September 20. Epernay to Montmort-Lucy. 19.75 km.

1 loose excited happy dog, 1 quiet dog, 3 barkers.

Quote of the day from Ken to me:  You are indefatigable. Too bad you are also a little fatigable, as he patted my stomach.

You can visit Ken in the village cemetiere.

These people are obviously very worried about their security, given their locked door and gate. Too bad they forgot the fence part.

Given that we were on the north end of Epernay (to be close to the train station), and that we hate walking city streets, and our day would have been over 30 km, we decided to taxi to where we would re-connect with the Via. We were ecstatic to see that the church where we were getting dropped off was near the top of a steep hill, although there is ALWAYS more hill!

The ancient door handle on the church (Eglise St Martin de Chavon) was in the shape of the Camino shell.

Came upon this wooden bench with a view, and someone hung an empty picture frame at the viewpoint.

Not sure what this little grotto was for. There is a small room off to one side filled with a pile of branches. There was also a niche with a candle and a figure, which I assumed would the Virgin Mary as I climbed down to the grotto.  But…I am pretty sure she did not look like that!

This boy was soooo excited to see us, racing back and forth barking. We chatted with his owner for a bit. I forgot to ask the dog’s name.

In just over 2 km we hit this small park at the edge of the hill. It was so lovely we spent about sn hour there even though we’d only been walking for a short time.

It even flushed!

Stealth cat…

Friendly cat…

Peter misses his two black kitties.

We’re thankful for the Camino app GPS tracks and data on our phones.

Very furry and about 3 inches long.

After the most beautiful walking on the crest of the vineyards, we hit some of the worst trail in all of our walks over the years. It was completely rutted and dug up, difficult when just walking but I have to give Ken credit for getting the trolley through.   It was at least two hours or more of grueling track. We weren’t sure if it was mechanical or the wild boars rooting around, although we think boars based on the randomness of the ruts.  But we were sure we were exhausted by the time we hit road.

There were piles of corn on the track.  Since there’s no corn fields around, we can only assume it was deliberately placed there. Kindness? Or more nefarious deer or boar baiting?

So tired and sadly out of water. Not good.

The Bugsnax came out to play.

Does Scott even notice Strawbie is on his head?

We came upon this huge granite bench on the trail beside a lake and couldn’t figure out why it was there. Then I noticed a similar slab tucked away in the bush.  That one was a family grave stone. I’ll have to research it.

Le barky chien behind a fence.

I could have this house.

In 2022, after I hurt my foot and our walk ended, we rented a car. I remember Ken coming down a hill with a turn at the bottom  and snapping a quick photo of a huge chateau with two massive lions guarding the gate. Very cool to see it again. The photos don’t show just how tall it is

Apparently a castle has been on this site from the 11th century, this building is from the 16th.  The Germany army headquarters were here during WW1 during the First Battle of the Marne (note the Germans retreated).

Liberation 1944. The wars are still very fresh and very real here.

Waiting for Peter. We had to climb a horrendously long and steep hill at the end of a very tiring day, only to find the only place to get food was closed. Then we had to go back down the hill for 1.5 km and up again to our Chambres d’hote. Heavy sigh. Massive crankiness ensued. Did I mention the horrendous hill? If we’d known the restaurant was closed (google said it was open and so did their website) we could have stayed on the flats and avoided the nasty hill. Did I mention the horrendous hill?

We are at a great Chambres d’Hôtes (like a B&B).  And yay. The restaurant opened at 600 pm and they deliver (our hostess phoned the order in for us). No need to send Scott, I mean, politely and respectfully ask Scott to go back up the mountain for food, glorious food (there was no place for food or water all day).  There is always potable water in the cemeteries but we didn’t see one of them either. At least we now have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Another random thought from the other day. This is an interactive game where you are asked a skill testing question.

We walked through a lot of mature oak forests and the acorns were falling like rain. Imagine my secret wish coming true when an acorn bounced off Ken’s head (hee hee 🤣).  But don’t worry. I am not completely callous. I was very sympathetic…to the 🌰.   The skill testing question – sympathetic to which nut???