Day 7: Stage5: Baugy

30 km, Heavy Rain, 9°

Could Today Get Any Sillier?

This post was written yesterday, but delayed 1 day due to unexpected absence of wifi or data

When I got up this morning, I looked out the window and almost crawled back into bed! 😂 It was raining that hard! However, I decided that I’d better get on the road as it was supposed to get worse throughout the day. So without breakfast I geared up, turned my flashers on and walked off into the rain. I figured that the next town 10 km down the road would at least have a bakery where I could get some food, and with luck there might be a chance to get a cup of tea.

Once again, I decided the trails would be much too muddy with the rain having come down all night. So after crossing the second bridge above the Loire River (swollen and flowing fast) I walked along a national highway which I usually do selectively because of the large trucks that often fly along those roads. It turned out to be the right decision. I caught up to a fellow walker named Anne and she told me that it was unusual for someone to pass her. I apologized, but she said that it was OK, it was bound to happen one day. I wasn’t too sure if she was kidding. She asked me where I was stopping tonight, and I told her. Turned out she was coming to the same place and she asked me to put a bottle of beer in the fridge for her and book her a bed. Of course she was kidding about this (turns out she’s Dutch) but it was nice to have a laugh as I wandered onwards.

It was so wet. The drivers, particularly the truckers were very considerate, and my flashing lights didn’t hurt. I’m glad that I got new lights before I left home this year. There wasn’t a whole lot to see along the highway, and besides it was raining so hard, I hesitated to take my phone out for more than a moment.

When I arrived in the first town, there was indeed a tiny bakery open…

and I ended up with two nice pastries, one of which was my favourite with raisins. Yum! 😋

Things continued much in this way for the rest of the day. At one point, I contacted the volunteers who run the four bed municipal hostel that I’m in tonight. Unfortunately, the phone numbers that they had given to me to call only had French speakers on the other end (I was told they spoke some English too). There were 3 people on the other end of my call trying to understand what I was saying and then giving me rapid fire directions and a phone number to call when I arrived. This made the conversations somewhat less than useful and I finally decided that I would simply try again when I got into town. It was pretty confusing! I walked on in the ever increasing rain. It was pretty bleak.

There was quite a change in the topography today. Gone were the long rolling steep sided hills that I have been enjoying. Replaced with an almost prairie like landscape of slow rising hills and some flatter areas as well. Still beautiful in a wet sort of way. I continued to walk on the road because the trails would’ve just been an uncomfortable mess.

Walking into the town where I’m staying tonight I met a woman who was walking the other way and she told me that she was on her way to Rome. I didn’t say anything, but I thought she might be going the wrong way. What do I know? Routes go all over and intersect in France quite often.

Arriving in town, I went to the grocery store to buy some food for my lunch and for my dinner as there are cooking facilities at the municipal. Now that I’m here I wish I hadn’t done that because the facilities are quite limited. While in the grocery store, I was trying to sort out how I would get ahold of the people that would let me in to the municipal. I asked the young woman at the till if she’s spoke English, and to my surprise, she said yes in very good English. She helped me to call all the various people and numbers I had, but without luck. She suggested that I wait another 40 minutes until she came off shift and then she would try and drive me around to find out where the right people were located. What a wonderful offer! As we were talking I heard someone call out my name and turning around I found the woman who I’d written to about a bed here. She had heard about my unsuccessful phone conversations, and knowing I should be somewhere around she came looking for me. Problem solved. Her name is also Ann.

She took me to the municipal and let me in with instructions about how to return the keys in the morning.

A short time later Anne (Dutch) who I’d met on the road showed up. She wasn’t sure if she had a bed because her email was never answered. I sent her off to find the other Ann at her antique store. Turns out she has a bed. We talked while I tried to dry out my internal phone plug system as I couldn’t charge it until it dried. She is from Lieden in Holland and we chatted all about Holland and Annemarie’s family thereabouts. A short time later another woman from Holland comes in (Hil) and she’s completely soaked. She walked the trails and said they were horrible and muddy. Another good decision Geoff😊

So now there are 3 of us; two Dutch women and one Canadian guy. We will make dinner together and I guess because I have almost no data it will be a very early night! However, before I get too far down that road another French woman who I met at Vezelay showed up. She arrives with another man and asked about beds. We tell them there is just one left. They speak no English, but we finally figure out that it’s just the woman who needs a bed. Honestly, it was pretty funny. So now we have Geoff with 3 women. They tell me not to tell my wife. 😂 I reply that Annemarie knows that this has happened to me before and I tell them it’s ok, right Annemarie?😬

Then the young French couple arrive at the door with a reservation. I speak with them and direct them to Ann because there is a gite in the next town for overflow and she will take them there. It’s going to be an interesting night and with a 33+ stage tomorrow into Bourges it will be interesting to see how much sleep is had in this tiny place, the smallest I’ve ever stayed in.

We did eventually sort out that myself, Hil and the nice couple from Paris were supposed to be the 4 with reservations, but things got a bit messed up. Everyone was looked after so no harm done. We all shared food at dinner and things worked out very nicely. Knowing I was married and a grandfather the women were very relaxed about having me around and they told me that I behaved like a complete gentleman…which I did!

Tomorrow the weather is to sort of improve. It couldn’t get much worse! A crazy day, but at the end we had a wonderful evening telling stories and there was much laughter.

Bon Chemin

Geoff 🍷☔️☔️☔️