Aosta to Nus, 16.38km Ok, so you can’t have everything! The temperature dropped and the rain fell on us for most of the walk today. Clouds obscured the snowy peaks of the mighty Alps surrounding the Aosta valley. BUT, we saw Roman bridges, castles and spectacular scenery (even through the mist)! We’re happy. The walk was ...

We left Saint-Quentin early on Thursday arriving at Paris Gare du Nord in time to take the metro to Paris Gare du Lyon, have an espresso and share a pain-au-raisin and catch the train to Geneva. A direct train to Turin left just before us, but was fully booked. In any case, we had time ...

Saint-Quentin We had a day off in Saint-Quentin today for two reasons. One, it looked like an interesting city to explore (it is), and, two, we needed to plan a change in our itinerary. Our original plan had been to walk the first half of the Via Francigena, from Canterbury to the St. Bernard Pass, as spring ...

Trefcon to Saint-Quentin 17.3km Our breakfast at the gîte in Trefcon was basic: bread and jam and hot chocolate. Chatting with the owner, we learned that Picard is a language on its own (i.e., has a grammar) while Ch’ti is a dialect. While it didn’t rain today, the weather remains grey and cool and the walk was ...

Péronne to Trefcon 18.58km Walking around last evening while waiting for a restaurant to open, we came first upon the 17thC Porte de Bretagne in the old city wall (reconstructed after WWI) and then by a WWI memorial with a dramatic sculpture by Paul Auban, « Picardie maudissant la mort” (Picardy cursing death). Picardy, part of Hauts-de-France, ...

Bapaume to Péronne 24.7km (13.2 walking) We awoke to a cloudless sky, which encouraged Lois (but not Paul – he looks at weather systems), suggesting that the forecast for rain all day beginning at 9:00 might be wrong. But, no, by the time we’d eaten breakfast, the skies were grey once again and the walk was ...

Arras to Bapaume 26.8km (16.6km walking) Back on the road again! But, not before stopping at Notting Hill for a departing « noisette » (espresso macchiato) and a hot chocolate for our thermos. On his early morning trip to the boulangerie to buy breakfast croisants, Paul had also picked up a still hot almond croissant and cheese baguettes ...

Waiting for the bus to Boulogne (from where we could catch a train to Arras), we looked across at the Eglise de Notre Dame de Licques, which is all that remains of an abbey, founded in 1075. The abbey and town suffered attacks from the English and Spanish in the 14thC, and the abbey was ...

Gûines to Licques 15.36kms After a huge breakfast at our BnB of local cheeses, fresh bread, pastries, thick yoghurt, juice, fresh fruit and good espresso, we packed leftovers for lunch and set off along GR 145/VF for Licques, soon entering the Forêt Domaniale de Guînes, where we passed the monument commemorating the first crossing of the ...

Wissant to Guînes (not on foot) Thankfully, a couple of days of rest have done the trick and Lois is feeling much better. Deciding that one more day without walking would probably still be wise, we decided to travel to our next stop, Guînes, by taxi (no trains and no buses without going back to Calais). We ...