This signboard and map confirm that I am now in a whole new section of the Via. I wonder if I’ll notice much difference to the endless fields and empty villages I’ve seen so far.
Day 20 Reims to Verzenay
After a restful day in Reims, I had a long walk today through noticeably different terrain. I started along La Coulée Verte, the canal that connects the Aisne to the Marne rivers, then began a gentle climb up through vineyards of Grand Cru grapes, the origin of the world’s highest-regarded champagne. It was fun to see the evidence of the famous industry, including vineyards, wineries, and tasting rooms of many of the world’s finest brands.
Today was a beautiful Saturday morning, and many locals joined me on this path… on bikes, roller-blades, even walking! I just happened to catch the canal alone in these photos.
My first view of my destination village, atop the hill in the distance!
Can you find the other walker the the road ahead? That’s Dirk, from Belgium, just before I met him. He’s only the second other pilgrim I’ve seen since leaving Canterbury a month ago. We celebrated our journeys together with plenty of tasty champagne tonight!
Day 20 AllTrails Stats
Distance: 21.2 km / 13.2 miles
Elevation Gain: 334 m / 1,096 feet
Steps: 26,321
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/v36AGYnj2Zv
Accommodation: Gîte l’Haumière, Verzenay
Day 21 Verzenay to Condé-sur-Marne
Dirk, the Belgian pilgrim, and I stayed at the same gîte last night which gave us the chance to chat, compare notes, and walk together for a while this morning. He’s been retired for 3 months and decided a few weeks ago to walk from Calais to Rome on the VF as his very first multi-day trek. (Wow! That takes guts!) He says he’s slowly learning the “tricks of the road,” occasionally the hard way. But communicating isn’t a problem for him: he’s proficient in 5 languages, all of which he’s used already on his trip.
Today’s walk started on forest trails and farm tracks, with several chances to get interesting views of villages down below through the fog. The last half was along another canal path as I finally reached the bottom of this large shallow valley of the Marne River.
I caught a shot of Dirk.
My uber-talented friend from Frankfurt, Jürgen, whose work many of you have seen before, kindly made a painting from this photo and named it “The Pilgrim.” Danke, Jürgen!
Dirk caught a shot of me.
Doesn’t this lighthouse look like it’s on top of a coastal cliff? The Verzenay Lighthouse turns out to have an interesting story for you marketing folks out there.
After walking several miles along the Canal de l’Aisne à la Marne, I came across Le Tunnel du Mont de Billy, cut through a hill for the canal boats. I couldn’t see it very well from my path above one of its entrances, but I was fascinated to read that it was built between 1840 and 1856 and runs 2,302 meters (1.4 miles). What a feat!
There are dozens of locks in these parts as the canals step up and down over the countryside.
Day 21 AllTrails Stats
Distance: 22.5 km / 14.0 miles
Elevation Gain: 322 m / 1,056 feet
Steps: 32,609
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/vevY32YpYJ6
Accommodation: La Clé des Champs, Condé-sur-Marne
Anticipating thunderstorms this afternoon, I kept a fast pace. My early arrival let me stock up on some food before the (one) village shop closed early on Sunday. I wanted to be sure I had some food to carry with me tomorrow, when all the shops will be closed for yet another national holiday. I also got to walk around the town.
At dinner, I got an up-close look at the automatic food-selling kiosk. I’ve seen a few of these along my walk, but this one had the best selection of fresh produce and packaged goods. I watched a steady stream of customers come and go, all seemingly very happy that they could get family portions of fresh strawberries, white asparagus, pasta and sauce, potato chips, etc. Since I had no other option for a “meal,” Dirk documented my first experience eating a pizza automatique. It sated me, but that’s about all I can say about it. In his wisdom, he enjoyed a sandwich he’d been carrying all day.
Day 22 Condé-sur-Marne to Châlons-en-Champagne
A rather short day of canal side paths (have you seen enough already?), forest trails and field paths. Dirk is struggling with shin splints so he opted to start after me and walk slowly. Yes, it happens.
One of the few places where the water of the canal meets the water of La Marne.
Day 22 AllTrails Stats
Distance: 19.8 km / 12.3 miles
Elevation Gain: 182 m / 597 feet
Steps: 28,857
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/vYvE2p4yywO
Accommodation: Le Saint Joseph, Châlons-en-Champagne
I was very excited to learn that my destination city has not one but two large gothic churches, but was disappointed to find them both closed on this national holiday. Oui, ça arrive.
Cathédrale Saint-Étienne (aka Châlons Cathedral, 1147)
Église Collégiale Notre-Dame-en-Vaux
Playing with reflections, I gained some insight on the work of the impressionists…
Public Art
Day 23 Châlons-en-Champagne to Saint-Amand-sur-Fion
Today was a “twofer.” I walked two standard stages today, often in the rain and on muddy tracks, which made it very long. Then my Airbnb hosts invited me to join them for a “typical French family dinner.” Which was lovely! We started at 7pm and finished at 11:15pm. It is long past my bedtime so I’m just going to let the pics and videos speak for me.
Day 23 AllTrails Stats
Distance: 30.0 km / 18.6 miles
Elevation Gain: 352 m / 1,155 feet
Steps: 45,548
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/vJOK4YZMk56
Accommodation: Le Grand Maison Rouge, Saint-Arnand-sur-Fion
Day 24 Saint-Amand-sur-Fion to Norrois
My effort to consolidate stages is working well. Not quite 2-in-1 today, but maybe 1.5 in 1? Today’s highlight was walking and chatting with Giulio, a young Italian film maker who lives and works in London. It’s his first long distance Via yet he has gained insights that took me several treks to learn. We met yesterday afternoon and stayed at separate places last night, so I was happy to see him on the trail again today so we could continue our conversation. (It was fun to introduce him to Burning Man – I think they would be good for each other.) He has pre-booked his accommodation through Switzerland so I had to say goodbye to him mid-day in Vitry-le-François. We’ll stay in touch but it is unlikely we’ll meet again on this Via.
It was nice to have a small climb for a view like this that we don’t often get in the flat parts of France.
Here’s Giulio.
I love this! A canal-bridge crossing the Marne.
For as wide as the Marne is, it sure seems to flow swiftly.
Day 24 AllTrails Stats
Distance: 23.7 km / 14.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 388 m / 1,273 feet
Steps: 32,132
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/v26MjAMgyEq
Accommodation: Maison de Champagne, Norrois
Day 25 Norrois to Joncreuil
A tough day. I have had many days crossing large fields, but nothing quite like the past day and a half. Since lunch yesterday, I have been through nearly a dozen towns and villages, many filled with beautiful timber-framed buildings, but all empty of both people and services: no restaurants, no cafés, no bakeries, no grocery stores, no tabacs, no automatic pizza kiosks, rien. I am staying in an Airbnb for the second consecutive night, but have had only online contact with the owners. I have eaten all the bread, cheese, and fruit I had been carrying and don’t expect replenishment until the end of another long day tomorrow.
I heard these cannons a lot during my walk in England but not in France until today. When my path brought me to one, I managed to catch it on video. They are intended to scare birds away and you can hear them from a great distance.
This was my first time seeing this plant, so I looked it up.
It’s Crimson Clover. It reminded me of the pop song, Crimson and Clover, which I’ve always liked. (Per Wikipedia, the similarity in names is purely coincidental.)
Another empty French town…
There were two brief exceptions to the day’s isolation. I overtook a large group of schoolchildren walking their own 10K mini-pilgrimage hikes, and learning to read maps and navigate with a compass. And I met Maurice from Switzerland. He had walked from home to Rome last year, and is walking from home to Canterbury now. Our encounter was brief but warm.
After my brief chat with Maurice, I looked back to catch him about to meet the kids on his walk to Canterbury.
Except for Maurice and the students, I saw more cows in this field than I saw people all day.
Day 25 AllTrails Stats
Distance: 25.3 km / 15.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 315 m / 1,033 feet
Steps: 33,111
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/vLqexXB2Yd6
Accommodation: Private Home, Joncreuil
Day 26 Joncreuil to Saint Léger sous Brienne
Another tough morning, though this one was largely of my own making. With no food to eat I started early and chose to shorten my travel distance by using farm roads and trails that I found on AllTrails to get to tonight’s lodging (and hopefully some food), mostly off the VF. It generally worked out, but the app neglected to say that my 3 km route around an old airfield was not on the gravel road they showed me (and which I could easily see through the security fence about 10 meters away). Instead, it was a parallel slog through thick wheat fields. That slowed me down enough to arrive to my hotel a few minutes after Reception closed for 5 hours in the afternoon. Sheesh… nothing was working out – a shame given that the weather couldn’t have been better for covering long distances: cool, a slight breeze, occasional light sprinkles, no mud, and the constant entertainment of the changing cloud formations. But I was hungry and struggling to find energy.
Since my accommodation wouldn’t have any food for me until breakfast tomorrow and because I was famished, I walked to a neighboring village where Google said I would find a small restaurant open all afternoon. That is a rarity in these parts so my fingers were crossed for good luck. What a relief to find that it was open. The homemade food was delicious, and the owner/cook was very friendly. She even let me hang out for the hours until I could return to my hotel so I’m writing these words there (even as she’s closed to the public for a while). I will also stay here for dinner before I walk back to my hotel for the night. This unplanned time has given me the chance to rethink the extra-long “twofer’s” I had planned for the next couple of days. I’ve decided to make them “standard” days instead (meaning relatively short), so I can return to the VF proper and enjoy the walk that I want.
It’s kind of amazing how, even after 40 days of walking since I arrived in England back on 3rd April, I’m still searching for the right balance. I have faced this quandary before in every other long-distance trek I’ve made. I gain experience out here, and I learn, but I may never master this. Am I meant to?
These fields are huge! And take a long time to cross. Fortunately, I have the constantly-changing cloud formations to entertain me.
I always love it when I see a Great Blue Heron like this. They live all over the planet.
For the trains going south…
… and for those going north.
My path through the wheat fields, parallel to the road over the security fence.
Protest?
Day 26 AllTrails Stats
Distance: 25.3 km / 15.7 miles
Elevation Gain: 310 m / 1,017 feet
Steps: 34,887
Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/v1vjd4n8gJ6
Accommodation: Hotel Air-Lane, Saint-Léger-sous-Brienne
Finally some food! Turkey, potatoes aux gratin, and several liters of water with my electrolyte-replacement tablets.
From the same cook for dinner: beef, fries and wine.
Several days ago, I introduced you to Dirk, the newly-retired Belgian who is making his first long trek. I was pleased to learn this evening that he met Giulio, and they will be walking together for a couple of days. I sure hope my path crosses theirs in the future!
Days 1-26 AllTrails Cumulative Stats
Distance: 580.6 km / 360.8 miles
Average Daily Distance: 22.3 km / 13.9 miles
Elevation Gain: 10,491 m / 34,419 feet
Steps: 920,548
“Blue skies, smiling at me, nothing but blue skies, do I see” -Ella Fitzgerald
Loved the photos of the vineyards with the gorgeous clouded blue skies above.
So strange, really, that half our world view is static- especially in places like Europe where a building might stay the same for a thousand years- while the other half- the sky- is like a giant painting that constantly changes, in the most glorious ways.
Keep these coming Chris!
Thanks!