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Fri Sept 26. Thérouanne. 25.1 km.

Last night in Wisques I stayed at the local hotel which has a great reputation for its cooking. My first course was endives prepared two ways, a dish I will definitely practice at home!


Leaving Wisques this morning I walked by a huge 19th c Benedictine convent, with just a handful of resident nuns these days.


The path went through a nice beech tree wood before returning to huge fields, enlivened by wind turbines.  Great truckloads of potatoes being carted off.



My destination, Thérouanne, had a rough time in 1552.  It had been a very prosperous city, boasting the largest cathedral in France, so medieval pilgrims would have been anxious to visit. However, the holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, after a bad defeat at Metz, besieged Thérouanne, defeated it, completely destroyed all the buildings, and had the fields ploughed with salt. Today the town is small and not very attractive. It does however have a big grocery store, perfect for food supplies for this evening and the next few days. This was a new sight for me - laundry machines outside in the supermarket parking lot.


Looking at a map, it doesn’t look like I’ve gone far today. It is the usual explanation. By car, today’s journey was 12 kilometres.  Following the Via, I did 25 km. 

On my first walk from Lausanne to Rome, I met a New Zealander walking from Canterbury to Rome ( the whole of the ‘original’ Via Francigena) in only three months, the maximum length of stay permitted in the group of Schengen countries. He said that to make decent time, in France he fairly often had to figure out other more efficient routes. I get his point!

This trip I’ve met several groups of walkers. The most common configuration is three ladies about my age walking together for one or two weeks. One group was German. All the others have been Americans. I’ve met two cyclists from Paris doing part of the way, and in England I met two English ladies doing Winchester to Canterbury, each solo. Usually there are some locals - in England, walking their dogs - in France, just out for a stroll.  Today I met no one at all on the way.




Comments

  1. RitaSeptember 26, 2025 at 7:24 PM

    LOL, a hotel in "Whisk" famous for its cooking?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NikkiOctober 4, 2025 at 7:10 PM

      Looks great. I hope the rest matched. Just che king in to see where you are

      Delete

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