Day 32 - Walking the Via Francigena - Langres to Grandchamp, France - A Rainy Walk, And A Lovely Friendly Dinner At A Country House

Day 32 - Walking the Via Francigena - Langres to Grandchamp, France - A Rainy Walk, And A Lovely Friendly Dinner At A Country House

Last night it had rained and the sky looked grey when we woke up this morning.
Breakfast in our hotel was lovely, just like I imagined it would be.
They had seeded baguette, yogurt with apricots cooked with herbs, prunes cooked with tea and a very thin apple tart with a divine taste.
It is apple season now and we often walk by trees overloaded with apples.

After getting our stamps and saying our goodbyes, we started walking down the steep road out of the town.

The rain had brought out big snails and slugs, who were crawling on the road.
Like these snails, we are making our way very slowly down the country of France, towards Rome with our backpacks.
The slugs have no shells on their backs, they make their home in nooks and crannies wherever they go.
I was making efforts not to step on any of the snails nor slugs.

We walked through a nice countryside with vast fields, dotted with cows and occasionally by small villages.
The weather was threatening all day, and we stopped by a house with an awning to prepare for the rain.
We covered our front bags, got our umbrellas ready and put on our raincoats.

By midway we did finally got caught in a downpour that lasted less than an hour.
A passing car had splashed us with muddy waters, but we dried up pretty quick.

We did not have places to eat lunch or hide from the rain, so we took shelter at a bus stop to rest and eat a cookie.
The rain had stopped and the afternoon got warmer.
We took off our raincoats and continued walking.

I passed by a field that had a small metal shelter.
Inside it stood a horse and her young colt, both looking sadly at me.
The mother was pregnant and covered with flies, and her young beautiful baby colt had shaky legs, as if it had not yet developed its muscles.

I talked to her telepathically, sending her love and healing.
“I wish I had food to give you, but I myself had no lunch nor any food with me.” I said to her inwardly.

Then I remembered that this was not true.
I had picked up a beautiful apple from a tree I passed by, and from another tree I picked almost a dozen purple prunes that were sweet and delicious.

I took off my backpack and looked for the fruit.
The mother came to the fence and waited patiently for me.
She ate the apple slowly, taking four bites of it, instead of putting it all in her mouth and chewing it.

She ate the prunes right out of my hand, picking them ever so gently
from my opened hand.
I blessed her and kept on walking.

There was a vast panoramic vista before stretching me.
I could see a green valley dotted with cows and sheep.
Our guesthouse for the night is called “The Green Valley,” and I knew that it was somewhere in the valley below me.

We arrived at the guesthouse and were shown to a lovely spacious room.
We took hot showers and hand washed our clothing.
It was nice to have hot tea and take the wight off our feet.

The owners of the guesthouse are two women, and the two other guests in the inn are from Holland.
One of the couples told us that they saw us today on the road, a d recognized our backpacks and hats.

The home cooked dinner was lovely.
For appetizer we were served a tomato and olives quiche.
The main course was a steamed fish in dijon mustard sauce (Dijon is less than an hour by car from here), served with a vegetables terrine of spinach and potatoes.
The dessert was a raspberry sauce with vanilla ice cream and fresh raspberries.

One of the enjoyments of this pilgrimage thus far, has been the shared evening meal and lively conversations that we had with the people we met.
Tonight we had another lively conversation, laughing and admiring each other, sharing stories and adventures, talking politics, religion, global warming, Brexit and lots of other topics.

I feel so close to these people whom met along the road, and whom I shall probably never see again.
It helps to remind me how true the saying is:
“There are no strangers!
Strangers are friends that you have not yet met.”

With love and light,
Tali

Today’s Stats:
Daily Steps - 35,688 Steps
6 hours of walking
Active walking time - 6.5 hours
Daily Kilometers - 26 Km
Total Kilometers walked from Canterbury UK - 713 km

Accommodation:
Chambre d'Hotes La Vallee Verte, in Grandchamp
A beautifully renovated large country Bed and Breakfast with a few spacious and nicely designed rooms.
Serves a very good dinner by prior arrangement.