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Day 10: Woods near Vaucoleurs to Saverne, July 11th.

 

I awoke at 5:30 and went for a wild no.2 in the woods. Crazy stuff. I packed my tent and set off, still low on water, for the nearest civilisation and patisserie. I am there now. It’s a café too. There’s a fountain. It’s very pleasant. I had planned to make Strasbourg in one day. Maybe I still will, but it would be a hard and stressful one. I still have almost 200km to go. We’ll see. I’m really in wild boar country now. I passed a few babies on the way here. Maybe I’ll have another pastry…?

 

***

I didn’t have another pastry. Instead I got my water filled and continued on my way. It was once again canal path after canal path. However they were getting more beautiful by the mile. I passed lakes, rivers and endless canals. Eventually, around 12, I stopped in a café just inside Nancy. They spoke no English but a customer who had lived in the USA translated for me. I was also able to use a little Spanish. The customer (Alan?) asked about my cycle and was very impressed. He was so impressed in fact that he took a photo with me, and of me by my bike because his car was in the background. I never got his contact details. Damn. Would have been good to have those photos. At the café I had a much needed coke and a ham sandwich.



 I left there and wound my way through some old towns. Saint Nicolas de Port had a fabulous cathedral. On I went along endless canal paths, passing lizards, rabbits, deer and lots of factories. I set my sights on a campsite in Saverne which was 60km away and powered towards it. It started to rain at one point so I cycled shirtless for a while. That was freeing. The sun returned however, and so did the shirt.


Eventually I reached a wooded valley with a kind of dried up canal along it, and tonnes of old, run down houses. This, I later learned, was the Loraine region. The canal soon filled again and I passed charming towns nestled in the valleys, full of boat tourists. Atop some of the high, red rocky wooded hills, stood ruined forts. Eventually I reached a sign which told me I was in Alsace. Germany here we come!



I made it to the campsite around 6:30. They had some minty water which I gratefully swallowed. [Later I spilled some too!]. I had once again been drinking churchyard water. The Scottish woman and her son behind me in the line were also impressed at my cycle. [They said they’d seen people cycling in the alps, but only on electric bikes] I dropped my stuff, took a shower, and plunged into the pool. It was so… so… so satisfying. All my clothes are dirty so I’m still wearing my wet swimmers. A good job too, as a thunderstorm is raging outside. I’m not confident my tent is going to hold up. I had hurriedly set it up before the rain when I heard the thunder. I have yet to check if it’s waterproof.


After my swim I got a beer and a savoury crepe for dinner. I also got a banana Nutella one for dessert. Then, as the rain started to pour, I wrote this, first sheltering under a treehouse then inside a TV room, at the suggestion of a helpful German woman. Time to check the tent. Wish me luck!


I should mention that today was the longest day so far (160km), hoping for a shorter one tomoz.

 

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