 10cm narrower than normal - it certainly looks it.......
In this (non-touristy) part of France, most of the smaller/cheaper hotels are family run & so close after Sunday lunch to Monday 1700.  This exacerbates our accommodation problem.  We explained this to our Patronne & she rang up the only practicable option between here & Langres & persuaded the Patron there (normally closed Sunday) to provide us with a bed (only) tomorrow night.  After that it's Langres & a day off before we rejoin the VF proper.
Some of our readers have noted that we've diverged from the real VF.  Our aim (which the military educated pedants amongst you will know you can only have one of, albeit supported by objectives) is to walk from Canterbury to Rome.  The supporting objectives include following the VF, raising money for Give a Child a Chance, getting fitter, marking A's change to being a civilian etc etc - but the aim is the walk, not to follow the VF.  So we are not being too purist about the route, which the paucity of accommodation has already forced us off twice &, no doubt, will again.  We have found accommodation easier along the canals, the walking is much easier & the sad truth is that many of the sights worth seeing are either locked, especially the churches, or too far off the track for tired middle-aged walkers.  We will be back on the VF at Langres.
Anyway, after that rabbit hole, once we'd dumped our bags & sorted out tomorrow's accommodation, we set off to walk up to the top of the hill on which old Chaumont sits.  To our surprise, this wasn't too hard & we had a beer, bought the Economist, booked Sunday lunch, bought Sunday's supper & Monday's breakfast & had another beer.  Chaumont is resolutely not for tourists.  The Tourist Office is off the top of the hill, so we didn't go there & the church has a wonderful C15 painted statuary group standing around Christ's open coffin + a medieval carved tree of life - both really are worth a diversion in Michelin-speak - sadly there are no PPCs of either nor any foreign-language leaflets describing the church, as we've seen elsewhere.
Anyway, enough for today - we've nearly finished our second beer & must head back down the hill to supper.
PS In the end we decided to get a taxi down the hill - not that easy - “after the football” C was told in one bar.

 

29^th day Chaumont-

Fortunately, the predicted short day - we started off at 0855, lunched from 1230 to 1345 & were in our hotel by 1600 having walked 12.76 miles.  In
our first 28 1/2 days, we have walked 369 miles towards Rome - an average,excluding rest days, of 15 miles per day.> The weather has, again, been ideal for walking & we covered 2.9 miles in the first hour; this mean soon decreased after our first break & the hourly
means thereafter to about 2.2 mph.  We had booked lunch in Foulain, as we
were going to be picknicking for dinner, & had a good old-fashioned French
meal - but there was only 1 other table occupied & one has to wonder how
long restaurants in little villages will survive.
> The canal is still quite idyllic, with trees lining both sides &
heavily-wooded hillsides just beyond.  Today's wildlife highlight was seeing
a deer, about 200' ahead of us, jump into the canal, swim across & then
disappear into the woods.  There has been no pleasure traffic on the water &
only one barge this afternoon - union rules, we assume.
> Our hotel is 'closed', but they couldn't have been more helpful in making
sure that we had everything we needed for our picnic on their terrace -
including inviting us to put our food into their outdoor chiller cabinet.
This chiller cabinet, which is unlocked, contains wine & soft drinks -
difficult to believe that any hotel owner could safely leave alcohol in an
unlocked cupboard facing the road in the UK.  This same degree of public
honesty applies to things like the floral plant troughs on bridges - how
long would they last in Britain before someone thought that it was 'fun' to
throw them into the river?
> Tomorrow, we finish our canal walking in Langres & rejoin the VF proper.
We will be only 122 miles/195 km from Switzerland & we will have covered
over 100 miles in last week.

 

30^th day….. Langres

We were out of our room by 0700 this morning & recovered our OJ, apples & vaccum packed bacon & egg sandwich from the terrace cooler cabinet.  By 0715, we were on our way back to the canal for our last day of walking on the flat in the shade & without traffic.  We had coffee at Rolampont, where the bar owner, on being asked if he had anything to eat, went out to the boulangerie & got us some fresh bread, which he served with home-made redcurrant jam & (C said - like a typical man - steak knives & no plates or paper tablemats!)..
> As usual, the canal was not busy - 'though we did see one Brit heading N flying the French flag as a jack......  We also saw a hawk swoop down & catch a fish.
> We left the canal NE of Langres & climbed straight up the hill (probably the old Roman road) towards one of the city gates.  The temp was in the high 20s centigrade & we were both v surprised that we made it to the top without whingeing/palpitations on either part.
> Langres is another of those untouristy, remarkably unspoilt small French cities - stuck on the top of a hill, still within its Roman bounds & still with its walls & gates.
> We walked as far as the square before having lunch & then went on to the youth hostel, where we booked in for two cheap nights.  Yes, we are too old to be described as 'youth', but they seemed to be prepared to accept us.  The YH is actually fine - we have a corner room, two beds, basin etc.  There is a laundry room with washing machines & a big sink - with no plug, nor designed to have one, but our multi-purpose plug filled the hole - & showers where the light doesn't come on until you've locked the door & the shower head sprays water everywhere - with the added joy that it's on a time-push, so you can't stop the water until the button releases.  But none of this is a major problem & the views from our window over the sunrise on the plain below are wonderful.  Not sure exactly what this plain is called but we're at the watershed - from now on the rivers in France run S to the Med, rather than N to the Channel/N Sea.
> After a quick change, we looked into the Tourist Office to try & sort out the next few days, but retired without any answer.  It's not going to be easy.  We also visited the new museum - free & v impressive.  The most remarkable exhibit is a 50m square Roman mosaic floor of Bacchus - actually uncovered whilst building the museum, plus lots of other vg Roman stuff & a C12 church, which the museum was built over & around.
> Finally, we found ourselves having to choose between the Hotel Jeanne d'Arc or the Irish Corner for supper - the J d'A (aka The Witch of Orleans)  stuff is interesting - most of it seems to be late C19 - the period of the Entente Cordiale....  Anyway, we chose Irish.
> A had to throw away his first sock (the one that C mended a couple of weeks ago) today - completely gone through on the heel & when he took his belt off prior to washing his Rohan bags, they fell down - so he must be getting a bit thinner.
> Today (A is finishing this at 0600, having started at the Irish Corner) is a rest day, with two priorities - to find C's diary (we hope left in the Tourist Office) & to book ourselves the next week's accommodation.  Schools break up on the 1st (& Rod the Builder should be starting on our house - but that's another problem - we hope not too much of one for Louise, our housesitter) so we are told that accommodation next weekend will be a problem - we may even have to throw ourselves on the mercy of local mayors.
> A final point - distances - we don't suppose that anyone other than A is really interested in this subject, but as we have been quoting them, we ought to be accurate.  Pedometers are notoriously 'variable' & A did three separate checks against the kilometer posts on the canal bank - ours has been under-reading by about 11% - so we've actually walked 419 miles along the route so far, 476 miles including sightseeing, days off etc & our longest day has been 21.27 miles or 34 km for those who prefer Napoleon's system.  No, we're not really sure that we believe this either!

 

31rst day A rest day in Langres
Firstly, the good news - we found C's diary in the tourist office & secondly, we have managed (much effort by C on the phone) to sort out accommodation up to & including next Saturday night.  When we went into the tourist office, the 4 Canadians were there - they'd caught a train to get to Langres for the birthday clebrations (tomorrow) of the co-founder of Montreal, who was born here.
Our sightseeing started with a circuit of the ramparts.  These are complete & the gates, which are still the only way into the city, range from Roman (20BC) to C19th.  The weather has been lovely today (for tourists - a bit too sunny for walkers!) & the views out over the countryside have been picture postcard stuff.  If anyone is thinking of camping or caravanning in this region, the campsite on the ramparts must have one of the best views anywhere - complete with upside down Union Flag - about which the receptionist started to apologise almost before A had opened his mouth.  As with so many flagposts these days, it requires a high-reach platform to put right.
Having 'done' the walls, we picknicked in a lovely wooded avenue & then did the architectural trail.  This city has an amazing number of old building still in daily use - we reckon that there only about 20 post-WWII building within the walls.  There are several half-timbered ones, but most are of the local cream stone.  We haven't seen the terrible thing we spotted in Joinville of a half-timbered medieval building with pvc door & windows....  Clearly the mayor has a firmer grip here.  The cathedral roof is being retiled - from slate to a geometric pattern in greens & oranges - nothing if not striking &, apparantely, historically accurate.
Whilst buying our picnic for tomorrow, we bought a bargain pack of 4 toothbrushes (we'd have preferred to buy just one, but everything comes in bulk these days - mind you, A has got through 2 since we started, 'though these were free travellers ones & C may be allowed one of these new ones - provided she carries it). 
Tomorrow, after calling into an out-of-town sports shop, we have only about 10 miles to do to our first stop in Les Archots.  This little stroll is forced upon us by the paucity of accommodation outside the main towns.
And now, off to supper - a Menu du Terroir! But not the one we spotted offering rabbit pate or snails as the only starters!

 

32 nd day Langres –Les Archots 9.11 miles

A very short day today - perhaps just as well, as we are out of the habits of walking on roads - the adverse camber on the edge & the traffic, most of which is pretty good at pulling out to give us a wide berth, but you never know & so have to remain alert. 
Today was 9.11 miles & we were on the road from 0835 to 1400.  Langres is the crossroads for 12 Roman roads & so, not surprisingly we left town on a Roman road - now a lovely wooded avenue in a park.  The old walled town is, in fact, on the N end of a ridge & to the south is a large C19 fort built to deter the 'Prussians'.  Some of it is still in French army use, but most is now derelict.  There seems to be no reuse of old buildings such as warehouses/barracks for housing here - but they do have much more land & it's probably cheaper to build new tower blocks. 
Having cut through the old barracks area, we headed off down another Roman road to the out-of-town shopping centre to get A some more socks & a rubber foot for his walking pole.  Success on the first, but not the second.  We also bought some braces to hold his Rohan bags up with.  Another bit of equipment that's failing is the pedometer - the clip on the back has given up on one side & it won't be long before the spring forces the other side off too.  One could be quite Victor Meldrewish about things being made to last.....
Then, it was just on over the gently rolling countryside to Le Pailley, where we found a bar & had a couple of beers whilst we ate our sandwiches.
At Le Pailley, there is a wonderful little chateau under restoration - a complete mix from a medieval tower on a section of moat to a front with a classical facade, via the standard early C19 chateau bit.Our Gite /chambre d'hote at Les Archots is the only place to stay for quite a big area - which explains today's short leg & tomorrow's longer one.  It is run in a slightly eccentric but effective way by a man & his daughter.  He was making jam when we arrived - early, as he commented, but the Anglais were always early.  About half a dozen of his friends came in before supper to have a drink & chop vegetables.  We asked for some wine at about 1800 & were given a litre jug of red, which we started to drink whilst playing scrabble using a French set - the different letter mix is certainly noticeable.
There were a dozen of us for dinner on one long table - including a Belgian family on their third visit & the 4 Canadians. 
Having drunk most of our litre of red, we were then offered home-made aperifits, followed by lots more red wine & home-made digestifs to finish.  The food was good too - from the hors d'oeuvre, through the pork to the excellent cheese board & the rhubarb pie - all for €14.  For obvious reasons, we got to bed after dark for the first time since we left Canterbury & this dispatch is being finished at lunchtime next day.
One correction to yesterday - BlackBerries have been around for at least a couple of years & a couple of observations - we heard a group of French schoolchildren telling jokes about an Englishman, a Frenchman & a German - sadly our French wasn't good enough to follow it.  There are so many things that you notice on foot that you miss in a car - how quickly the temperature drops in the shade, local architectural details (fancy raised panelling on the doors in Langres & round or oval windows with square shutters hereabouts that have an extra inner layer that fits into the window hole & the fact that the Belgian family instinctively supported Portugal rather than the Netherlands in the football.

 

33^rd day Les Archots to Champlitte - 14..24 miles from 0850 to 1530.
Breakfast was again served at the long table - with 5 of the patron's excellent homemade jams. 
All day has been overcast, again great for us, less so for all the French children who are now on holiday.  Today's route took us mostly through woodland - of which there is a lot in this corner of France.  Most of it seems to be grown for firewood & there are vast stores of Teutonic neatness all around.  We passed through only one village - no shop & no bar - so lunch consisted of the half baguette we'd saved from breakfast, two cans of beer from Langres, dried sausage (our emergency supplies), raisins (ditto) &, for A, some marmite on his bread.  In consequence, we made quite good time.
Champlitte is, strictly speaking, off the VF, but there is nowhere else to stay.  The town has a surfeit of listed buildings crying out for a new use or a new owner - it also has a little supermarket, so we've restocked our emergency supplies & have tomorrow's picnic.  The girl in the tourist office was both helpful & prepared to think through our Sunday night accommodation problem.  So we now have a couple of phone numbers, even though we haven't yet managed to establish contact.
Tomorrow should be a lovely walk - overcast - and we are following the River Salon to Dampierre.

 

34^th dayChamplitte to Dampierre along the Salon valley - 11.24 miles between 0830 & 1430
As we said yesterday, this is a wooded area - we now know that it's 45% covered in woods.  Two other observations from yesterday are that the distances on the road we were on were marked by kilometer stones at the half-kilometer & Champlitte used to have a railway - the line must have been closed many years ago, but the local council has kept renewing the level crossimg warning signs.  In fact, as we discovered on our way out this morning, they just closed the line & left it - some has been tarmaced over, but most of the line is still there on its rotting sleepers & we saw a pair of raised crossing gates covered in creeper.
It was a v pretty route today with a choice between white roads & a grande randonnee.  We followed a mix, with unfortunate consequences when the path disappeared into a field of sunflowers & we had to walk down the lines of plants until we found the track again.  It was in the same area that, whilst we were sitting on the verge having our lunch, a fox walked across the track about 50' away.
Dampierre is another pretty riverside village/small town with a 15 storey angular mirror glass block plonked into the centre.  As it contains the only restaurant in town (in a *** Best Western hotel), as we've now completed a third of the route & as we're picknicking for the next two days, we treated ourselves to dinner with panoramic views - well at least you don't have to see the block from within it.  Not for the first time, we've wondered how the French planning system works & how you get approval to build things....
The tourist office here was v helpful & we now have a bed for sunday night.  However, we are going to have to carry everything we eat between breakfast on saturday & lunch on monday from here - v good for us, I'm sure.
We are actually staying in a gite tonight, as are the 4 Canadians & one of the sisters celebrates her 73rd birthday today.
As I write this the sun is setting over the countryside & we have just been joined, an hour after we arrived, by three more customers.  The restaurant seats well over 100 & so we have been well looked after.  As C observed, it rather reminds one of some of those luxury hotels build in Pakistan in slightly odd locations that never had many customers.
Tomorrow, we head onto Frasne-le-chateau where we are the only occupants of an empty school/conference centre - we've just been given the key & told which room to use - v trusting.  The director even, kindly, delivered the key to our gite in Dampierre.

35th day Dampierre - Frasne-le-Chateau 16.52 miles

Today should really have been a lovely day - the weather was again perfect for walking & the, mainly wooded, countryside is beautiful.  Unfortunately, we were carrying our heaviest loads yet - all our food & drink for the next two days & A's shins have been playing up.  We think that this may be due to walking on heavily cambered roads, as the left shin is definitely more painful.  Brufen held it in check during the day & it seems to be a bit better this evening.
Anyway, we left our chambre d'h after a vg breakfast at 0830. - during which our Patron quizzed us about how many had eaten in the Best Western the night before & then confided that it was always empty - & headed to the boulangerie to buy our bread, pizza slices & bacon tart - which we had recce'd the night before.  Gloom - they only do sweet things at weekends, so we had to accept 2 different breads & pop to the supermarket for a couple of sandwiches.  As we left the supermarket, the sirens sounded, but no one looked that intertested, so we headed out of town.  Shortly afterwards, we headed back into town, having realised that we were going in the wrong direction.  We finally left  Dampierre at about 0900.
As we came towards the local disco, in a shed about a mile out of town, we found the reason for the sirens - the local (retained?) Fire brigade were exercising & were using all their hoses to spray an empty field - with the water blowing back across the road.  Cars coming towards us had their wipers on full.  We approached with trepidation & C even took her hat off so that they could see her curls.  Miraculously, as we finally arrived at the scene of the exercise, the hoses stopped, we passed through drily (more than at least one motorcyclist had) & the hoses then recommenced watering the lucky farmer's field.
That was our main excitement of the day.
At about 1600, after 16.52 miles, we arrived in Le Foyer of the Association St-Joseph in Frasne-le-Chateau.  We left ourselves in with the key that had been delivered to us last night & found our allocated 4tudent-type twin en suite room.  We made full use of the kitchen fridge to store our food in, washed most of our clothes, fixed the pedometer, decided that the thin area in C's Rohan trousers produced by her now more muscled, even if still a bit chubby thighs will wait to Besancon for repair or replacement, ate supper & went to bed.  The swallows continued to fly to their nests  above our window througout all this.
If this sounds unfinished, we're tired!