Day 25 - 10/10/2011 - Gy to Besancon - (34.5 km).

I woke at around 7:30 am after getting a great nights sleep in a very warm and very comfortable double bed. It was probably the best sleep I'd had of the whole trip.

Although I'd told the lady who owned the hotel that I didn't want any breakfast in the morning, as it cost 8 Euro, she kindly insisted that I shared some coffee and orange juice along with some bread and jam with her. She was very motherly towards me, I think maybe I was her only guest!

She later told me that she'd had a few other pilgrims staying earlier on in the week, but I'd just missed them... Bummer! At least she informed me that it wasn't going to rain today and also gave me a hand full of boiled sweets, to munch on along the way, which was a great way to start my last day of this stage of my Via Francigena!

The route from Gy to Besancon has yellow arrows at every junction and was maybe the most beautiful stretch of the route that I had come across so far.

The mist was rolling along the canopies of the trees and it was so atmospheric walking past piles of logs with the sunbeams burning through the misty morning.

I must of stopped 50 times to take another photo of the awesome countryside, and interesting sights that I was passing by making my way to the big city of Besancon.

I decided that because todays route was due to pass through quite a few sleepy little towns along the way, I'd celebrate my last day on the Via Francigena by having a beer in each bar that I passed that was open! And by the time I reached the outskirts of Besancon, at around 6 pm, I was just slightly sloshed!

I soon found myself singing out loud some of the stupid songs that have been going through my head whilst I'd been walking! I think my singing has improved no end in the last four weeks! Maybe I'll even hit a Karaoke bar when I get back to Norwich and try belting out a few old classics!

Besancon was disappointingly very busy, and very big, and absolutely full of loud and smelly cars. There were more cars in that one photo than I'd seen in the last three days combined, a real anti-climax to be honest. But it was just what I expected as I've always found big cities to be loud, unfriendly and lonely places. Easy to get lost in, where nobody talks to anybody they don't know.

So after checking myself into one of Besancon's hostels I made my way to the train station to buy a ticket for Calais, for the next morning, and was told that my train would be leaving very early at 5:55 am. That would mean that I'd have to wait until next year, upon my return, in order to take a good look around Besancon as I'd need to get an early night tonight in order to get up in time for the train tomorrow (with no alarm clock).

I passed the large war memorial dedicated to Besancon's fallen children of the world wars outside the train station, it was the biggest I'd seen so far, and was a poignant final reminder of the sacrifices that were made by our forefathers to secure the peaceful future that I now felt so privileged and fortunate to be living, safely, through.

And so there, in my tiny little room in the hostel in Besancon, ended this first epic 767 km stage of my pilgrimage to Rome. My pilgrim's passport is filling up nicely and I now have a good idea of the equipment I'll need to upgrade before my return trip next year.

I fear it's going to feel like a very long and drawn out wait for summer to come around, before I can pull on the old walking boots again and once more find myself...

A simple pilgrim making his slow way along The Via Francigena towards Rome.

I hope you've enjoyed reading my blog.

To be continued...

Day 24 - 09/10/2011 - Champlitte to Gy - (42 km).

Another day, another marathon...

Leaving Champlitte at sunrise I soon found myself following the familiar yellow arrows, making another cameo appearance, marking the route along the Via Francigena pretty much all the way to Gy. The rain was persistent, but not as heavy as it had been for the last couple of days, which meant that conditions today were ideal. And I passed through a few ancient villages with pretty churches and monuments during the morning.

At around midday the rain stopped for a while enabling me to make use of a little park with benches and statues in it, to change the old socks again and get some grub down me.

In the afternoon, as I approached Gy, the scenery changed again and I was walking through a beautiful old forest with trees overhanging the steep banks either side of me. As I turned one corner I suddenly stopped, convinced I'd spotted a wild boar ahead of me, but I soon got over my panic when I realised it was just a pig on a small farm in amongst an odd looking collection of turkeys, chickens, sheep and goats! So no need to panic!

I also had a pretty scary experience with a herd of cows on the far side of another farmers field, when they saw me, panicked, and started to stampede directly at me! there was just a thin electric fence between me and them and I was sure they were going to just charge straight through it. But at the last second they swerved away from the fence and just charged around the field for a bit instead. I've never seen cows in full flight like that before and would of been up the creek without a paddle if the electric fence hadn't of been there.

The next animals I came across were 2 Alsatian dogs, alone and off the lead in the distance, who noticed me and then started to charge straight at me!! Deja Vous, I thought to myself, as they got closer and closer and they seemed extremely angry. I quickly unclipped my rucksack, holding it in front of myself preparing to use it as some sort of shield in case they pounced on me, and shouted "NO!!!" as they got within 10 metres, hackles raised, teeth barred and barking and growling like crazy. And they stopped and just barked at me for a bit... Phew, the animals round here are nuts!

Unfortunately a little further down the track and I came across my first horse meat farm. The horses were very fat and all the same breed and It was quite a sad thought knowing that these horses were destined to become some French guys lunch, some day soon.

So, a lot of animals featured in todays hike but there were also a lot of very beautiful and interesting trees in the forested section, leading into Gy. Also the yellows arrows meant navigating was extremely simple today. I even put my guidebook away, as I didn't need to use it for half the day.

So I rolled into Gy at around 6 pm on a Sunday evening after a beautiful little walk through the forests and the first thing I came across was an old guy in the middle of town who's car wouldn't start. He'd been there for some time trying to find someone to help him push his car up a hill so he could try and jump start the old banger and when he asked me for my help, although I was wet and tired after walking 42 kms, I dropped my rucksack by the side of the road and slowly pushed him and his car up the steep hill.

It took him three tries to get it started but we managed it, eventually! That's got to be good Karma I thought to myself as he disappeared into the distance!


My thoughts soon returned to trying to find somewhere to sleep for the night, once I'd got my breath back! I've actually spent less money than I had expected to, in getting this far, so I was able to treat myself to a lovely little room in a funny little hotel in Gy, themed on Pinocchio, for some unknown reason. The lady working there was very friendly and very kind towards me, although she spoke no English and we struggled over a few words that I couldn't understand, which we both found amusing.

Everything in Town was shut, as it's a Sunday, so I was happy that I'd prepared some pasta the previous day and after showering and eating it was another early night for me knowing that tomorrow was my final day walking the Via Francigena until I return next year.

It's been one hell of an adventure, I have yet to meet any other pilgrims what so ever along the way to Rome, but I have had an experience that I will treasure in my heart and memories for the rest of my life, I can tell you!

Day 23 - 08/10/2011 - Langres to Champlitte - (40 km).

I woke up feeling great physically and absolutely fantastic mentally, after yesterdays marathon trek, and eventual 12 hour sleep to compensate! So I decided to do another one today! I'd left the youth hostel by 7:30 am, it was raining quite heavily again and was also pretty darn cold and for the first time I found myself wearing...

My (leaking) boots, my socks, my pants, my trekking trousers, my waterproof trousers, a T-shirt, a long sleeved T-shirt, my fleece, my waterproof coat, my waterproof coats hood, my woolly hat, my waterproof cycling gloves, my rucksack and it's (leaking) waterproof cover!!

I had expected the weather to be a little more like this for most of my pilgrimage, and was well prepared, so after passing one another one of Langres's ancient gates into the citadel, I was quite enjoying myself splashing along in the rain.

The first hours walk out of Langres followed quite a busy road but I soon passed this sign indicating my final destination for this first stage of my Via Francigena, which both pleased and saddened me at the same time... A bit like the rain and cars were beginning to do!
But the roads soon got quieter and is wasn't long before I found the Via snaking her way through some surprisingly English looking landscapes reminding me that I would be back home to see my dogs and cats in just 3 days, another thought that stirred up mixed emotions.

It was Saturday and there seemed to be a lot of hunters wandering about with their guns and dogs but none of them mistook me for a deer, so I was okay. Some of the old villages and hamlets I passed through today were very quaint, with lots of flowers everywhere, and I found a nice sheltered bus stop to take a break from the rain, change my wet socks and grab some lunch, in a particularly pretty little village called Grenant.

They were even farming flowers in the fields nearby which meant todays scenery was just that little bit extra pretty too. I also passed some interesting looking run down old farm buildings as I approached Champlitte later in the afternoon.

I reached the old town of Champlitte at around 5pm and got directions for the tourist information centre in order to get directions to the campsite I was planning to stay in. The campsite turned out to be shut but the guy in the tourist office was extremely friendly, he knew a lot about the history of the Via Francigena and even corrected my pronunciation, which I didn't even know was wrong!

He then told me not to worry as that the town had it's own little pilgrim only flat, that was just 10 Euro to stay in, he even very kindly offered to let me go to his house to use the shower as the hostel didn't have one. I decided to respectfully decline his kind offer of a shower in the end, as I felt a little silly, for some reason. But it wasn't long before I was in that little flat (with another bottle of locally produced red wine that I'd bought whilst in the tourist information centre) pre-preparing the last lot of pasta that would see me through to Besancon.

I got to take a good look round Champlitte, built around it's sixteenth century Chateau, with its cobbled alleyways and little statuettes in alcoves above the doorways to some of the houses.

But I decided to get an early night in the end as I was exhausted again after another long trek in the rain.

I was planning another similar 42 km hike, to a place called Gy, the following morning.

Day 22 - 07/10/2011 - Chateauvillain to Langres - (45 km).

At about 3am I was woken with a start by three loud thumps coming from upstairs in the strange old house I was sleeping in, alone...

I could see the the strange silhouettes of the suits of armour and rows of decapitated heads, with wigs on, through the glass windows of my bedroom door...

I tried but I just couldn't pluck up the courage to get out of my bed, with my torch, to see what was making the noise...

So I hid under my covers for a bit instead...

THEN SUDDENLY...

I calmed down and dropped back off to sleep!

Anyway I'd decided to try and get to another amazing walled citadel, called Langres, a whooping 45 km's away today. It would mean that I'd have to walk just about 3 Km's over the distance of a marathon to do it! But it's much easier to trek longer distances in this cooler weather and I figured it would take me around 11 hours, including a couple of breaks along the way.

I left that creepy little pilgrims house at first light, I was out of there faster than Speedy Gonzalez!

It rained heavily today for about 8 hours solid so it was another full wets walk. Chateauvillain is connected to a 270+ hectare deer park and I soon found the path cutting through beautiful game filled forests again. Several times I thought that I'd got a little lost in the forest but I just carried on walking and each time I soon found out that I wasn't actually lost at all.

I passed several hunters shacks, whilst walking through the deer park, and I climbed up into one to get out of the rain for a bit, and change my socks as my boots had decided to leak (as had my "so called" waterproof backpack rain cover). My feet were soon wet again so I was relieved a couple of hours later when I came across another little hunters shack. The perfect spot to get out the rain for some lunch and to apply some fresh plasters to the sore parts of my feet, and change my socks again!

I was now due to walk on deserted little B-Roads for the next twenty Km stretch, all the way to Langres, passing through yet more beautiful and flowery countryside and at about 3 pm even the weather started to improve a bit too, which was an added bonus. I passed some interesting little critters along the way including a tiny little lizard and a very hairy caterpillar, at last my first fellow pilgrim making his slow way along the Via Francigena!

A couple of hours later after having crossed a damn high above fishermen trying to make a living off the reservoir below me,I turned a corner and got my first view of Langres citadel high on upon a hillside ahead of me.

It was a tough way to end a very long day as I had to head up the steep hill to the citadel but the views looking back from halfway up were nice and I headed through one of the gates in the medieval wall to visit the tourist information office, for some directions to the youth hostel I was hoping to stay at that evening. The hostel was very close by and it turned out that after 6pm they didn't accept new people.

So I was lucky to of only just made it in time after 11 hours walking through the rain.

After I'd showered and prepared something to eat in the hostels kitchen I lay back on my bed for a few moments to relax and the next thing I knew it was 2am and I was still lying in the same position! I was feeling knackered so I just brushed my teeth and got into bed, properly this time!

I was planning another long 40 Km walk to a place called Champlitte tomorrow, so unfortunately I never got to get a good look around Langres's old buildings, monuments and museums. A lot of which seemed to be dedicated to their favourite son, 18th century philosopher, Dennis Diderot, who was co-founder and chief editor of the Encyclopedie amongst other things.

Day 21 - 06/10/2011 - Bar-Sur-Aube to Chateauvillain - (34 km).

I woke at 7 am after a very good nights sleep at the presbytere and was invited to share breakfast with the people who run it. I left 15 Euro as my donation, I hope that was an appropriate amount, and I left at 9 am after being told that it was due to rain in France for the next week. I had good waterproofing for everything, so I was actually quite looking forward to walking through the rain for a few days, to be honest.

During the morning there were some really long straight paths through woodland and farmland and also a few confusing junctions to navigate along the way as well. But I made good time, in the ideal conditions, and was pleased when after about 15 kms I came across a bar that wasn't in my guide to stop for a nice hot coffee.

Whilst I was in there an old farmer came over to my table and asked me what I was up to and where I was from, in almost perfect English. I told him about the pilgrimage and that I was from Norwich, and it turned out that his father had been in the Army and had been stationed in Thetford (which is just down the road from Norwich) It was where he had learnt to speak English and he knew all the local area.

We had quite a long chat and he was a really funny guy, I asked him about the wild boars in the area and if I should be worried at all, and he replied in a bit of a Norfolk accent "Nah, you'll be alright, Son, they'll only charge you if you disturbed them... That's why we shoot the f*ckers!" Haha! That made me laugh a lot for the rest of the day, every time I thought about it, he passed me later on the road and bibbed his horn as a final farewell!

Soon after I'd left the bar it started to rain quite heavily and I passed a very old church with a statue of Saint Peter outside the entrance. I came across a concrete park bench just as the rain started to fall a little heavier and squeezed myself under the table, where I decided to eat some more of my delicious bean chilli, I must of looked quite a state but there was no-one around to see me!!

Just before I reached Chateauvillain the sun popped it's head out and for a brief moment I was gifted with a beautiful rainbow, who doesn't like a nice rainbow shot!! I reached the tourist office in Chateauvillain, at about 5 pm, where the very friendly staff there gave me the keys to their pilgrim only house and also a new jar of coffee and some milk. Which was a really nice way to be welcomed to the town.

There were more impressive old buildings here and the house I was staying in doubled up as the store room for some sort of amateur dramatics group in the town, there were medieval costumes and even a few full suits of armour in there!

All the bars were closed so I treated myself to a bottle of local red wine and after drinking half a bottle I soon found myself trying on some of the costumes, and wigs, and swords, and guns, and stuff!! Checking myself out in the mirror!

Yes I am going slightly stir crazy I think! But I'm making much better progress than I had expected, now the weather has cooled down a bit, and I think I may even be able to reach Besancon by Monday which is 5 days sooner than I had expected at the start of this trip.

My mum will be very pleased!

Day 20 - 05/10/2011 - Brienne Le Chateau to Bar-Sur-Aube - (29 km).

I didn't have to be out of my little pilgrims flat until 11 am so I popped into town, without my rucksack, in order to resupply and get a support strap for my ankle. I took a couple of hours, in the kitchen at the flat, to prepare a few days worth of bean chilli that would be easy to reheat, with a bit of rice, on my camping stove for dinner over the next couple of days.
My mum would be so proud of me, I thought to myself!

I had checked in my guide and noted that I would be passing a campsite, after just 7 km's, that I figured I could stop at if my ankle started feeling as bad as it did for the last 5 km's of yesterdays walk. There was also accommodation listed in my guide as "donation" in a presbytere, in a town called Bar-Sur-Aube. A more suitable 29 km away, if my new ankle support managed to sort out my little Achilles problem, that is.

The weather was starting to change and as I left Brienne Le Chateau there was a very welcome blanket of cloud cover, the temperature was noticeably cooler and there was also a nice breeze brewing up as well. Pretty much ideal hiking weather, and my ankle soon felt good which was a double bonus.

The route followed very quiet roads through equally quite little villages for most of the day and there were also some very nice little sections along winding farm tracks that passed through woodland with red squirrels scampering up and down trees. I found a nice little spot, under a tree by the river, to stop to heat some of my delicious chilli and soon after I reached Bar-Sur-Aube and I'd found the Presbytere listed in my guide by 5 pm.

The people there made me feel very welcome and insisted that I ate with them that evening, which was really kind of them, it was nice to have some company to eat and talk with for a change. After we'd eaten I was given directions to the laundrette and I stopped by a couple of bars whilst I waited for my clothes to finish washing and drying.

All in all a very memorable day on the Via Francigena.

Tomorrow I'm planning to walk about 35 km's to another little pilgrim only hostel in an interesting medieval town called Chateauvillain.

Day 19 - 04/10/2011 - (6 km past) Coole to Brienne Le Chateau- (40 km).

Another dawn start and another nice sunrise to start the day, I was glad that I was able walk the short stretch of the Roman road, that started todays 40 km planned hike, before the temperature got uncomfortably hot again.

Roman roads are great in one way because, of course, they are dead straight and also they all lead to my final destination, Rome! But they have their drawbacks, one of which being getting little white stones in my walking shoes every 10 minutes, boots would of been a much better option.

I was expecting to pass a shop in a little village called le Meix Tiercelin, that was about an hour or so down the road, but when I arrived there I found the shop had shut down. Luckily I found a water fountain to refill my water bag though.

It turned out that I ended up walked about 60-70 km, over those 2 days from Chalon to Brienne La Chateau, on a Monday and Tuesday, without passing a single shop or cafebar that was open for business. Fortunately I always tried to carry 2 days worth of food with me and I did find places to get fresh water from.

I was glad that I had been pre-warned by both Boris and my guide or else it could of turned into an even tougher couple of days trekking.

Just before the route left the Roman road, and joined quite country tracks, I was pleased to see a quaint little wooden shed, next to the river, that was the perfect spot for a short break to cool down and prepare a little something for my lunch.

It was around 2 pm when I started to feel a little pain in my Achilles tendon, on my right foot, still having over 20 km to walk to get to a little pilgrim only gite that I was looking forward to staying in tonight in Brienne La Chateau.

Unfortunately as the roads that led into Brienne La Chateau steadily got busier and busier, with each passing km, the pain in my tendon also steadily increased. I was really surprised, still having five km to go to Brienne La Chateau, that I was actually struggling to put any weight on it at all.

I eventually hobbled into town at around 5:30 pm and after buying a much needed lovely fresh salad and cold coke from the first shop I'd passed in two days, I just made it to the tourist office, which closed at 6pm, and showed them my pilgrims passport after which they showed me the way to the first (free) pilgrim only place that I'd come across on the route, so far.

(I was going to remove this last photo, as on closer inspection I've since noticed that I'm reflected in the window, and I appear to of just got out the shower! I decided just to censor it in the end!)

There was a book in the hostel where previous pilgrims who had stayed there could leave little messages, and reflections on the route. It was really nice to flick through it and read their little trials and tribulations along the way.

I was just a little disappointed when I noticed that I'd just missed a Norwegian family who were walking the Via, all the way to Rome in one go. They had been staying here for 4 days, as the mother apparently was having problems with her feet, and they had only left here this morning.

Oh well... C'est La Vie! Maybe I'll meet them before I reach Besancon, or maybe I won't, only time will tell.

Before I retired to my squeaky little camper bed I decided to head into town for a few "Bierre Blanche's" one of the bars had a couple of black cats milling around the bar!

I'm definitely going to have to get an ankle support, before I hit the road tomorrow, as my tendon is swollen and still hurts a lot, that's for sure.

Day 18 - 03/10/2011 - Chalon to (6 km past) Coole - (33 km).

As I didn't get to see the centre of Chalon yesterday, due to being driven to the campsite, I decided to leave as early as I could today so I could take a leisurely stroll around the city before hitting the long Roman roads that lay ahead.

I reached the centre of Chalon nice and early, at 7:30 am, and the first building that I came across I thought was the cathedral, as it was such an impressive looking building, but it turned out to be a church called the "Notre-Dame-en-Vaux" which was built between 1157 and 1217, and had a cloister which was a place of pilgrimage in the 12th century.

There are a few other significant churches and buildings in Chalon, that I passed, but they were all locked so I only got to see the outsides of them, and then I came across Saint Etiennes, which including parts of the first Romanesque cathedral built in the 12th century.

Unfortunately it was also locked, but it had some intricate carvings on the outside and I really enjoyed my little tour of Chalon, before I hit the road again following a few busy roads out of town before I got my first sight of a real Roman road.

It was as hot as it has been all week, very hot, with no clouds and no shade for the entire day. This was a very tough little stretch, with the Roman roads splitting the view into the horizon in half. Every time you reached the top of a rise, the road just continued off into the distance on the other side.

So I was relieved when I finally hit a small town called Coole, at about 3pm, my guide said had a B&B that I could stay in for under 20 Euro. I headed for the Mairie to get a stamp for my pilgrims passport but was disappointed when I found it locked.

There was a lot of noise coming from the building joining on to the side of the Mairie, and the door was open, so I thought I'd pop my head in to see what was going on and maybe refill my water, which had run out. I was surprised to see a load of pensioners sitting round tables playing cards and soon after explaining who I was, and what I was up to, I found myself sitting at one of the tables drinking coffee and eating biscuits with them!!

None of them could speak English so I had to use my (slightly improving) French to ask about the B&B in town, but although they all knew the guy who ran the place, one of them even tried to ring his mobile but only got an answer machine, it turned out that he wasn't around and I couldn't figure out what they were saying about where he was, or when he'd return.

So I thought I'd just sit there for a bit, and cool down in Coole, then if he didn't show after an hour or so I'd try to find somewhere to wild camp, for the fifth time, a few km's further along the road.

And that's exactly how things transcribed..

I cooled down then said thank you and goodbye to the kind pensioners of Coole, walked for about an hour or so along another stretch of Roman road until I found a suitable little spot to set the old tent up and settle down for an early night in the wild.

I realised that I passed the "500 km from Canterbury" way point, on my little walk from Coole. That's just about quarter of the total length of this pilgrimage to Rome.

I have still yet to meet another pilgrim either walking or cycling the Via Francigena.

Day 17 - 02/10/2011 - Verzy to Chalon De Champagne - (34 km).

I woke at 6 am to a very dark misty morning and was packed up and walking before 7 am, as I planned a long 34 km walk to a youth hostel in a city called Chalon. Two of the best things about wild camping, I've found, are the most beautifully clear starry skies in the evenings and also waking early enough to watch some of the most glorious sunrises, that I just never get to see back home in Norwich.

Todays sunrise over a small little hamlet called Villiers-Marmery, with the misty champagne vines in the foreground, was a particularly beautiful one too, I must say gob smackingly stupendous. I passed a farmer working in one of the fields and pointed at the sunrise and shouted "C'est Magnifique" as I trotted by!

By midday I was out of the vineyards and following GR signs along another French canal. Following that straight and flat canal meant that I made really good progress today and reached Chalon at around 3:30 pm, which was a decent 5 km/hr walking pace.

I decided to stop at a cafe bar in Chalon for a couple of ice cold beers, to cool me down a bit, as it had been yet another very hot day in the high 20's. When I asked about directions to the hostel that I had planned to stay in, the kind lady working behind the bar offered to ring them up for me as she thought that they may be shut, and it turned out she was right.

She then rang the campsite which was fortunately open but unfortunately at least an hours walk out of the city. Then her husband showed up and they talked to each other for a minute, then he turned to me and said " I drive you there" Result! About 20 minutes later we pulled up outside the campsite, which turned out to be a very tranquil and peaceful little site with an Spar and Boulangerie right outside the gates and both were open to resupply in.

Tomorrow I intend to walk another long 30 odd kms to a B&B in a town called Coole, I've been warned, by both my guide and Boris, that this next section follows Roman roads and is completely exposed with no shops or cafe bars passed for the whole day, so I plan to get up extra early to take a quick look round the churches and cathedral in Chalon centre and try to hit these Roman roads early.

Before it gets too hot again.

Day 16 - 01/10/2011 - Reims to Verzy - (20 km).

Boris and his girlfriend had to leave their house by 9 am so after sharing a traditional French style breakfast with them both, we exchanged e-mails and I headed off to take a closer look at some of the many old buildings in Reims.

The first one I visited was the oldest monument in Reims, the "Porte de Mars" (Mars Gate). Dating from the 3rd or 4th century, It stands virtually intact looming forty feet high and it's over one hundred feet in length. It was one of 4 Roman gates that used to lead inside the old walled city.

I then made my way to the dramatically Gothic cathedral that Reims is probably best know for, "Notre-Dame de Reims" (Our Lady of Rheims). The place where French Kings used to be crowned, playing the same role as Westminster Abbey does in the UK. The towers stand over two hundred feet tall and in one of the them there are two giant bells, one of which weighs in at more than 10,000 kg!!

The three portals on the outside are laden with statues and statuettes. In fact, I learnt that among European cathedrals only Chartres has more sculpted figures. There was also a little exhibition of the construction equipment that was used to build it in the 13th and 14th Centuries outside.

I headed out of Reims passing more impressive buildings along the way and, after following a canal for a short while, I soon found myself walking through vineyards in the heart of the Champagne producing region of France. I could see a Windmill above the vines in the distance that took an hour or so to reach, and soon after I came across this sign pointing the way to Santiago De Compostela. The two pilgrimages cross around here... And I thought I had a long way to go!

The last little stretch to Verzy passed through a pretty little forest and I reached the small town at about 6pm, only to discover the hostel I'd intended to stay in was now private flats. So I had no real option but to resupply in the shops and walk on to try to find a place to wild camp for the 4th time this trip.

I was expecting it to take an hour or so but just on the edge of town was a new building plot with a secluded little "future" garden area that had been cleared, perfect for one nights camping, so long as I was up nice and early to leave before any builders turned up or something!

So I settled down for an early night, slightly paranoid about wild boars that Boris had said were in the area, and would not only charge me but also charge my tent if they came across it!

Day 15 - 30/09/2011 - Laon to Bouconville Vauclair - (23 km).

I woke at 6 am and, after packing away my kit, I was ready to leave by 7 am. The owners of the campsite never showed up so I just left having stayed there for free. Right outside the campsite was a lake that was looking stunning in the morning sun light, with mist rolling across it's surface and sunbeams bursting through the treetops.

I was pleased that the route mainly passed through shady woodland again today, as the weather remained very hot and sunny all day. The woods were particularly beautiful in this little stretch and I seemed to stop every few minutes to take another picture! Later I passed a section of smoke-filled woodland where a guy was burning a huge bonfire and got an interesting photo.

Today was the day that my friend Boris had mentioned picking me up, in his car, to drive me to his place in Reims. I'd been thinking about it and decided I would stop in a small village called Bouconville and give him a call to take him up on his kind offer. Bouconville is 40 km from Reims, so that meant I would be missing about a days worth of walking along the route, but I didn't beat myself up about it too much. Boris was going to be driving along mostly the same roads the Via, at least.

So when I reached the small village of Bouconville Vauclair, at 4 pm, and saw that there was a phone box outside the Mairie along with a couple of benches in the shade. I decided to call it a day and try giving old Boris a ring. I dialled his number and it rang... and rang... and rang, then went through to his answer phone. So I had to leave a message in the end telling him where I was, and that I was up for going to their house in Reims tonight. I just had to hope his offer was still open and that he'd get (and understand) my message.

I popped into the Mairie and the mayor actually signed my pilgrims passport, which was nice. I then waited outside on one of the benches for a while, which soon turned into an hour, which slowly turned into 2 hours. Time for another telephone call to Boris, it was 6 pm.

Boy was I relieved when after 2 rings Boris answered and explained he'd had to get his phone charged in a cafe bar, as it had run out of battery and he'd got my message and was on his way 30 minutes away. I'd been getting a few odd looks off the locals as I'd been sat there for so long, I'd even juggled for an hour to pass the time! I think they thought I was about to set up my tent! But at 6:30 pm Boris pulled up in a right old banger of a car.

It was such a clapped out old car that he told me we'd to have the air conditioning on full, blasting all the hot air into our faces, to draw it away from the engine so it didn't catch fire!
I thought he was joking, but he wasn't! And it was a hot ride to Boris's house in the centre of town. Whizzing past some of the monuments, as Boris explained a bit of the history behind them and advised me on what I should go see tomorrow, before I left Reims.

It was really nice to stay with Boris and his girlfriend, they are both very nice people and we stayed up late, drinking red wine and chatting about the city and the Via Francigena and watching people in the street below their apartment. I also got to use their internet for a good hour which was a bonus.

Tomorrow I plan to spend a couple of hours looking around the ancient monuments dotted across Reims, then walk 20 Km's or so to a youth hostel in my guide, in a small village named Verzy.

Day 14 - 29/09/2011 - Suzy to Laon - (14 km).

The evening was a symphony of howls, hoots and roars from owls, stags and other unknown creatures of the night. Accompanied by a fantastic light show of satellites and shooting stars. I ended up falling asleep inside my sleeping bag (outside my tent) and only awoke when a big drip of water rolled down the side of my tent and then splashed me right between my eyes!

So at about 3 am I retired (to the inside of my tent) and soon fell back to sleep again, but an hour or so later I woke to the sound of my pots and pans rattling outside my tent. I lay there for a second or two then heard the sound again and it was definitely some sort of animal.

I tried a couple of violent kicks to the side of the tent, to try and scare whatever it was away, but that didn't seem to work so I slowly unzipped the tent and shone my torch over at my dirty dishes. And there before me was... wait for it... A little grey kitten! That stuck around till dawn when I eventually got up.

It was a wonderful night in the wild, a night that I'll never forget, exactly the reason I've left my boring life back in England behind for a while.

So I was up nice and early, at 6 am, the campsite at Suzy is used by carp anglers in the summer and is surrounded by tree lined lakes that looked absolutely awesome in the misty morning light. They also have some cool looking old caravans and even some teepee's for hire if you stay here in the summer. I was more than rewarded for yesterdays long walk by the glorious sunrise I caught this morning, it was such a magical start to the day.

Yet more memories of The Via Francigena that will stay with me forever.

Before I left the campsite I noticed this funny sign on the wall of a bar situated on site, "Rooms with a female attendant"? Go on then, I'll take one of those! The wall opposite me was not amused!

Boris and his girlfriend had told me earlier in the week that the Gothic cathedral in Laon, which was just 15 Km's from here, was an awe inspiring sight to behold. Laon is a medieval, walled citadel situated high atop a forested hill and steeped in history. So I planned that I would stop there today in order to get a good look round the citadel.

That would mean just a short 3 hour walk, which was quite a relief as it seemed to be getting hotter and hotter as each day passed and walking in the afternoons was becoming tough.

I left the beautiful Suzy at about 9:30am passing through the village and into the forest again for a short while, but after an hour or so the scenery started to change and I got my first view of the imposing Laon, high up, ahead in the distance.

The campsite is just outside Laon, very easy to find and was open when I arrived at just before 1 pm. No one was there to take any money or anything, so I just pitched my tent near the reception and then decided to take a good walk around the citadel.

I took my rucksack with just my dirty laundry in it, in case I passed a launderette, and a shopping list for the next couple of days worth of food. I then set off at about 3 pm, still without seeing anyone to pay for my stay. I managed to take the wrong route and almost circled the citadel before I found the way up the steep hill to the citadel, it took much longer than it should of done but I passed a supermarket and then a laundrette on the way so it kind of worked out okay in the end!

I was surprised when I reached Laon's awesome cathedral that there was just me and one other woman there, and she soon left. I walked about the square taking photos and then inside the cathedral and was the only soul in the place for about an hour, it was absolutely beautiful. Some of the stained glass is over nine hundred years old and was absolutely beautiful and the carvings on the outside were so intricately detailed too.

Apparently, so the local legend goes anyway, just 4 powerful oxen were used to carry all the masonry up the steep hills to build this cathedral and the town decided to immortalise these courageous beasts with four statues, in pride of place, high on top of the twin towers of the cathedral.

I stopped for a few beers and got chatting to the guy who owned the (rock music themed) "Cafe Bar Vortex" close by the cathedral. He was very friendly and told me some big bands had played his bar over the years, including The Pogues! He gave me a great little pen as a souvenir and I got him to stamp my pilgrims passport as his bar was a memorable place in Laon!

I just caught the sun setting as I hurried past the citadels walls and it's ancient gates, down the steep hills just making it back down to the campsite before it got dark. There was still no campsite owner to be seen, although there were lots of campers.

So I cooked some food, drank some wine then went to bed early at about 9pm.

Day 13 - 28/09/2011 - Serancourt-Le-Grand to Suzy - (43 km).

I was up at 6am and packed and on the road by 7am ready to start todays 43 Km slogathon to the campsite in Suzy.

Right outside the campsite in Saint Quentin was a boulangerie where I grabbed some breakfast and a nice freshly baked baguette to eat later with some nice French cheese I had in my rucksack. As I'm a vegetarian I've been buying some of these strange mouldy French cheeses for the whole time I've been here and I found some, called St Paully, which is really gorgeous.

An hour or so down the road was a cafe/bar to grab a quick "grand cafe au lait" and after that I was ready to really get going. For the first couple of hours I walked through more farmland then found a nice spot by a railway to stop for my lunch. I plotted a route that would bypass a city called Tergneir that my guide had described as "One of the least attractive towns on the route" and for once, saved myself a few km's without getting lost!

The route then followed a beautiful canal that the sunlight seemed to glistening upon like a thousand little diamonds. The trees reflected in the green water looked awesome and there were dogs running up and down alongside it for a while. I had to stop under a bridge for a short break to grab some lunch and get out of the hot sun for a bit!

Soon after I passed a shop where I was able to get another 2 litres of water seeing as it was developing into another swelteringly hot Septembers afternoon and I was almost out of water plus I still had 20 Km's to walk to get to the campsite in Suzy.

I needed to push hard to get there before sundown and the route now took me high up into woodland, past some gorgeous old trees that must of been quite old and also past an old ruined monastery. The stunning views more than made up for the long trek, although I was a little paranoid about falling trees after passing this signpost closely followed by this fallen tree along the way.

However I made it to the campsite alive at 7:30 pm, only to find it was closed... Nooooooooo!!

Fortunately the owners lived in a house right at the entrance to the campsite and the man was in his garden smoking a fag. So I got his attention and explained that I was a very tired pilgrim making my way to Rome and that I'd walked 43 km to get there today.

He shook me by the hand and said I was welcome to camp anywhere I wanted on the site, for free!

I had just 15 minutes of daylight left, and was busy setting up my tent, when I discovered that I'd left one of my tent poles in Serancourt this morning... Doh!
Luckily it is just a 1 foot section and I very quickly found a suitable branch for the job!

After eating I lay out under the stars and saw maybe the most shooting stars in one night that I ever have done in my whole life. I think it must be because there is virtually no light pollution around here, at all.

It was a lovely way to relax and wind down after my toughest days walking so far along the Via Francigena.

Day 12 - 27/09/2011 - Saint Quentin to Serancourt-Le-Grand - (17 km).

I woke at dawn but hung around the campsite till 9 am, so I could pop into town to get some gas, but alas I couldn't find the type I needed so I headed out of Saint Quentin with a bit of a choice as to where to head, seeing as I was about 6 km off the path already. There is a campsite just 17 kms away, or I could hike 25-30 km and find a place to wild camp again.

The view coming out of Saint Quentin was quite impressive in the hot morning sun, and I passed a funny Scottish themed bar too. I passed through a few old villages and churches along the way and had to navigate using compass, watch, and sun in order to try and get back to the route described in my guidebook.

I was very relieved when it clouded over for a bit in the afternoon and I'd reached the campsite in Serancourt-Le-Grand at by around 3:30 pm after passing a beautiful statue of the Virgin Mary with another little statue near her.

The campsite was beautifully situated, so I decided to call it a day here after just 17 Km's walking today and I soon met a really nice English couple on the site who were actually celebrating their wedding anniversary that evening. And they very kindly offered to take me along when they drove to a huge supermarket.

So I resupplied with everything I needed for the next couple of days, and was well chuffed when I came across a camping aisle and found just the right cans of gas that I'd been looking for the last few days. I bought two cans which should be enough to see me through to Besancon (barring accidents).

I forget their names, which is a pity, but the husband was also a keen juggler, as am I, and I showed him a few of my trickier tricks! I'm such a show off sometimes! I hope they get to read this blog as we exchanged e-mail and I sent them a link, If you are then "Hi, and thanks again for the noodles and stuff!)

The next campsite is a little off the route again, in a small village called Suzy, and that's a whopping 43 Km's away,basically a marathon.

So I plan for an early start tomorrow.

Day 11 - 26/09/2011 - Perrone to Saint Quentin - (31 km).

I woke at daybreak but didn't end up leaving the campsite until gone 9 am, as I wanted to say goodbye to Jean-Michael seeing as he'd been so kind the previous day. I then made my way into Perrone town centre to have a coffee in a typical French cafe bar/bar/tobacco shop/betting shop next-door to Perrones pretty Mairie.

It was already hot and just got hotter, and hotter, as the day went on. I was walking along some quite busy and exposed roads as well, which really wasn't very nice at all. Once I got off the main roads the scenery soon improved but I then ran out of water, even though I was only halfway into todays 30 km walk. I was surprised as I had started the day with a full 2 litres in my water bag.

Luckily I saw an old man in his garden and asked him if I could use his outdoor tap to fill my water bottle, he could see I was sweating like a pig and said it was no problem. I think he was amused when I stripped to the waist and sat underneath the cold tap for a while before I filled my water bag! It really was a hot days walking today and I also had to take a break later under a nice shady tree, between 2 pm and 3 pm, to cool down for a bit.

A couple of hours later I arrived on the outskirts of Saint Quentin and stopped for a bite to eat in a fast food restaurant that I passed and drank a giant chocolate milkshake, which was just what I needed to give me the second wind, for the final push to Saint Quentin's Youth Hostel.

By 6 pm I still hadn't made it to the hostel, I didn't really know where it was anyway, so I stopped in a bar for a nice cold beer and asked the gentleman working there for directions. Ten minutes later I was sat in the back of his car being driven to the hostel! He was a really nice guy for doing that for a complete stranger who could hardly speak any French. Especially when I realised the Hostel would of taken over an hour for me to walk to.

I soon had my tent pitched and used the hostel's kitchen to prepared a nice pasta dish for my dinner (enough for a couple of days seeing as I have no gas). I came across the biggest set of bellows I've ever seen in there and I met quite a few nice people in Saint Quentins campsite, from different countries, all camping here for different reasons.

When it got dark I noticed this guy lying on a bench looking up at the starry nights sky and decided to go over and introduce myself to him. His name was Boris and he was an archaeologist working on excavation some Roman tombs in the area. He was born in Arras and now lived in Reims (a city I was due to stay in in a few days) so he was keen to hear about the Via Francigena, I was surprised he hadn't heard of it already.

He took a good long look through my guide and said that if I could make it to Reims, by Friday, then I could stay at his and his girlfriends house there. That would mean walking 40km per day, for 4 days, but he then say that he'd be driving along the same route as the Via Francigena on Friday. So if I hadn't made it to Reims by then, maybe he could pick me up and drive me to their house. He wrote his mobile number in my guide anyway and told me to ring him Friday afternoon if I wanted picking up.

Something to consider although it would be a shame to miss walking a little stretch of the route, it would be great to stay at their place on Friday and go out for a few drinks.

Day 10 - 25/09/2011 - Bapaume to Perrone - (26.1 km).

I decided to leave the hotel early, before 8 am, as I caught a weather forecast that said it could reach 30 degrees today and would stay like that for the rest of the week.
A bit hot for comfortable walking but I had plenty of factor 30 sun cream and a half decent sun hat too.

(NOTE TO SELF: spend more money on a very good, breathable, sun hat for Besancon to Rome).

The route from Bapaume to Perrone mainly used quite side roads again with some farm tracks. I passed a very pretty little graveyard, situated in a beautiful location, and also a pretty little French house. I also passed a lot of hunters as the season has just started and there were shotgun blasts going off all over the place, apparently Sunday is the best day to shot stuff!

My body felt great all day for the first time and for a moment I even thought that I could run to Perrone, but I decided to walk instead! I made good time and reached the town at just gone 2 pm, the 26 km taking just 6 hours (with a couple of short breaks). The campsite was close by, well sign posted and a friendly guy named Jean-Michael was there to enthusiasticly greet me at the gates.

He'd even fetched me a cold beer before I'd got my tent up, and later insisted I took some pasta & bread off him. He also offered to wash and dry all my laundry and let me use the showers for free.

I was beginning to think that he might just be gay, and even got a little nervous for a second there! But it turned out he was just a devout Catholic and was really pleased to have a pilgrim walking the Via Francigena staying at his campsite!

We chatted and drank beers, along with his niece, until about 11 pm with both of us referring to our phrase books throughout the evening! Later that night I had a mini disaster when I was trying to show Jean-Michael the difference between French and English gas bottles and I stupidly unscrewed my new French stove.

All the gas escaped from the bottle in one great whoosh, bugger it, now I have no gas again! That means that tomorrow I will have to go a little off route to hit a big city 30 km away called Saint Quentin. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up one of the French gas bottles there that I now need... Again!

There is a youth hostel with a camping ground next to it, in Saint Quentin, that I'm hoping to stay in.

Day 9 - 24/09/2011 - Arras to Bapaume - (26 km).

After having camped for seven nights straight I must say that it was a real treat to get a comfortable nights sleep in a nice warm double bed. I didn't have to leave my room until midday so I lay in bed until about 9 am then took a leisurely stroll around Arras, without my heavy rucksack for a change.

It was a Saturday morning and there were market stalls being set up in all the main squares. They were mainly selling fruit and veg but there was the odd cheese stall and I noticed a stall selling live chickens set up right next door to a stall that was roasting chickens on a giant spit.

Can't of been a nice experience for the chickens, I wouldn't of thought.

Anyway, I picked up a punnet of strawberries and some oranges along with a nice hot croissant from the market for my breakfast and ended up leaving Arras at about 10:30 am.
It was turning out to be the hottest day so far in France (about 28 degrees with no clouds) and I wanted to walk 26 km to a town called Bapaume, where an important battle had been fought in 1918, right in the heart of the Somme region.

My guide had the address of a campsite and a cheap(ish) hotel in the town that I could use as a back up plan as I didn't expect to reach there until around 6pm. Whilst leaving Arras I passed their cathedral and I noticed a couple of cool statues outside, one of Joan of Arc and one of some headless dude with a lion hidden behind him. Unfortunately there are major repair works going on with the cathedral itself which was shrouded in a blanket of scaffolding, it was also locked.

The route out of Arras used quite little roads that snaked their way through open countryside but it didn't take long before I came across the very sad sight of rows of white tombstones.
A lot of them were unknown solders most of them from the same city and all having died within a few days of each other.

In France I noticed that there are elaborate war memorials in every single city, town, village and even the tiny little hamlets remember their fallen children from those most terrible of times in humankind's dark history. I also found a couple of lead pellet/balls things in this area but I lost them later, probably nothing anyway and carrying extra lead when hiking is never such a great idea!

There seemed to be a lot of butterflys accompany me along this little stretch. They fly along the path at about the same pace that I walk! I also passed a dead snake by the side of the road, I really hope one of those doesn't find it's way into my tent during the night!

I arrived in Bapaume at about 6:30 pm only to discover that both the campsite and the cheap hotel were shut. So I had little alternative in the end but to go for another hotel room this time costing fifty Euro. Another expensive day...

Tomorrow I plan a 26 km hike to a campsite in a small town called Peronne,

I just hope this ones open...

Day 8 - 23/09/2011 - Rebreuve Ranchicourt to Arras - (28.4 km).

It was a very cold night and I ended up fully clothed inside my sleeping bag, which eventually got me nice and warm and cosy(ish) again. I wasn't disturbed in the night, by anyone or anything, so I took my time getting packed up in the morning and made some breakfast and hot coffee before I packed my gear up.

When I hit the road, at just before 10 am, it soon started to warm up and it wasn't long before I was walking in just my T-shirt for the first time this trip.

I was walking on old farming tracks for most of the day and saw maybe just three or four cars all morning. The scenery today looked absolutely beautiful in the glorious sunshine and I think I got quite a few decent shots, including this lovely little photo of some flowers by the roadside.

I was a little surprised when I ran out of water with two hours still left to get to Arras, not good in this heat. I was starting to feel very thirsty 45 minutes later, and still hadn't passed anyone to ask for some water, when I accidentally turned left when I should of gone right and just around that "wrong" turn was a shop and boulangerie, both open, where I filled my water and had a good feed.

They soon pointed me in the right direction and a few minutes later I was making my way back towards Arras, with an extra bounce in my step.

I figured I would be arriving there at around 7:30 pm, which was a little bit late to be rushing about trying to find somewhere under budget to stay. Arras is a big city with lots of hotels but no campsites so when I arrived there I headed straight for the youth hostel, listed in my guidebook, only to discover it was shut and had been shut for the last 5 years!

I had no real option in the end but to go for a Hotel room, as it was dark by now, which ended up costing me a whopping 75 Euro for the night. At least I got to use their internet to let the family know I'm still alive and I also had a long soak in the en-suite bath, which was much needed after the previous two nights wild camping!

75 Euro is a serious dent to the old finances, though, luckily I have wild camped for the previous two nights saving me some money each time...

So maybe this hotel room's not so bad, after all!

Day 7 - 22/09/2011 - Cauchy A La Tour to Rebreuve Ranchicourt - (30 km).

I woke up as early as I could so I could pack up and get the hell out of the field I was in, before I was run over by a tractor or something! So I was on the road nice and early at just gone 7am.

Just 30 minutes down the road was a cafe bar that I stopped in for a much needed hot coffee and a bit of breakfast. I've been practising my French as I walk, using a little phrasebook I've bought along with me, and thought I'd try chatting to the barman and a guy who was also in there about the walk.

It didn't take very long for the conversation to get round to football!

Rather disappointingly neither of them had heard of the team I've supported since I was a boy, Norwich City, well they have now! I'm sure they think that all our supporters walk to our away games! The guy who I had sat next to even paid for my coffee and breakfast, which was a nice surprise, and a great way to start the day off!

I made good progress today and soon reached quite a big town called Bruay-La-Bussiere where I spent an hour or so looking for some gas for my stove. I also passed a laundrette and decided to rewash my clothes as they definitely smelled smoky and a little damp.
I pretty much stripped to my underwear in the laundrette and wore just my waterproof trousers and coat until it was all washed and dried!

I did finally find a shop that sold French camping stoves but alas no adapters. So in the end I had little option but to buy quite a bulky new French stove. This means I'll now be carrying two camping stoves for the rest of my trip as my English one cost me quite a lot of money... Great!

I decided to carry on walking past Bruay-La-Bussiere in the end as it was just 2 pm by the time I'd sorted my clothes and stove out and it was developing into a lovely hot Septembers afternoon. I passed through a few small villages and churches, there was a fayre being set up outside one of them, and I noticed some really old graffiti scratched into a wall I past.

I planned to walk until I found somewhere appropriate to wild camp again as all the accommodation in this area that was listed in my guidebook was over my budget. A couple of hours later and I came across a big patch of long grass with a little clearing just the perfect size for me to pitch my tent in, a little way in front of a huge château.

I think they may be hosting an art exhibition around here tonight as I passed a few signs and there are some odd sculptures in some of the trees around here.

I have to quite literally lay low for the evening but I am quite fine with that as it has been a long days walking today, I'm tired and I just want to eat then sleep.

I've been quite enjoying my solitary nights under the Milky Way anyway.

I wonder what they'd think in the château if they knew they had a pilgrim camped just outside their front gates tonight!