constanttrek

Stella Plage to Rue 27th Aug

August 30th, 2004

Once again the rain is coming down, and we are holed up in our little green cave doing very little. We walked here (Rue) from Berck yesterday, glad to be leaving the coast behind us. There is not much to be said for seaside tourist towns in the rain. It was a lovely walk yesterday; past old farmhouses, overgrown fields, and rows of corn. The ponies here are gorgeous, especially the miniature ones, of which there are many – often so fat on the rich green grass they look ready to topple over their own feet. As we walk by they come rushing over to the fence, eyeing us and the monsters with great curiosity, noses out in the hope of yet more food. They appear rather more friendly than French dogs, which I am sure can actually scent the fact that we are foreign, and bark at as incessantly as we go past. I had taken to sticking my tongue out at them but ceased the practice when one old lady thought I was directing the gesture at her rather than the dog.
We were all set to walk on to Abbeville today, but Rue is a lovely village, the camping here is tranquil and, more importantly, cheap; and to top it all off the showers are wonderful. We got as far as packing the bedding up before the rain started to fall, at which point we felt the decision had been made for us. Hence today is another food binge – as Gary puts it, our day is divided into two hour sections, and at the end of each we eat another course. In between we rest to prepare ourselves for the next meal. It is tough. We have already managed phase 1(cereal) ; phase 2 (croissants, brioche, coffee); phase 3 (baguette, ham, cheese, tomato) and 4 (huge patisserie cakes and coffee). We are gearing up for a spectacular finale, as Gary has been to the Boucherie and bought filet steak for dinner, which we plan to consume with a very nice Bordeaux we got on the cheap. I may have quit the dreaded cigarettes, but my food addiction remains alive and well.
So far we have walked about 170 miles over 15 days. Of the 11 rest days we have had, 5 have been dictated by weather (not counting today, which we may have been persuaded to take regardless). We are not quite as far on as we had hoped, but then the weather has been less than co-operative and besides: who cares? We’ll get there eventually.
Due to the difficulties uploading stuff in Berck, this will all wait until Abbeville now – that is assuming, of course, that they have an internet café. Sorry if any information has been repeated.
Again we both want to thank all of you for your texts, emails, and posts. It is very heartening after a lousy day, or when the blisters are hurting, to get a message of encouragement, and we really do treasure them all.
And finally – as this is the last post which will go up before all of my ex-colleagues go back to work on the 1st of September – I shall try not to gloat too loudly as I say GOOD LUCK to you all for the next year of happiness and joy teaching the little cherubs, and I hope you all particularly enjoy the inset day at the beginning. I am sure it will be as full of excitement and vital information as ever. And on that note, I think I shall have another cake.

Entry Filed under: trekking