To 3.20 a.m. out of bed today to beat the heat. There were +22 km on the menu, representing over six hours to go, including breaks. And there are now also altimeters recovering...
My tent was still soaking wet, as it had rained and thundered heavily from 23:45 to 1:30. As a result, I had slept very little. To 4:45 I set off, Petzl headlamp around my head because it was still stitching. The beginning of my trek was forested and must have been the most beautiful, but in the dark you don't see much of the landscape. The peace and quiet of the night outside does feel salutary.
By the time it got light, I was shuffling through a monotonous rural landscape of meadows, potato and corn fields and cut cornfields (main photo). No tree left to be seen.
I had served a very lucky angel that the sun only came through by 12 o'clock. But because of the humidity after the thunderstorm, it was very sweaty weather.
At Villers-Sire-Nicole I also had a chance: there was a bakery that was not on Google maps. I was able to stock up on some tasty but unhealthy provisions. Better something than nothing.
Around 12:30 I reached Camping Les Avallées, where I flatly rejected the access denied became. Another one to add to our 'pas sympa' black list. Because of Covid 19, there were annual campers only in, but this was not announced on their website. I had to go wild camping, said the manageress. She was kind enough to fill my water bag, as it had become completely empty due to the sweltering weather. I pulled a selfie with the campsite in the background to be able to prove to the police, if necessary, that I had offered myself there, because wild camping is prohibited here. And all this just at the hottest time of the day and with 26 kilometres in tired legs.
I then walked into the forest behind and decided to ask locals if I could camp on one of the nearby meadows.
First, I came across a fishing grounds against which some caravans were parked. At the entrance hung a phone number to register for a party on 15 August. I called to ask if I could pitch there for a night, but I couldn't because of that party. I was allowed to rest there in the shade from my long trek, but not overnight.
After that rest, I left my rucksack there and went further afield to ask if I could pitch my tent somewhere. Already in the very next property, I was in luck: Thomas, Nicolas and border collie Loki (Norse Goddess) just came walking down the garden path and they responded very enthusiastically to my question. I experienced a great afternoon, was invited to dinner and allowed into the guest room overnight because heavy storms were predicted again.
Old farmhouse in Rouveroy
At 8 o'clock, it was somewhat with pain I left Thomas and Nicolas' welcoming hearth. They had given me an old smuggling path to Belgian Rouveroy pointed out that saved me a big asphalt diversions via Villers-Sire-Nicole.
On that country road I came Jean François with his cool dog Gus against. Every morning he takes a leisurely bike ride with Gus, who is allowed to roam freely, to inspect the welfare of his grazing cows. The somewhat rambunctious Gus wears an electronic collar that allows JF to control him from a distance if passers-by are frightened by stray dogs. I was already indicating from afar that he did not need to leash Gus and we struck up a 'dog talk'.
From one talk came another. JF worked for the Vlaamse Boerenbod (AVV) for a year, but then saw an opportunity to run his own farm in Rouveroy. An opportunity he grabbed with both hands. He loves rural life. During the morning drive past his cows, he also 'rams' cans which, unfortunately, are frequently found on the roadsides here. I gave JF a flyer and he showed great appreciation for my hike and the work of Infirmiers De Rue. He would ask his wife to make a tax-deductible donation.
Shortly afterwards, I found myself reconnected to the Belgian GR network, notably GR 129. This resulted in some extra kilometres, but thanks to the good road markings, you don't waste time at crossroads staring at GPS. Thanks to all the local volunteers of vzw Op Weg and its Walloon counterpart who maintain these trails.
Because I left later, I got faster suffer from the heat, but thanks to the abundant overnight rain, there were enough puddles to regularly dip my neck protector into for cooling. Along the way, I met a couple from Berchem (my hometown!) who were following the GR in the opposite direction. They still had a long stretch to go until Mons, fortunately packed with lighter backpacks.
There was also a very 'nettlesome' bit in the GR. At one point, I thought I was getting an anti-rheumatic 'nettle stroke', but the pain still seemed quite intense. A wasp had indeed on my calf installed.... A great opportunity to try out the efficiency of a roller stick with essential oils I had purchased after about 30 swollen bites on my Q from ants that had gained access to my tent at Ypres. The wasp bite did not swell, but I am left to guess whether this was thanks to the action of the roller stick.
Just before Solre-sur-Sambre I had to detour 2.5 km to the next bridge over the Sambre because the local lock bridge was repaired. In full sun and just as I had sucked the last gulp from my water bag.... By the time I reached the village centre, I was fairly overheated and thirsty. Café Clé de Sol had its weekly rest day, but I saw movement there. The sympathetic manager - whose first name I forgot to ask - poured me a chilled 2-litre bottle of flat water. Was that a relief!
My little tent is in the garden of Welcome to my Garden guest tonight Hélène. At the local grocery shop, there was hardly anything available for vegetarians. I bought a packet of oatmeal and a jar of macedoine with mayo and something fishy in it that didn't taste at all to me, but to have something in the body, I murmured it in anyway. I wrote this post on the way back from the local grocery shop, with my feet and calves in the cool waters of the Thure. Wonderfully refreshing, all the fatigue out of the legs!
Today I had a walking off-day. My backpack seemed much heavier than usual, although only one pack of oatmeal had been added. My legs felt like sawdust. Don't ask me why, I had rested well on Tuesday afternoon, had slept well at night and at 7 am it was not too hot. Maybe I was unwell from the dirty jar of macedoine the night before. Either there was too little oxygen in the air because of the persistent heat. My current hostess Sandrine said it had not rained yet, the rain storms had not passed here. Rain always brings a bit more oxygen into the air... Fortunately, I only had about 12 km to go today.
The middle 8 km of the course were red-hot: about a plateau with immeasurable cornfields. Once when there was a tree, I found it worth photographing, so rare were they. There was also completely no occupancy, just golden yellow fields intersected with wide gravel roads. Very nice, if only it hadn't been so hot there... The only thing I came across was a small chapel with a very nice weathered stone saint statue. The text was no longer legible, probably he is the patron of agriculture.
Saint statue in the middle of fields
After that shadow break it went a little better, and almost at the end of the long cornfield road were cows and I could soak my pet air conditioner in their drinking pool. A fresh neck already makes a big difference! So the last 4 km went a bit smoother.
In the large garden of Boris and Sandrine I stand at the back of a shady section of forest. For tonight, I'll have a pizza from the neighbouring Beaumont come, as my food supply has shrunk sharply again. Today, I did not come across any shops. There was one grocery shop, but I was way too early for that this morning. And waiting with the impending heat was not an option.
To 4 a.m. out of bed and on the road at 5:30: +22 km were on the menu and, although slightly less warm weather was predicted, I preferred some assured fresh morning hours to the less certain predicted drop in temperature. Right decision: until 10am the sun remained obscured by mist, but then the mercury rose arrow-sharp to 34° in the shade in the afternoon.
The backpack was back to its normal weight today and the sawdust was out of the legs. Whew, it was only one down day yesterday. The sunrise was special, occasionally the sun peeping through a crack in the cloud cover. I walked across a plateau and saw shadowy in the distance the village church steeples which I had yet to pass.
Two roe deer, several hares and a large cloud of starlings across the mown fields animated the morning silence. Unfortunately, too far away to photograph. I passed successively through the villages of Clermont, Castillon, and Fontenelle.
By 11:40 I was in Warcourt. I passed a Chinese restaurant that opened at noon and decided to wait to take a take-out vegetable dish for the evening. Something lighter and healthier than always having pizza....
The last 3km from the Chinese to Camping Le Cheslé passed through Rue du Calvaire, and a calvary it became: uphill over full-sun concrete. The street was full of Catholic memorials. First I passed Saint Materne Basilica, the oldest parts of which date from the late-12th century. It is a Marian pilgrimage site because the virgin once appeared in a tree there. This was followed by a cemetery with a threat to sinners that god would make their misdeeds paid for. As for me, the cemetery welcomed me. It brought me coolness because I could moisten my cap air conditioner at a tap there, making the calvary a little more bearable. This was followed by a little chapel and some crucifixes
By 2pm I arrived at Le Cheslé campsite, where I received a very warm welcome.
Sunrise at Gravelinne
Most important fact is that today I got the threshold of 500 km exceeded. 520 km to be precise. Just a little longer and I'll be about halfway there, although I can't estimate now how many more kilometres await me on those winding GR routes.
The first village I encountered on the way to Philippeville was Yves-Gomezée. As I walked out of the village, in a clearing in the forest I met two men who were sawing a thick beam in two. I told them what I was doing -Trekking around Belgium for the benefit of Street Nurses ASBL - and one of them said there were their village is also home to a homeless person ('lives' I can't write here....). His permanent place to stay and sleep is a bus shelter. He sits there eating regularly, with a big pot of mayonnaise in front of him into which he dips sausages and other junk food. Otherwise, he hangs around the village. The locals hardly have any contact with him, but he is tolerated. He appears to have an income because he buys everything he needs. So homelessness is not just a problem in big cities ... This should not be ... Let's take the strengthen organisations trying to take these people off the streets to get them return to a dignified life. This has to be done from us, because our numerous governments are not awake to homelessness.
The GR then snaked along a quiet gravel road through the fields, but car noise could always be heard because of the busy roads nearby. My onlookers were a grazing flight of geese and a tiny frog, barely bigger than a pebble. I got a trio of light rain showers over me in the morning.
Geese just before Philippeville
Sadly, the apples that hang from the 'pommiers' here in abundance are still too sour. And the poor pommiers throw off their still unripe fruit early due to the ongoing drought.... The wasps and ants are rubbing their feet, feasting. Well, heat, drought, climate change... We are still not sufficiently concerned about it. It's high time everyone fully realised that the apples that are up for grabs (i.e. 'buying') in large numbers in our supermarkets are growing on trees - or in today's apple orchards on slightly lower bushes - that need the right climatic conditions and nutrition to flourish, grow and produce fruit. If we just keep on 'Overconsuming' and depleting our planet, there will hardly be any apples to apples in the foreseeable future ...
I spent the night in the large garden of Karl in Sautour, right next to a beautiful pond. I can hear the ducks and geese scurrying and smacking around my tent. Hopefully my back will be better tomorrow after a night's rest. A new physical concern. Wear and tear is starting to set in.... ☹️
When I got up this morning I immediately felt the pain in my pelvis/lower back left had not yet disappeared. For the sponsor photo, I had to look for Karl, who was somewhere in the field with the animals. The painful gnawing feeling with every step was still there, even without a backpack.... So I decided to leave the GR, which again made a big circumscribing move, on the right and the take shorter cycle route of 13 km To Matagne-la-Petite.
The first village I passed was Villers en Fagne. It was extinct in its Saint-Marie way. In a private front garden was a veritable Marian grotto. During my lunch break on a tree stump in the forest, I forgot to take the daily 'rest photo'. So for a change, I took a selfie with the backpack on my back instead of under my derriere....
From Matagne-la-Grande I followed the Ravel to Matagne-la-Petite. The railway (<1864) was first used only for freight transport (limestone). When more factories came, it also carried passengers, mostly factory workers. In the 1970s, the railway was demolished and since 1996 it was repurposed as Ravel (road for slow travellers).
Tomorrow Sunday, I will allow my back a day of recuperation.
Treignes
The campsite manager had told me yesterday that I could buy edibles 'au petit magasin tout près'. Downhill and then right. Across the valley, a few hundred metres from the campsite, I did indeed see some houses to the right of the road. I on my sleds headed there hoping to get a piece of fruit. No petit magasin in sight. Some residents who were washing their cars informed me that le petit magasin was in Treignes, some 3 km away. So I slunk back to the campsite and in the evening ate a portion of chips because the camping tavern had nothing else for vegetarians. Not even a leaf of lettuce...
But hooray! Le petit magasin was located next to the restaurant where I had reserved a table at 6pm the following day on Sunday, because one fry on Saturday night would do. And the little shop would be on open Sunday until 18:30 be, some campers assured me. Perfect timing to make my purchases just before dinner and have a regal breakfast tomorrow morning.
The thunderstorm had passed, so by 5 p.m. I set off for Treignes in good spirits, the net bag in the pocket and this time a bit more solidly shod. Le petit magasin, an AD Delhaize! Three cheers, they have some! The following picture tells the rest of the story. The closes at 5pm on Sunday. Knock again chin....
I was then going to have a dessert with fruit at Montjoie restaurant, but all their fruit was out.... Busy Sainte-Marie weekend behind us. Fortunately, I was able to eat a fresh salad there. Six kilometres for a salad. And oatmeal with water tomorrow morning.... But the landscapes make up for everything.
Because the shop was closed, I was able to briefly visit the Musée des sabots (Ecomusée du Viroin) jumping in. There were fantastically fashionable clogs on display!
Tomorrow I have to go back into France to a campsite, because the Welcome To My Garden garden I contacted on the Belgian side of the border did not respond. But now I did call the French campsite manager first to ask if I was welcome.....
Ecomusée de Viroin
16 September: Opening the door at Diamondway Buddhist Centre in Tallinn The centre's meditation sessions are open
