To Salvagny

A very short walk today. We had a (planned) late start to allow Judith to check her class’s A level results and send some related emails. All seems to have gone quite well.

After buying some food we set off along the river on an attractive path, through meadow and forest, which offered some welcome shade after our late start.  

Our route also took us through a dramatic gorge- Gorges des Tines, which was ascended with the help of some ladders, which were at a nicely civilised angle. At one stage we met a Dutch couple, who announced that they had tried to go the way we were going, but had had to turn back because you needed a rope. We continued anyway, with a little more nervousness than previously, but although a little care was required in places, you certainly didn’t need a rope. Either they had gone the wrong way or they were very cautious- it is very flat in Holland after all. 

The Gite d’etape at Salvagny is just a little off route. Even with our late start we arrived way too early for its 5pm opening time, so we wandered down into the next village, Sixt-Fer-a- Chevel and had a drink and went in search of a ‘nice shady glade’. There was a danger that we were going to end up walking as far again, so after lowering our expections slightly we found a perfectly adequate shady spot and it is there that I write this.

We haven’t seen any other long distance walkers today, which is a shame because we were beginning to suspect a ‘distance paradox’. A few days ago we met two separate individuals doing the GR5 but they were both going much further than us that day. We then met them individually every subsequent day, until today. Each time they were going much further than us, and yet, sure enough, we would meet them again the next day. Hare and tortoise, but I think the hares are finally ahead.

A lot of uphill tomorrow.

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