constanttrek

Paris…at last

September 20th, 2004

Only about 3 weeks after we planned to get here, but we have made it at last. The first day after leaving Cécile’s knocked me around a bit, so we stopped in Beauvais for another two days until I could comfortably carry the pack again. We seem destined, however, not to do things by halves; so we then proceeded to cover over 70 kilometres in 2 days to arrive in Paris late last night. It was a fairly lousy walk here, straight down the motorway, but as usual, just as we were feeling low, we had a pleasant encounter.
A car stopped in a layby in front of us, and a man stepped out and waited for us to walk closer. We are so accustomed to honking horns, indecipherable yelled remarks, and gaping stares, that we both braced ourselves for what we thought might be coming. But in fact, he told us that he had driven past us on the road the last two days, and so had decided to stop when he saw us again. He was a lovely man and talked to us for quite a while, and at the time his encouragement really gave us a needed boost. Sometimes when it is getting late, and we still have 10 kms to go, and we are unsure whether or not there is a bed at the end of the day, it really does help to have someone give us a kind word or smile.

It has taken us 24 walking days to get here from London. Disgusting really, considering we have been away for 50! But we had always planned to have a holiday when we got to France – although perhaps not quite so many in quick succession. We are resolved that after this stop we shall get our skates on and move a lot faster. It should also be a little easier now that we are on the Compostela route, which takes us through regular stopping points. It would be fine if we could “wild camp”, but given that we are not usually in areas where this is possible, it has been a little difficult relying on campsites, as by now many of them are closed for the season. We are hoping our stops will be a little more reliable now.
It does feel good to reach this first major landmark. And we are looking forward to spending a few days wandering around and taking it all in.
I will update the diary with photos etc in a couple of days.

Entry Filed under: trekking