TerryandKenViaFrancigena2022

Day 19. Laon to Reims. 60 km. 36°C. But forget the temp. Please get me off this highway!

Ken’s doing the writing today so this should be way better than normal.

Early in the day we ran across a rusty old 3 speed bike. It must have predated derailleurs as it looked as though you’d have to loosen the wing nuts on the wheel and move the chain by hand to the desired gear. Pretty cool.
Shortly after we turned onto a very busy highway with semis whooshing by us 3 feet away every minute or so, the sky about to rain looked quite a bit like Terry’s expression. Would not have wanted to be in a plane up there!
Site of another huge battle. Couldn’t help but wonder exactly when we blithely crossed where the ⁸Trenches would have been.
Thinking of hooking this up to Terry’s bike so she can feel my pain.
Finally off the scary road and into Corbeny. As with many, the 12th century church was rubble after the great war, so it was rebuilt.
One of the few bits they could salvage. A gargoyle for Ruth.
The new way of doing things as you enter a church. No holy water but a bottle of hand sanitizer.
A very popular boulangerie with giant radpberry macaroons that I didn’t let Terry buy as her new biking shorts were too tight already.
Terry’s thought: why did I promise not to change anything he wrote.
As for me, a very small pizza did the trick.
Another deceptively flat looking accursed long hill.
Water supply bladder for fires. Cool.
Make a nice water bed too.
A short stop at our Lady of the Ears shrine. Mostly because it had a bench in the shade of a tree.
Some rather nice art work on the back that I noticed while having a pee by a tree.
Canal with no tow path. Bummer. Love that flat stuff.
Kenny the mule. The real reason she brought me along. Most of what is in those bags is Terry’s makeup and hair dryer. Terry’s thought: I am not allowed to comment on this but…please note that Ken lies!
The sun was out so we had a rest stop and a spot of lunch in a bike shelter. Worked.
Blueberries? Didnt dare try.
Terry takes pictures of weird flowers while Ken stands by patiently and sighs.
Fancy schmancey champagne country stuff. Eh.
On the other hand, this mistletoe was really impressive to a couple of old foresters.
After navigating the multiple roundabouts and overpasses in the baking sun finally into Reims, a man has to get a beer wherever he can find one. Beer was great but the popcorn sucked. Terry’s thought: Really, Ken? A bowling alley?
Terry says I don’t get enough veggies so I thought I’d drink my salad. What a good boy! Terry’s thought? Good boy? That mojito cost €8…almost 12 bucks! Just for that, I am going to the big Jardin center next door and bringing a plant home.

Song of the day. The old song by Guy Clark called “LA Freeway” seems to fit as there were Frenchmen going everywhere today in their little cars and big trucks. Go figure.

terryzitnak

One response to “Day 19. Laon to Reims. 60 km. 36°C. But forget the temp. Please get me off this highway!”

  1. nancyjofish Avatar
    nancyjofish

    The tans are coming along nicely!

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