La marche aiguise la conscience du nombre de vies possibles, de l’infinité des chemins et des expériences que nous aimerions vivre. La lenteur est une clé pour comprendre combien le monde est vaste et inépuisable notre curiosité.
-David le Breton, Marcher la vie : Un art tranquille du bonheur (2020)
If only every day on the road could be like this one! A leisurely breakfast, a slow start, a walk of less than 12 kilometres through pretty countryside and an enchanting village, checking into our hotel in time for lunch with a glass of wine and an afternoon nap! I could definitely get used to this kind of walking!
When approaching a larger, more interesting town on my walking route, I like to stop overnight about a dozen kilometres before the place, so that I have only three hours to walk in the morning, leaving plenty of time and energy to visit the town. This is what I consider a rest day, rather than stopping two nights in the same place. On this walk, I have done this in Laon, Reims, and now, Champlitte.
Having plenty of time and not very far to walk, we followed the "official" GR145 route to Champlitte rather than taking a shortcut along the road. The path took us out of Leffonds along a street that was undergoing some construction work, and then out into the fields. After a short time we passed by the entrance to an old mill, where the waterwheel was turning. When we stopped to watch it, a big Saint Bernard dog came out of the gateway, barking at us. But we could see that she was friendly and were not worried. Her owner came over to see what the dog, charmingly named Croquette (as if a dog were named "Kibble" in English), was barking at, and invited us into the property to take a look around. We were introduced to his wife, who was busy potting flowers to put on top of the well. They told us they had bought the 17th-century flour mill more than 30 years ago, when it was just a ruin, and gradually fixed it up as their holiday home.
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After this pleasant encounter, we continued on to the next village, Montarlot, where we were treated to the unusual sight of a river in bloom! The Salon, which looks like another
chalk stream, is full of green plants, currently dotted with little white flowers. All spanned by an old stone bridge with an iron cross on it; as pretty a scene as one could hope to meet with on any walk!
We crossed the river and followed a gravel road through the fields to join the highway into the town of Champlitte.
You can tell that the town is home to the French headquarters of the European Association of the Vie Francigene: their yellow pilgrim symbol is everywhere! In the evening I met up for dinner with Jacques, the Association representative in France, whom I had walked with in Puglia, on the last part of the Via Francigena of the South during Road to Rome 2021.
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| The Château, now a museum |
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| View of the town square, from our bathroom window! |
Today's accommodations: Hotel Donjon
Leffond - Champlitte 11.5 km
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