Sunday, May 30, 2010

Day Sixteen





What a miserable walk this one turned out to be. It started wet, finished wet, and was wet all the time in between. In fact it started raining as soon as we arrived at Brantome yesterday afternoon. When we went out for the evening, to the pizzeria in the prehistoric cave, they were closed until June 2nd. Most other places seem to serve meals only at lunchtime. We ended up having a very pedestrian (how appropriate) snack. It was in a cave, though.

Today I walked south, as if I were returning home. Why, you demand to know. Yesterday’s walk finished at Champcevenil and Gay picked me up and drove to Brantome. Today she was to drive me back to Champcevenil, so that I could walk the next stage from C. to B. But the campsite gates were locked until 0800 so we agreed that I would do this one stage backwards. I walked from B to C, and Gay picked me up again in Champcevenil, in exactly the same cemetery car park where I yesterday had a shower and lunch.

I walked 27 kms, which brings the total covered so far to 511 kms. And, if I have confused you above, that means we have now reached Brantome, the Venice of the Perigord.

As I mentioned yesterday, Gay has been doing some drastic re-routing, now that I have decided that roads are more to be pitied than scorned, and especially where the GRs diverge wildly from the northerly direction.

The first fruits of this new policy come tomorrow, Day 17, when I will be walking from Brantome, not to La Beaudrigie, as previously announced, but to St Martial de Valette. Day 18 will be to Roussines, Day 19 to St Maurice des Lions.

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