Day 32: Orbe via Jougne

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Day 32: Orbe via Jougne

Today has been filled with highs and lows.  It started low when my Camelbak hydration bladder decided to leak inside The Devil which I discovered after I geared up and was about to leave the room with a suddenly very wet and cold bum.  I have walked at an altitude of 1,000 metres, literally in the clouds.  I have picked my way down rocky steep slopes wincing at the pain in my knees.  I have walked through Autumn-kissed forests on leafy carpets the colour of a burnt sunset. 

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Day 31: Pontarlier

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Day 31: Pontarlier

The hills are alive with the sound of cow bells.  No, I am not in Switzerland yet, but the cows in this area wear bells.  It was actually quite useful this morning when I lost my way in the forest.  I followed the guidebook directions and all was going well until they didn't make sense anymore and I found myself on an overgrown path that seemed to be heading in the wrong direction.

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Day 28: Choye (which was meant to be Gy)

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Day 28: Choye (which was meant to be Gy)

Oh what a day.  It started off with me waling 20 minutes in the wrong direction when I attempted to leave Dampierre-sur-Salon this morning at 8.10am.  When I realised my mistake, I actually laughed in amusement and turned around and started marching back into Dampierre and out the other side.  It could have been worse.  I could have realised my mistake in 40 minutes or an hour.  This little mistake added 3 kilometres to my 26 kilometre walking day.

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Day 27: Dampierre-sur-Salon

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Day 27: Dampierre-sur-Salon

I slept in today, to all of 7.30am, but I lay in bed for another hour, enjoying the stillness, not needing to start walking until after 11am at the earliest.  I rolled out of bed tentatively, expecting the electric pain to shoot through my feet upon the first steps after yesterday's epic walk but there were a couple of twinges in each arch that ceased after the first few steps. My body is finally conditioning to the long distances.

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Day 26: Champlitte

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Day 26: Champlitte

Yes, I really walked 41 kilometres today.  I have to admit, it wasn't my best day's walk. It was a bit of a rollercoaster really. I slept badly for the second night in a row. The Devil just wouldn't get comfortable on my back.  My shoulder was shooting pain.  I would be comfortable for a while, find my rhythm and then lose it again.

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Day 25: Langres

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Day 25: Langres

Despite the peace and tranquility of my surrounds in the little hamlet of Mormant, I slept badly last night. Tossing and turning, waking up too hot beneath the blankets and then after eventually falling asleep the throbbing and aching in my feet, knees and legs waking me again. I got out of bed to go to the bathroom for some water and on my way back to bed stopped to look out my bedroom window.

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Day 24: Mormant

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Day 24: Mormant

I left Chateauvillain at 11am for a shorter and slower walk today. Only 22 kilometres to Mormant, around 5.5 to 6 hours. It was already warm, the skies again cloudless and the sun high.  As I was walking with a mild dose of gastro that started as I arrived in Chateavillain last night, I needed to go a bit slower today. Fortunately I had a supply of Buscopan and Gastrex with me in my medical kit which kept me walking although feeling unwell.

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Day 23: Chateauvillain via Clairvaux

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Day 23: Chateauvillain via Clairvaux

Today was my best walking day yet.  I've discovered my secret for good walking; leave early, allow extra time, let your body find its own rhythm and take regular breaks.

It was a long day.  I left my hotel at 7.15am and arrived at my Chambre d'Hotes at 6pm but I have spent at least an hour lying in the sun. My feet did well today.  No new blisters. No new pain.

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