Day…um…I don’t know! Stardates August 9 and 10. Situation update.
Despite turning a myriad of colours that rival the socks knitted by my darling sister, the swelling on my foot has decreased substantially and I am able to walk /limp short distances. After the usual stages of denial, disappointment and acceptance, we’ve assessed and here’s the plan: we rented a car on the 9th and drove from Reims to Besancon (booked 2 nights there), which was the section of the Via Francigena we were meant to cycle. Today we drove along the VF to the Swiss border, just to scope out what we might be facing when we start walking. From Aug 12 to 19 we have booked a self drive canal boat to give me some foot recovery time. We hope to start walking the Via again around August 21st or 22nd…I just haven’t figured out where our starting point will be given this 2 week hiatus. In the meantime I will get back into posting but it won’t be Via stuff for a while.
Strabbie: Pourquoi sommes nous ici? Cheery: Je ne sais pas. Bunger: parce que l”autre bicyclette est aussi merde. The Avis guy was kind enough to let me stay in his office while Ken went off to the Cathedral for our VF stamp. This is the one cathedral I had hoped to see. Ah, well. We legitimately earned this stamp riding from Laon to Reims.Aw, Ken even lit my 3 candles for me…Heavy sigh…Funky blue penguin statue in front of Reims train station…because I am fairly certain penguins are native to France?Ken says the penguin was very cool…it looks solid blue from a distance but…it is made of layers of plywood (or similar) and only the edges were painted blue…so it changed colour as you walked around it. Now Ken is the one getting ideas!Can I have this, Ken? Reims is champagne country. Every village had 2 or 3 champagne “houses”. We stopped at none because champagne is over-rated…says the beer swiller. 🍾 versus 🍺Vineyards as far as the eye could see.Bachelor buttons growing wild.Proof of life!Fields of Marijuana right by the road.Memorial to Charles de Gaulle. Huge!LangresOfficial Via Francigena pilgrim symbol in Champlitte. There are a few towns in France that are embracing it…but not enough!Ken can find old vehicles anywhere!Ancient wash houses with flowing water. The local laundromat of old.Not sure you want to see this but…And again…I chose to do this trip with Ken…why?
Nest day…August 10
Took advantage of the post office across the street to send a big parcel home…bicycle parts and helmets, the bike hitch, etc…stuff we wouldn’t need for walking. Dumped almost 10 kg. Quite the process to send, went through 3 people to do customs online and took more than an hour. But so good to lighten the load.Trout country now!The river Loue. Complete with fish and…Rules for swimming and canoeing …good to see attention to conservation.First little tunnel.We climbed from the river level up to the cliff tops…photos do not show the depth of this canyon. Which we might have to walk through.Wildlife!Not so wild life!Random chapel on a hill top. Found out that this is directly on the VF.Three candles for Ryder and the parents.See below.1000 year old citadel guarding both sides of the pass.Ken: Let’s go across the border into Switzerland just to say we did. Also Ken: Why is there a line up of over 2 miles of cars waiting to go back into France? Terry: Says nothing and just gives Ken “the incredibly superior look” (as apparently patented by Terry according to Ken) Ken: Just mumbles to himself.
Absolutely gorgeous country and I hope our schedule will allow us to walk parts of this when we come back to the Via Francigena.
TerryandKenViaFrancigena2022 
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