Saturday April 11. Vitry-le-François. 15.2 km.

Since my digestive system was still calming down, breakfast consisted of mugs of hot water and a yoghurt. Then a late start at 10.30. The path laid out included a village «listed as one of the most beautiful in France » , but this walk would have been 26 km and I figured I deserved a break.

The obvious shortcut was to walk along the canal again, cutting 11 km from the day. This particular canal is built alongside the Marne river. The Marne had been used to transport goods from at least the 12th century, but with difficulty because of fluctuating water levels and also the existence of fords, shallow areas people used to cross the river. So in early nineteenth century bridges were built across the water, and by 1845 the canal opened to move the resources and goods of the industrial age. This was the same era that saw construction of railways.

Flat and paved all the way - perfect for cyclists of which there were several, along with some joggers. I stopped for a long conversation with a cyclist, who then walked along beside me for a while. He lives in Paris but for the past four years has spent five to six months each spring/summer walking or biking, cross-crossing France in every direction. On his bike he had compact saddle bags with a tent, tarp, sleeping and cooking equipment and clothes. What motivates him? His desire to really know his country, his love of the encounters with people as he goes, and an itch for movement. He gave me a couple of useful tips.

Two barges today. One appeared about half an hour into my walk. That barge and I reached my destination, Vitry-le-François, at exactly the same time. I didn’t count, but I think there were six locks on that stretch, which certainly slowed the barge’s progress.

The first timber frame houses are appearing.

Still lots of chalk in the rocks.

Vitry-le-François was built under the French sixteenth century King François I, which explains its name! Le roi François hired an Italian architect to design the city, which resulted in this main square. My photo isn’t great (it was raining, I was cold, my feet were sore… excuses for poor photography!); the square is very large and all the buildings all the way around are similar except for the church.

And that is all I have to say for Vitry-le-François. This blog is posted a day late because I forgot my phone charger at La Chaussée sur Marne, so I didn’t want to use me cell phone last night.

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Sat Oct 4. London.

19 days walking on pilgrimage paths for a total of 395 km or 245 miles on foot (not that arduous - an average of 20.7 km per day, and lots of ‘rest days’ staying put in one place). All of that undone in 1.5 hours on a Eurostar train. I’m not entirely sure what conclusion I’m drawing from that comparison, but I’m back where I started, in London. On my way to my lodgings (I’m staying in a Buddhist retreat centre) I decided to visit the first visitable place to cross my path, which turned out to be the Foundling Museum. Horrified by the sight of infants being abandoned on 18th c London streets, a prosperous seaman, Thomas Coram, spent 17 years raising awareness and funds, as well as obtaining royal permission to build London’s first children’s charity. Opened in 1739, the Foundling Hospital continued its work until the 1950s, and actually is still active as a non-institutional resource, under a different name. Here is a photo of it in 1935. So many similarities to ...

September 5

I landed at Heathrow this morning at 6 am, a very inconvenient time to get a room and rest! But my student residence accommodation includes a common room with handy couches for a short snooze. The neighbourhood abuts on Regent’s Park, complete with gorgeous flowerbeds. The Queen Mary’s rose garden in Regent’s Park. My neighbourhood wandering took me to the Wallace House which used to be one of the homes of the marquesses of Hertford. The Hertfords were fabulously rich, mainly from extensive land holdings, and in the 18th and 19th centuries avid art collectors. They obviously had Trumpian home decorating tastes. Here are two of their many clocks, all of which need frequent ‘fine tuning’, it appears. I particularly liked two 18th c British paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds in their collection: Mrs Carnac and the hauntingly strange Strawberry Girl.

Fri Oct 3. Lille.

I had a lovely day in Lille. In fact, all my days on this trip have been lovely! In the morning I went to the very large Palais des Beaux-Arts. This museum holds the largest collection of works of art of any French institution outside Paris. The collection started at the time of the French Revolution as the works of art of the nobility and of the church were confiscated, and continued on apace due to various enthusiastic municipal governments. By 1892 the collection was so large and important that the Palais, its current house, was constructed in the centre of town. The first fun aspect was the recent work of the Swiss artist Felice Varini who used the museum’s interior as his canvas. The oldest works of art are in the ‘basement’, beautifully displayed. Look at the marvellous three dimensionality of this (flat) marble plaque sculpted by Donatello (c 1435) showing Salomé dancing for the head of John the Baptist. And modern technology brings statues alive by giving them back t...

Celia Walks

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