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16.06.08
Marcilly sur Vienne to Descartes.
An Epic day, not only did we cross the A10 the Paris to Bordeaux peage (toll motorway), a modern watershed but we reached the town of Descartes. This little town is not only the birthplace of Renato Descartes, philosopher, but also one of the many points of resistance between occupied and Vichy-France during the second world war. The bridge dating from at least the 14th century, was destroyed to prevent German advance and only finally rebuilt in 1959. A temporary bridge was available for the years after the war.
On the way, we passed through Les Ormes which must once have been an important town (the RN10 and the railway still pass through), but obviously the A10 and time have helped to bypass it. There were interesting buildings (eg the rehorseing stables for the mail coaches) but even these are only open for a few days per year.
The tourist office lady was very helpful and confirmed the existence (as far as anything could be said to exist in this town) of our next two campsites.
The walking during the day was good, mostly off road and around 15 miles covered in good time. The weather however deteriorated steadily but imperceptibly during the day, until on arrival in town waterproofs were needed. It has not rained heavily, just persistently, since about 12:00hrs. The minor difficulty in finding the campsite, explained first by questioning its existence, previous campsite experience and the existential environment being enough of a reason for this, was overcome with the help of ladies from the local charity shop, the only place open on a wet Monday in Descartes, who insisted on showing us personally to the site.
Well not quite, we found a café/bar in the main square serving biere and with nice waterproof awnings just opposite the statue of the famous son, the photo may or may not prove its existence. Tim has not got as far as Descartes in his reading yet so is unable to say.