Vandieres to Epinal

Friday 25 May - Vandieres 32 km

Saturday 26 May - Dieulouard 20km



Sunday 27 May - Neuves Maison 32 km + 10 lost in the ulu.;;;

Monday 28 May - Neuves Maison

Tuesday 29 May - Charmes Little time or opportunity to update this so will post outline and maybe fill in later. Meeting up with Lois and Xavier on Paris on Friday to which I am much looking forward. Overnighting at Charmes, still on the Moselle.

Wednesday 30 May - 27° sunny 28km

Walked up the canal path to Epinal. I was passed by a Swiss couple in a little canal boat. I would have accepted a lift but all I got was a wave. I caught up with them at the next lock. Many locks on this stretch. For a long time I was accompanied by a large brown falcon which hunted up and down the banks, occasionally swooping down to grab something from the canal. Two hours into the walk I received a call of nature that could not be ignored. What to do? The canal was on one side, a very steep wooded bank overgrown with thorns and nettles on the other. Eventually I had no choice but to clamber down the bank to do my business, miraculously avoiding serious damage from the thorns and nettles.

An hour later I reached Thaon-sur-Moselle and had a couple of beers for lunch. When I got back to the towpath, there were the Swiss couple waiting for the basin to fill up. I was glad I hadn't been offered a lift. My natural sense of decorum prevented me from calling " I'm still in front, even after two beers in Thaon and a shit in the woods."

On the outskirts of Epinal the towpath changed into a walk through woods. Where was the canal? I was heading in the right direction (south). Eventually I spotted water through the trees and walked down to the canal. Canal? There was a sign "C'etang n'est pas un poubelle." (This pond is not a waste bin.) Lost the canal. But all came good very soon and I found myself being escorted in the right direction by a friendly local who showed great interest in my travels and gave me a shake of the hand before saying goodbye. By five I was installed in the Hotel Basilica.