Today is our sixteenth day of walking. We covered 13 miles and climbed 1,800′. The trip totals are: 216 miles and 27,600′ .
Today was mostly an up and down day, though not nearly as severe as yesterday! The grades were not as steep and the surfaces, generally very good. And the views? Wonderful!
Weather: We started this journey in late August, with daytime highs around 90⁰ F. The morning lows were around 70⁰. The last few days, the morning lows are in the high 40⁰’s, and we’re starting the mornings with sweaters or wind breakers. Tomorrow, it will likely rain most of the day, with a high in the mid-60’s. Fall is falling!
Signs: At Montfauçon, our departure town, there was a sign showing the whole of the Geneva to Le Puy route. I added a “start” point (green line), an “end” point (red line) and a BLUE “you are here arrow. Kind of cool to see the progress!
A little further along, another sign told us how far to Santiago (in case we decided to keep going! ).
Okay, and another sign helped us figure where to go! First, some background: We were following a small dirt trail that bordered woods on one side and a field on another. We approached the back of a farm house. Once at that farm house, we walked (basically) on that home’s driveway, around to the front yard. As we cleared the front yard, we found ourselves in the middle of a small village, at an intersection, with 5+ possible options! Which is the right one?
We kept looking for the small “scallop shell” sign that would indicate the correct path. Diane finally spotted it! It was right below the HUGE sign saying “Chemin de Pelerins”! (The Pilgrim’s Path)! Duh!
Mushrooms: Hunting mushrooms is a very popular pastime in these areas. On several occasions, we’ve seen couples out searching. Our proprietress from Les Herbs Sauvage actually made a dish of wild mushrooms for us that night.
Today, we saw possibly the biggest one we’ve ever seen! Bill’s foot is in the photo to show a size perspective!
As the French would say, TTFN! (Ta Ta For Now!)
I’ve gotten behind on making comments to your posts! You are getting close to the end of your journey! I’m sure you have mixed emotions about that. This is a short walk for you to. Those mushrooms look huge. Thank you for all the awesome pictures! I can only begin to imagine how beautiful it is in real life. Love you both!