Category: Uncategorized
-
Day 18: Thérouanne to Amettes (19 km) In search of the birthplace of cricket
If the French noblesse had been capable of playing cricket with their peasants, their chateaux would never have been burnt. G.M.Trevelyan Having been assured by Alain, the caretaker,that I would be the sole pilgrim staying the night at the gite d’étape ‘Eden, the arrival of Dean came as something of…
-
Day 19: Amettes to Béthonsart (27 km) Going off piste – in the footsteps of Benoît Joseph Labre
How good the Church is in this century of hatred, Of pride and avarice and all sins, To hear today the hidden of the hidden, The meek among the meek to human ignorance. Saint Benoit-Joseph Labre in Amour – Paul Verlaine It proved to be an interesting and challenging day…
-
Day 20: Béthonsart to Arras (28 km) Horse meat, Standing Stones and Andouillette
If hippophagy disappears completely, breeds of draft horses will fall into extinction. Jean-Pierre Digard By the time I came down for breakfast at 7am, Christine had left for Lille, where she teaches business management, and Pierre Yves was out on the farm with his dogs. It felt slightly strange being…
-
Day 21: Lille/Ypres – In Flanders Fields they shall not grow old.
In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below. In Flanders Fields – John McCrae Saturday was a day of unalloyed luxury – being driven around in a Mercedes-Benz, eating delicious…
-
Day 22: Ablain-St Nazaire/Contalmaison – in the footsteps of the fallen soldier.
If I should die, think only this of me:That there’s some corner of a foreign fieldThat is for ever England. The Soldier – Rupert Brooke Just over 10 years ago, as I was rummaging through the attic of my parents’ house after my mother’s death, I had a strangely moving…
-
Day 23: Arras to Bapaume (27 km) Pluck,Perseverance and the Belgian Connection
God is with those who persevere; Persevere and never fear. Belgian proverb When I was a child, my mother used to bribe me. I was easily corrupted. I was apparently a very talkative child before being packed off to boarding school in England aged 7, so my mother devised a…
-
Day 24: Bapaume to Péronne (31 km) Being a Good Samaritan – a day on the road with Dean
By a Spring day, By Picard clay. Show me the two so closely bound As we, by the wet bond of blood, By friendship, blossoming from mud, Two Fusiliers – Robert Graves When I reached Odile Samain’s house in Bapaume the previous day, I’d been expecting to spend the night…
-
Day 25: Péronne to Seraucourt-le-grand (31 km) All about Ch’ti and Ch’tennis
The magpies in PicardyAre more than I can tell.They flicker down the dusty roadsAnd cast a magic spellOn the men who march through Picardy,Through Picardy to hell. Magpies in Picardy -T.P. Cameron Wilson It was raining when we left Péronne this morning. We didn’t hit the road until shortly after…
-
Day 26: Seraucourt-le-grand to Septvaux (45 km) Back to basics
Water, water everywhere And not a drop to drink. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner – Samuel Taylor Coleridge I won’t claim that last night at Seraucourt-le-grand was the best night’s sleep I have ever enjoyed but at least I survived without being predated by the large number of flying…
-
Day 27: Septvaux to Laon (30 km) From the ridiculous to the sublime
All good things come to those who wait. English Proverb The day got off to a bad start. The owner of the Ferme de Brellemont was charming, but she obviously hadn’t heard on the bush telegraph that I hadn’t eaten for the best part of 24 hours. Breakfast was extremely…
-
Day 28: Laon to Pontavert (33 km) The Way through the Woods
They shut the road through the woods Seventy years ago. Weather and rain have undone it again, And now you would never know. The Way through the Woods – Rudyard Kipling Mme Tordeux-Bremard gave me the perfect send off this morning – three blasts on her boar hunting horn which hung in her…
-
Day 29: Pontavert to Saint-Thierry (23 km) Champagne country
Champagne. In victory I deserve it. In defeat I need it.’ Winston Churchill Today was a bit of a red letter day. I’ve now been walking for a month, have chalked up nearly 800km/500 miles and I’ve reached champagne country. I’d love to break open some bubbly at this point,…
