Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So I'm walking to Istanbul . . .
Seen as I had miraculously made it to Paris earlier this week I decided to treat myself to a break. I don't think it's important that "Le Paris" was actually just a small farm on the way to the town of Vitré, some 300km away from it's considerably larger namesake. But this will probably be the nearest I get to Paris as with Dave now back in 'Blighty', it seemed a bit of an unnessecary diversion to head so far north, so Paris is off the schedule.
Instead I hatched a plan to head east towards Orléans before picking up the river Loire to follow its' valley southeast. So i left the desserted Rennes industrial estate ( in the same manner as usual; u-turns, frustrated rotations of the map and general urban confusion) on Sunday and for the first time, on my own.
When I finally refound the comfort of the countryside I looked left to where the sun casts my shadow to see just the 1 silhouette. It was a strange sight, as I was so used to seeing the other hunched shadow of Dave, with the strange ostrich neck of his walking stick poking over the top of his bag, plodding along next to mine. But now there was just 1 shadow. After a long days plod I made it to Louvigné de Bais, where with a bit more confusion and the loan of an elderley couples telephone I found another couch surf for the night.
The next day i was off to Vitré which was a really pleasant surprise of a town with a huge Chateau and old walled town. Less pleasant was the return of my feet pain. By now I was struggling with persistant blisters and cramp and numbness in my toes and pads on my feet. The next day, on what turned into a hobble towards Laval, I made the decision to take a few days break, recover my feet and bite the bullet of looking for new shoes.
There was no way i could make the whole 39km to Laval in one day, so at Port Brillet I limped onto the train and made my way to a couch surf host in the city. And I've been here for 3 days! My host Orlando and his friend Julio are friends from Peru and are both great fun and brilliant hosts. In return for introducing me to Peruvian dishes like Ceviche (fish marinaded in lemon, chilli and onions) and Anticucho (beef heart in spices) I've been knocking up bangers and mash and fish pie! It's been a perfect way to relax a bit and get used to the next part of the trip and being on my own.
So with my blisters drying out thanks to the 'needle and thread' method (where you sew some thread through the blister and leave it there to dry it out - bit grim but effective), plenty of food and beer on board, and some new shoes; I'm planning to head back to Port Brillet at the weekend and pick up where I left off. Allez!
- comments
Hels Nic, your feet woes make me wince! Really hope the new shoes help a lot, plus a bit of Peruvian R&R. Looks like it's turning into a real adventure now, look forward to hearing more as you plunge into the Euro-wildnerness.....xxxx