We left our farm gite, tiptoeing past the sleeping goats, and loved the fact that it was a downhill start. Not that it lasted but you learn to appreciate the small things.
And just as awesome (not!) is listening to the two little boys squabbling over who knows what.
“Mom, Ken called me a…”
“Terry, Scott said I was a…”
I choose to ignore them.
This guy was at least 3 inches across. Ken took him outside to live in the garden where spiders belong. Glad it didn’t walk across my pillow.
I love these girls, although I still don’t know what happened to the rest of their legs.
Ancient flail. They were used to beat the grain to remove the husks. You can watch on YouTube – tremendously labour intensive.
Scott tried picking fruit from the pear tree (permission granted by owner) on the walk down the drive.
Ken tried to repeat his thrill of throwing rotten apples at me on the 2019 Camino by tossing rotten pears at me today. Sure, Ken. That’s the way to get a girl’s attention. (The pear is the yellow ball hanging on the road)
These old lavoirs (community wash houses) are scattered through France. Some are a few hundred years old this one is only from 1900. Aptly named St. Therese.
First friendly kitty
Photos never do justice to the steepness of the hill.
Another lavoir this time decorated for…not sure what.
At this point, Ken started running away in the opposite direction. I had to explain to a confused Scott that this was normal behavior for Ken. He smells coffee or sees a cafe sign and rushes towards it, forgetting that he’s with other people. Gotta. Have.My.Coffee.
But we found these kitty cookies at the tiny store beside the cafe.
Do not collect the mushrooms!
Picnic time! No mushrooms were picked in the making of this photo.
There were fish actually jumping out of the water in this pond. But oddly, there were no ducks.
Look at the size of this thing!
Ken hates pretentiousness…so he put on his best hillbilly hat while sitting on the sign for the Royal Champagne Hotel and Spa. I am so…um…proud?
What a view!
Another ancient find, made by a blacksmith. Any ideas?
29 degrees today. We are all a little sunburned. This small tabak/cafe was a welcome spot for a cold drink although, really, I was just trying to photograph the VW van.
Scott said he would buy Ken the baby chainsaw. It even makes realistic noises.
That is one heckuva big plane tree.
The Marne. So many battles.
Take a 30 minute train ride back-to-back Reims to pick up Peter. Taxi was 15 minutes late but he still made it on time. But the lady taxi driver didn’t charge him. It was only 1.6 km. Peter had to bring Rawley the Trawley, as we had left him with Peter to save Ken pushing it over the mountain.
Such a warm welcome to the hotel. Wierd people hanging out the windows. Maybe we should go to a different hotel.
That dent in the van is a painting, not an actual dent.
Walking man.
Gourmet French cuisine!
I forgot to add this picture yesterday. Me at the “Flagpole of Doom”, where I took my tumble (I blame Ken) which ended our 2022 journey a tad early.
Quote of the day: I can’t see the view, Ken, through the red mist of rage. This was a reaction to Ken’s response to Scott when Scott asked if Ken thought I would be an evil mother-in-law.
And last, I had left a small dream catcher gift at the hotel for Lisa, who had been so helpful when I hurt my leg. She is still working at the hotel but wasn’t on shift when we were there but was for Peter’s last day. She gifted us this specialty of Reims, which I really wanted to try but didn’t want to carry. Rose meringue cookies. Oh well. Unfortunately you can’t really see the delicate pink colour in the photo. Thanks, Lisa!!!
VF Britannica Via Campaniensis Voie de Vezelay 2025 