Day 12: Stage 9: Argenton-sur-Creuse

35 km, beautiful sunny day! 22°

Country Roads & Trails!

I was up and away this morning before 7 o’clock because I had a fairly long stage to walk today. As there wasn’t much in the way of accommodation of any type after Velles, I particularly wanted to get to Argenton-sur-Creuse. Velles would’ve made for an 18 km stage, and I was looking for something a little longer. I’m glad I pushed through because this town is quite beautiful.

It took me about 35 minutes to walk out of Châteauroux. I didn’t realize that it was over 3 km to the edge of the city. From there it was straight onto a beautiful grassy trail. However, the tall grass was covered in dew and by the time I crossed this section my shorts were soaked as were my shoes. This is the first day since I have arrived that I haven’t walked in my rain gear. I probably should’ve kept the rain pants on this morning!🙄

It was a long, lovely sort of trail. I love early morning walking. Everything is fresh and you know from the spiderwebs that no one else has yet passed this way. 🙂

I eventually reach and entered the forest. These forest areas are usually highly ‘organized’, meaning that there are road grids often radiating out from the centre of the forest like the spokes of a bicycle tire. All you really do is enter and follow the pattern depending on where you want to exit. My route was a straight shot across the forest.

It was nice enough, but as usual these forests don’t hold a candle to what we have at home. They aren’t intended to, and still I enjoy walking through them. There were plenty of birds calling which always enhances my experience.

As I reached the far side of the forest I heard the distinct call of a peacock! I wasn’t expecting that, but I have seen it before. Turns out there were three peacocks on a farm property!

From there it was road walking all the way into Velles. That doesn’t mean there wasn’t beautiful scenery.

Reaching Velles I was surprised to find the small local watering hole open. For the first time on this walk I was able to take a short break with a little refreshment. Annemarie, there is hope!😎

From here I left the route and walked various small country roads.

Somewhere along the way I passed an amazing gîte! From the look of it, I would probably have to go back to work again in order to afford a night there.🤣

It was a perfect walking day! The temperature was not too hot, and I had it all to myself.😊 There were birds and thousands of frogs croaking in the many small ponds I passed. I recorded their sounds for the grandkids, and it will be interesting to see what they make of this.

I eventually left the small roads and headed across a route variant that I had found in my guide. There was no evidence that anyone else had taken this variant, ie., there were no pilgrim footprints. Initially, just mud. Mud, mud, mud!

But things eventually improved, and it turned out to be a really nice trail. It also saved me quite a few kilometres of road walking. Always nice.

I eventually made it out of the forest and back onto the small country roads. So much more happened today, but there’s not enough room to put it all on this blog post. I will say that I did pass an old square tower fortress. That was kind of cool.😎

After making a connection with my host and arranging for a key, I did the usual post walking activities before heading out to see a little of this town. It’s situated on the Creuse River, hence the name of the town. It’s very beautiful along the river and I thought the river was rather high after all the rain. However, I found the depth gauges and it wasn’t nearly as high as it’s been in the past. My host did say that the river is higher than normal for this time of year.

I’ve read that there are numerous mills along this river. This one dates from the 13th century. I like these sort of things.😊 They add character to the walk.

Tomorrow I’ll walk much further upstream along the northeast bank of the river before eventually crossing. I will also reach the point where the eastern variant from Vezelay merges with my path. I’ll likely begin to see other walkers from that point onward. I won’t see Anne again, but I think Hil isn’t too far away. A small walking community is sort of forming. Well barely.😂

That’s about it for today.

Dinner time! My host was right. The store was open and I took full advantage because there’s an oven in my place!

Bon Chemin from a finally sunny France!

Geoff🍺🍕