Am writing from beautiful Nantes on the Loire river.
The journey between Brittany and Loire Atlantique saw the small rolling hills widen into sweeping vistas with larger picturesque towns such as Blain. We reached out destination on the Loire, the appropriately named Le Pellerin, three days ago, by which time my blister had gone a festering grayish colour and inflammation had swollen my ankle to elephantine proportions and redness was tracing its way up my leg towards the knee. Headed straight for the largest hospital in Nantes where the doctors seemed facinated with the situation and all wanted to prod the general area for some unknown diagnostic benefit. Finally they decided to cut open the blister, drain off the infected liquid and clean out the wound. They have put me on antibiotics, asked me to see a nurse every day for two weeks and suggested I don't walk for at least 15 days.
It's very frustrating, especially as walking becomes quite addictive as do the simple daily routines. But not ready to call it a day yet, so inshallah, we will be back on the road in a couple of weeks. Seth is patiently accepting our fate and is being supportive as ever.
Finally, in what Seth rightly describes as a damning indictment of the British educational system, we are both celebrating Firsts in our International Development degrees. A couple of glasses of unpilgrimly champagne were administered to deal with the shock of the news.
Love to all.
Thursday 28 June 2007
Monday 18 June 2007
Week 2
Rain & Blisters
We are now in the beautiful town of Maure de Bretagne and the sun has come out. The last 6 days of walking have been very wet and I have grown a blister the size of a toe. We've made reasonable progress and hope to reach the Loire by the end of next week.
The highlight of the week was being taken in by a very kind family in a village called St Thuriel. The local campsite was closed so they allowed us to camp in their garden and offered showers, a wonderful meal and great company (see our photos). The memory of their warmth and hospitality kept us going whilst tramping through driving rain, soaked to the bone with only a slimy tent to look forward to.
Have met some great characters in Brittany on the road; one old man called Alonso who was born in Compostela, and another called Dominique who has completed the Camino twice, by bike and foot. For some reason I feel these are good omens. The constant stream of road-kill less so.
Love to all.
We are now in the beautiful town of Maure de Bretagne and the sun has come out. The last 6 days of walking have been very wet and I have grown a blister the size of a toe. We've made reasonable progress and hope to reach the Loire by the end of next week.
The highlight of the week was being taken in by a very kind family in a village called St Thuriel. The local campsite was closed so they allowed us to camp in their garden and offered showers, a wonderful meal and great company (see our photos). The memory of their warmth and hospitality kept us going whilst tramping through driving rain, soaked to the bone with only a slimy tent to look forward to.
Have met some great characters in Brittany on the road; one old man called Alonso who was born in Compostela, and another called Dominique who has completed the Camino twice, by bike and foot. For some reason I feel these are good omens. The constant stream of road-kill less so.
Love to all.
Monday 11 June 2007
Week 1
Set out from Westminster Cathedral at 7.40am. The destination was Portsmouth, 130km away on the south coast.
Day 1: Left London via the Thames path/Richmond park and ended up camping on playing fields off the A3.
Day2: After a grim plod through the suburbs we made it to the M25.
Day 3: Beautiful walk through the Surrey hills to Dorking. Climbed up onto the North Downs at Leith Hill and camped looking down across the Sussex weald to the South Downs.
Day 4&5: Traversed the weald via a zigzag of footpaths and bridleways. A couple of blisters each but packs feeling comfortable. Camped on the edge of South Downs with stunning view leading down to Portsmouth and the sea. Harrassed by cows.
Day 6: Camped 10km outside Portsmouth in a park. Slept with one eye open.
Day 7: Arrived at the port Travelodge by 1pm and spent the next 2 days getting the kit combination right and giving feet a rest. Had all my hair chopped off which feels great, but is a shock to the system. A big thank you to Leanne for the free haircut.
First week was a great warm up for the 1900km ahead of us. As the days went on and muscles relaxed we began to really enjoy the walking. Only having to think about putting one foot in front of the other, where to pitch tent, and what simple meal to cook is immensly calming. Feel very lucky to have 4 months of this ahead of me.
Day 1: Left London via the Thames path/Richmond park and ended up camping on playing fields off the A3.
Day2: After a grim plod through the suburbs we made it to the M25.
Day 3: Beautiful walk through the Surrey hills to Dorking. Climbed up onto the North Downs at Leith Hill and camped looking down across the Sussex weald to the South Downs.
Day 4&5: Traversed the weald via a zigzag of footpaths and bridleways. A couple of blisters each but packs feeling comfortable. Camped on the edge of South Downs with stunning view leading down to Portsmouth and the sea. Harrassed by cows.
Day 6: Camped 10km outside Portsmouth in a park. Slept with one eye open.
Day 7: Arrived at the port Travelodge by 1pm and spent the next 2 days getting the kit combination right and giving feet a rest. Had all my hair chopped off which feels great, but is a shock to the system. A big thank you to Leanne for the free haircut.
First week was a great warm up for the 1900km ahead of us. As the days went on and muscles relaxed we began to really enjoy the walking. Only having to think about putting one foot in front of the other, where to pitch tent, and what simple meal to cook is immensly calming. Feel very lucky to have 4 months of this ahead of me.
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