Eva on the Via Francigena (and beyond)

Song of the day: Solsbury Hill — Peter Gabriel

“So I went from day to day / Though my life was in a rut / ‘Til I thought of what I’d say / Which connection I should cut / I was feeling part of the scenery / I walked right out of the machinery / My heart going ‘boom, boom, boom’ / ‘Hey,’ he said / ‘Grab your things I’ve come to take you home’”

I remember hearing this song on the radio in my Mom’s car in Bethesda, in maybe 2020 or 2021. I’d heard it before, but for whatever reason, this time I listened to it and pictured walking through rolling green fields. I added it to my “walking” playlist, and felt it matched my experience of this day very well.

Today was certainly an improvement over Day 1. The day was sunny and windy — sometimes chilly, but thankfully no rain. I had a quick breakfast at Susanna’s and was on the road by 7:45, stopping quickly to grab some bananas for the road. I once again climbed Sheperdswell’s Church Hill, passed St. Andrew’s church and rejoined the North Downs Way for my final day in England.

England has laws protecting the ‘right to roam,’ which allow walkers to cross private property like farms. As far as I know, this does not exist in the US, and I was interested to see that much of today’s walked crossed private property. The first two hours involved traversing fields of long grass and sometimes thistle; despite the sunshine I put on my rain pants to protect my legs from ticks and scratches. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the views of rolling hills in the early morning sun.

Partway along an uphill slog across a very muddy, recently tilled field, I started to feel a nagging pain in my heel. Once I reached the grass I adjusted my sock and retied my shoe, which seemed to resolve the issue for the time being. Unfortunately, this was only the beginning of my blister trouble.

Finally escaping the mud, the path then crossed the grounds of the Waldershare estate, including its imposing house, which apparently sold last year for 11.2 million pounds. I’m no expert in high-end real estate, but certainly compared to the Boston housing market that sounds like a good deal. Apparently there is also a view to something called the Belvedere tower, but despite searching I did not see any tower.

In addition to more rolling fields, today also included more forested sections. Emerging out of one such section, I was surprised to come upon the yard of the All Saints Church in Waldershare. The church is no longer in use, but is open for visitors and has a place to stamp your pilgrim credentials. The churchyard was a lovely and peaceful place, and I decided to rest there for a few minutes. It was remarkable seeing some of the older graves, now standing akimbo after over a century. Coming from a relatively young country, despite my time living in extremely old cities in Europe, I still am sometimes astounded by villages with such clear ties to the past. In a similar vein, I was taken aback by the ornate (and massive) tomb for a nobleman that sat inside the church — see below for the inscription.

After Waldershare, I gave Nathan a call to say hello, during which I crossed into a field of cows. I must have been distracted on the phone, because I managed to miss the turn-off for the VF / North Downs Way, and continued in the wrong field until I reached the end of the path. I was faced with what I initially thought was a gate, though I did not see a way to open it. Unwilling to turn back and retrace my steps, I ended up crawling under the barbed wire, only for Nathan to say “you know, most of the time those things will have a latch” and, Lo and behold, upon further inspection there was indeed a latch. Luckily, only the cows (and Nathan) witnessed my ignorance.

After the barbed wire incident, I cut through another field before rejoining the ”Roman Road.” I have to say, despite the fact that I was still living in Rome a week ago, Rome feels incredibly — impossibly — far away. The road was a reminder not only of the distance pilgrims have traveled for centuries (and how daunting this must have been in the ages before cars, trains, and planes), but also of the massive reach of the Roman Empire.

Around this time, I was really beginning to regret not doing more for my heel earlier in the day. I had certainly developed a blister on the back of my right heel, and had a feeling that the ‘hot spot’ I was feeling on my left sole had also turned into a blister. Stupidly (in retrospect), I wanted to push on to reach Dover rather than resting. However, after another 40 minutes or so (at which point I was only about 20 minutes from Dover) I determined that I needed to do something, so took a much-needed break on an empty soccer field (sorry, football pitch) to take off my shoes, shed my pack, and tend to my aches and pains.

Feeling a bit more human, I set off for the last bit into Dover, rejoining the North Downs Way (which I had accidentally parted from in favor of a shorter route recommended by Maps.Me) for one final up-and-down before officially arriving into town, where I was promptly told that the only open pharmacy did not stock the medication I needed, thus rendering my hours in the Canterbury Hospital a waste. With nothing to be done, I trekked (limped, really) the 20 minutes to the West Bank Guest House to drop my pack before heading back into town for lunch until my 3pm check-in. Interestingly, I found that Dover reminds me a bit of Allentown, Pennsylvania, where I have family.

I found a greasy spoon called Chaplin’s in town and had another fry up: two sausages, an egg, and chips, followed by tea and a slice of apple pie. It was exactly what I needed, and reminded me enough of a proper American diner (not the 1950s themed atrocities you’ll see abroad and in the US). I love diner food (and diner prices) and it’s one of the things I missed most while living in Italy.

Back in my room, I hung up my clothes to dry (my pants and socks had still not dried from the night before) and, stupidly, thought I’d better wash the socks I wore today — of course, they will probably also take 24 hours to dry at this rate. I headed back into town for an obscenely early dinner — my excuse is that I am still really on CEST — of chicken fried rice from a Chinese takeaway, which I ate at the seaside with views of the famous White Cliffs. Can’t get much better than that.

Tomorrow, an early taxi to the ferry terminal and then off to France! I have another 13 miles or so of walking to get to my first night accommodation — not likely to be easy given the state of my blisters, and I’ll need to hit up a French pharmacy en route. All part of the pilgrim life, though. I’m excited for country number 2!

Final mileage: 9.91 mi
Walking time: 3h 26m
Elevation gain: 751 ft

Accommodation: West Bank Guest House. Reasonably priced (45 pounds for a room with a twin bed and an external bathroom). About a 20 minute walk to town (or 5 minutes on the bus), and further from the port — I ended up opting to schedule a taxi for the morning.