Camino 2018/2019

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An easy day because 35km is too far in one day to Besancon and it’s always good to get to a big place early. The boulongerie opposite our Gite is open at 5.30!! Whether this normal for it on a Sunday we don’t know and don’t take full advantage of it. Even so we are off up the Escalier du chateau about 50m to the château and church and another 50m on up to the little chapel on the top of the hill. These are good in the early morning light and we reach operating temperature quickly.
The next few hours are a romp through the woods unbothered by the VTT off road bikes, who are starting their race circuit. We saw adverts for this from a distance away yesterday.
There are lots more lavoirs and the decorative iron work on them is old and sometimes striking. Their use presumably continued until the near universal ownership of washing machines. We manage to get a beer from an enterprising stall in the Sunday market of brocante, Bric-a-brac in Cussy sur L’Ognon the most recent Saone tributary we are crossing and soon arrive in quiet on Sunday, Geneullie and the being refurbished campsite on the bank of the Ognon.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

We leave our lodgings, which were a little more luxurious than expected. Monsieur when phoned by Betsy had forgotten that his Gite was occupé. So we were Chambre d’hote instead. There was a very nice young dog Nya, a very old dog and a pair of China geese. To name some of the occupiers.
After passing the inevitable lavoir, the region is famous for them! We enter the forest and sprint along quite happily in the shade with various butterflies until after some serious route finding by Tony we emerge into the sunshine. The day warms up and speed drops accordingly. We pass through several small villages with no facilities and similar churches. Angirey, Citey and Ingey all come to mind with gratuitous ee’s.
There is a lot of hay making and barley mowing going on in the fields and as the day warms we look for shade for lunch. It is the outskirts of Gy before we find it opposite a Intermarche that provides a little Kronenbourg to accompany it. After some gratuitous ease and recovery we proceed into town to find out what is there. Our lodgings a proper gite this time are available so we get sorted with the washing a bit early.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

We leave the best little campsite we have known. The music last night may have stopped by 11 it did not disturb us. It is the only site where soap and a hand towel are provided in the toilets as well as toilet paper, bread is available at 7am and it is not full of traveling campervans.
We are on roads for a good way and cross multiple small villages with church spires decorated with coloured tiles. One is called Achey, Betsy finds this appropriate and stops for some paracetamol, her feet are uncomfortable. We classify villages by what they have that is useful to us. Many have a hairdresser or a funeral parlor but no café and no supermarket or corner shop. but Dampire Sur Salon has a salon it is the river down whose valley we walk to the Saonne. It does also have a supermarket where we shop for dinner.
We still have various butterflies including Peacocks White Admirals and the ubiquitous Marbled White. One small village has an interesting bridge, a lavoir with views and a château with arrow slits. In a field with recent haycutting we see 6or7 kites probably Black Kites lacking the deep v tail but reddish in colour. They are very interested in something as were 2 or 3 in a similar field yesterday. Maybe by catch from hay cutting.
We leave Dampire Sur Salon with its vaguely art deco cinema,, down moderately busy D36 and are pleased to leave it to walk the Saonne canal towpath for a short way and then cross the Saonne. It is a large river even up here and navigable by sizeable barges.
Unlike many rivers on the way we will only see it this once. Sayonara!

Link to where we are on Google Maps

We have a very good evening meal at Pont de Archots and leave after a good night’s sleep. No complaints as to value at just over 120euros the lot. It seems we crossed the water shed in to the Same basin yesterday all the streams are flowing southwards today. At first we go along a fairly quiet country road, the fields are small much hay has been cut some is bailed, the sweet smell chases us across the country. There are flowers on the verges and profusion of butterflies,whites browns occasionally frittilaries. Much less herbicide use here we think. As it starts to warm up we leave the road for three or four km in forest shade. The butterfly population changes slightly. A Purple Emperor adopts Betsy and after licking sweat off her walking pole decides to ride on her waist bag for about a km.
We have our fruit stop in a bit of shade in the fields and then get to the only village of the day. Montarlot les Champlitte only a few km from our destination. There is a bench at the side of the stream by the bridge so lunch is quite civilised for a change.
The campsite at Champlitte is small clean and has a nice cat. Tony is happy and invites it to sleep with him. A music evening tonight the local Running Stones are performing. Watch this space.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

There is a long stretch to the next campingsite and today is forecast hot, 30degC by afternoon
Happily there is a b&b with excellent reviews for evening food. Betsy books us hopefully we are in better hands than our last attempt.
It is a fairly busy road all the way to Chalindrey about 14km but we don’t hang about. It is the quickest route out of the furnace that open fields become by midday. We leave our pitch we looked down on from the old artillery tower about 8am and are buzzed by cars coming to work in the zone around Langres. There’s a fountain come chapel come lavoir just outside Chalindrey. And the town is celebrating the end of WW1.
We have coffees or beer it is a bit early at 11 visit the supermarket for tomorrow lunch and press on past the pigeonier (marked pig on the map) in increasing temperature to the Pont de Archots. The map suggests a wooded stream an excellent place to while away a couple of hours until we may be welcome. Damselflys seem not mind our joining them around the water in which tiny minnows live.
A land worth fighting over.??

Link to where we are on Google Maps

High up overlooking the countryside we wake and realize all walking today is optional. It is a great feeling. The site packs up around us and by 9.00 many have gone, mostly camper vans heading south like the swifts flying low over our heads will do in 3months time.
50m away there is is an artillery tower with long gargoyles a reminder if we needed it that this land has been fought over for many many years. Many military names are around the place.The town has at least one famous son. The philosopher Diderot of Encyclopaedia persuasion. But possibly more important to forthcoming events is Jean de Montmirel a son of a mercer he became a chief advisor to the Pope of the day in 1475. So was able to use his influence to get a general indulgence for the town and area, creating a religious celebration at 6,5,6,and 11year intervals on John the Baptist day the last was in 2007 there are no masses in the cathedral on 25th June they are too busy being pardoned.
While the cathedral is not as impressive as Laon or Rhiems the walls and fortifications especially the round artillery tower next to out tent are very extensive and date from 14th C onwards.
We visit the tower that was built as one of the last serious town defences before artillery made it impractical
It was not quite tall enough and cost a lot more to get right. Nothing much changes in defence spending. Unusually for a military building it has decorations one of them maybe quite apposite for those looking after a powder magazine which it was converted to in the 18thC and roofed over, the gargoyles had drained the firing platform prior to this
A quite impressive roof. Tims’ type of carpentry put it together bodge it right, take it apart and put it in place. No plans.
Much washing and drying is done and charging of devices. A good useful rest day.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

There are problems! We are where there are hardly any shops and they open whenever. It is a long way from the nearest big town. Langres is over 30km away.
We start with an aim which may involve wild camp or a campsite in Hulme where there are no shops. Plots are a foot. If we could get to Langres there is all that could be desired. And a rest day could be declared.
There are many little villages en route, one of the further is Mardor, it is renamed Mordor and the wandering of Frodo with Smegol in the desolation comes to mind. The countryside is far from desolate though
It is proper farmland, not at all like the industrial agro landscape of before. There are woods cows streams butterflys and orchids …….and Lavoirs!
Every village has one. Most have a sign saying eau non potable. they are wefed by local springs, on one with no water some wag has written “Eau potable”. We go from village to village until finally the plan is revealed in St Ciergues. just outside the old and very nice little church we have late lunch and the remaining 8km to Langres are surmounted. It is not miraculous we still have to walk it.
Eventually we get there. And discover, as some had already known, that it is 150m up a hill!
Nice campsite though! And with a day to dry not using all those Lavoirs is not a problem.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

We leave the village before 8am well fed on pancakes and probably home made jam. We have eaten very well here but thought the price a bit over the top considering the unfinished nature of the facilities. 40euros b&b and evening meal per head.
It is a short hop over to the next valley with the town of Chateauvillain where there are cafes and a super market open till 12, it is Sunday!
The town is the interest for the day. There is,it is claimed,the second largest dovecote in France with 3,000 places non it appears still in use. Where is the largest we ask? It also has a floating wash tub, this you might think is some sort of pleasure boat, a floating gin palace but no,it is a lavoir or public washing area on the local stream. These are no longer used. We can recall seeing one in use by one person in Spain. This one is built on a floating raft with washtubs attached presumably because the hieght of the river varied to much.
After coffee we walk on through the woods accompanied by possibly a French Canadian who live locally. He tells us the very straight road we are on was built not by the Romans but by the Templars for pilgrim use during their period of power after the crusades.
Soon we reach Cour Leveque where life is enlivened by Nougat a fluffy little dog who escaped and has a whole family chasing him up and down the road while he annoys another dog on a lead and tries to follow us. This other dog was barking superiorly from an upstairs balcony. There’s always something going on in rural France.
Early arrival washing done time for some time resting feet

Link to where we are on Google Maps

Breakfast in the bar of the hotel d’or is at 7am so we are off before 8. We recross the river Aube with it’s wide open sluices. We later find further evidence of why the rivers are so full. Across a few fields and we rise up once again like bubbles into Champagne country. There are several champagne producers en route but it is too early even if they were open. We are not very high and soon descend again to more mundane crops and then up into the woods on the hill between the valley of the Aube river and it’s tributary the Aujon. These are pleasantly cool but a little damp and full of butterflies. We spot whites a small intensely blue butterfly, Tortoiseshells and Red and white Admirals plus quite a few Small pearl bordered frittilaries. We climb to around 330m possibly the highest we have been since entering France.
When we descend again it is 1pm and time for lunch. An orchard is being mown at the side of the path and we are welcomed to sit and eat lunch by the mower driver. Who also points out that there are storm clouds gathering. We have only 6-7 km left and although there’s a smattering of rain we escape a drowning and stagger after 30km to the mill on the stream in Orgues that makes silk flowers that was organised by Betsy and the lady in the Tourist office in Bar Sur Aube (pronounced Barsurode to Betsy’s confusion). The place is deserted but after a phone call Monsieur arrives and arranged to hand us on to another lodging who take pilgrims occasionally. His wife is away. We would not like his cooking. A very French excuse we feel.
We dutifully trot down the road back into the village. Madame appears from a window and comes and welcomes us, she seems a bit flustered and put out. Eventually all is explained. She had about 10mins notice the part of the farm for pilgrims is work in progress And they were flooded out a few weeks earlier in storms which caused the innocent looking stream just 10m away to burst it’s banks. They are still drying out. There is nowhere else and beds are upstairs. Monsieur the farmer arrives we suspect all was arranged by Monsieur at the mill whose wife is away and the farmer with little discussion with madame. Either way she had 5mins notice of our arrival! All is smoothed out and we are grateful for showers and a washing line in the remaining sun of the day. The whole area it appears is slowly drying out.
Tomorrow may be a bit easier.

Link to where we are on Google Maps

The bar on the Aube.
We have to leave the campsite in Dienville our home for the last two nights. Our next few stops are into the unknown, we believe that Bar sur Aube has a campsite but have been unable to verify this which is a little worrying. Since the local boulongerie opens at 6.30 we get an early start. Off down the road it’s only 6kmm till Jessains and our coffee stop. On the way we cross the canal d’amenée which is a feeder canal joining the lake near where we were camped to the river we are now following upstream. Flooding has been a chronic problem in this area and theany gravel pit lakes are linked and used for flood control. It is even possible that water can flow either way at need large sluices and only 3m difference in spot hieght beside the Aube river and lake makes this entirely possible.
Coffee stop complete we move off and are a little disturbed by the name of the next village. L’Autre Monde, and wonder if we will be unchanged after passing through. Sadly it seems a standard French village not a parallel universe.
We now walk down the road in the valley of the Aube the water in which should by devious means find its way into the Seine River and through Paris to Le Have. We have not yet reached the watershed to the Seine and Rhone rivers.
There is a fountain or source along the roadside and many more marked on the map. There is a sign proudly announcing we are entering another champagne growing area but we see few vineyards and think they are higher on the chalky slopes above and thus all the water sources on the map.
Soon enough we get to Proverville just the width of the river away from our destination. We are outside the church having lunch when we’re accosted by a French, originally Polish lady who never stops talking. She seems not even to draw breath and is overjoyed to discover we are walking to Rome, she plys us with bottled water and sweets. The water is heavy and Tony and Tim when we eventually get away have to carry it around the streets of Bar de Aube as we discover that the possible campingsite has morphed into a tourist park where you can stay in wheeled gypsy style caravans at expensive rates
The internet and Tony’s abilities find us a three bedroom room in a hotel down the road for 60 euros
We still have solve the problems of accommodation for the next few nights!

Link to where we are on Google Maps