Eva on the Via Francigena (and beyond)

Song of the Day: On the Road Again — Willie Nelson

“On the road again, going places that I’ve never been / Seein’ things thatI may never see again / And I can’t wait to get on the road again”

An obvious, yet fitting, song for my first day back on the road after two rest days. I was very excited about today as I knew we would be walking across the Montaigne de Reims, the famous champagne region. And while it was a spectacular day, I do hope to return…so I hope these weren’t things that I may never see again.

I was up early, had a quick yogurt in my Airbnb and was packed and out the door by 6:30 to meet Giulia at the church. She texted me to let me know she was running late, so I tried to swing by a boulangerie which ended up being closed. Oh well.

A bit before 7 Giulia arrived and we were off, for a long morning of urban walking. Last night we agreed to deviate from the official VF path, which walks along the canal, in favor of a more direct route through Reims and its suburbs. After some difficulty finding the right street and avoiding the Autoroute, we were on our way. We spent the morning chatting about her time in Scouts as a member and then leader, and my outdoor experiences at summer camp. After about an hour, as we passed through the suburban village of Cormontreuil, we saw the unthinkable: an open cafe. We stopped for Giulia to grab a coffee, and the owner very kindly gave us cold glasses of water as well. At this point the weather was still nice, but the sun was out in full force and it would only get hotter.

We walked another few miles, passing an adorably fluffy dog who was very excited to see us, before stopping for a snack in Puisieulx (truly, I can’t even begin to guess how this is supposed to be pronounced). To my delight, outside the Mairie the town had a working baguette vending machine, which I had seen but never used before. I was thrilled to put in my coins, and out popped a baguette! It wasn’t in a bag or anything, just deposited on its own outside of the slot — it’s hard to describe, but honestly the whole thing was quite comical. Unfortunately, while my feet were doing okay, I seemed to have passed on my bad luck to Giulia, who realized she had a large blister on her heel. She opted to break it and cover it with medical tape, and seemed to be doing okay once we got moving again.

Shortly out of Puisieulx, we could see the Montaigne de Reims rising before us, blanketed in gorgeous green rows of vines. At this point it was already hot, and there was no shade at all to be found. But the excitement of finally walking amongst these famous vines propelled me forward and up the hill. Each plot or row would have a marker denoting its ownership, and we passed many famous names — Ruinart, Louis Roederer, Moët & Chandon, Ballinger, Mumm. I thought it was just fantastic to be able to see the vines in person, and I speculated that the land we were walking on must be among the more expensive areas in France. Eventually we crested the hill at Verzenay, with a spectacular view of G.H. Mumm’s windmill looking out back toward Reims. We were both dripping in sweat at this point and I could tell the heat was starting to get to me. We decided that we would once again leave the VF trail (very unfortunately missing Verzy, which I would like to come back to) and cut through the Verzy forest instead.

This was a decent plan, but relied on Maps.Me accurately charting the paths within the Verzy forest. And while the app has generally been good so far, it seemed to struggle sometimes today, suggesting we take turns where paths didn’t exist. Even so, we managed to navigate our way to a picnic table where we stopped for lunch. Once we put our packs down and assembled our food, we took a second to look around and realized that we were sitting in the middle of an adventure park — overhead were zip lines and ropes courses! Luckily they didn’t seem to be operating quite yet, so we had a leisurely lunch and prepared for what should have been another hour and a half of walking, but ended up being closer to 2.

I was really hot, and grateful to be in the cool forest. My shirt was completely drenched from the pack, and I had worked my way through much of the 3.5L of water I had with me. I am very susceptible to the heat — I’ve had to go to the hospital before due to heat stroke — so I was trying to be careful and monitor how I felt. I figured with only 1.5 hours to go, mostly in the forest, I would be alright.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, most of the time in the forest was on wide, paved paths that by mid-day had limited protection from the sun. While this was good news in terms of tick prevention, something I do worry about in the woods, it was not great for morale for either of us. I was walking ahead, trying to speed from patch of shade to patch of shade, while Giulia had slowed down due to her blister. At a certain point, the map wanted us to turn off onto a trail that we couldn’t find. After a bit of searching we realized it was referring to an overgrown trail through tall grass — nervous about ticks and also that the path would eventually be fully overgrown, I suggested we stick to the paved path, adding another 10 minutes or so to the journey. However, we eventually plunged back into the forest on a smaller trail, passing outdoor exercise equipment which French towns seem to love to put in the forest (Fontainebleau has the same). Eventually we stepped back out into daylight and were once again met with the vines of champagne: the southern side of the Montaigne laid out before us, the different plots of vines covering the hill like a patchwork quilt, and the town of Trepail just below. After stopping for a few photos of the vista we headed down to the gite where we are staying tonight.

I am very thankful to have Giulia with me. Madame Jacqueminet is very lovely, but speaks no English at all, and so she was happy to chat with Giulia who would translate for me. I would have felt bad only being able to communicate my basic needs to her. After a shower and laundry, I realized I was quite unwell. Thankfully I didn’t have heat stroke, but I was definitely sick from the last few hours of walking in the sun — even after chugging a liter of electrolyte water, and continuing to try to cool myself off.

I realized at this point a few things: first, I would need to leave much earlier tomorrow, as I had another relatively long day, and I realized it was not good for my health to still be walking after noon. Second, after a bit more research I realized my initial plan for the following day would be difficult: I had planned to take the train from Chalons-en-Champagne to Vitry-le-Francois, and walk from there to Outines. However, the heat wave is supposed to worsen over the next few days, and the earliest train would get in at 7:30. That would be fine in normal weather, but starting a 16 mile walk at 7:30 (even later than today!) seemed like a recipe to make myself really ill. Unfortunately, I think this will mean I need to cancel Outines (disappointing, as I had emailed asking about pilgrim accomodation and the very kind mayor had responded about the pilgrim gite) and Brienne-le-Chateau after as well. I already have accomodation booked in Bar-sur-Aube, so I think I will instead need to walk from Chalons-en-Champagne to Vitry, and then train from there to Bar-sur-Aube. Am I frustrated about having to skip so much, and have a day fully on the train rather than combining with walking? Yes, absolutely. However, given my previous experiences with heatstroke, and how poor I still feel today, it’s not worth risking needing to go to the doctor (or hospital, as has happened before) by pushing myself too hard in a heat wave.

Coincidentally, I heard from Krista today, who is back on the path in Vitry — she was able to provide helpful advice on two B&Bs to stay in following Chalons-en-Champagne. Unfortunately it sounds like I am going to end up leapfrogging her with my new plan, but I’m grateful to have another friend on the path, at least in the same area!

Giulia and I dined with Mme. Jacqueminet, who cooked us an omelette and mashed potatoes, served with a bottle of her son’s champagne. An unlikely pairing, yes, but all of it was delicious. We chatted (with Giulia translating) for awhile about champagne and Trepail. Apparently Trepail is almost (or entirely) Chardonnay and Pinot Noir — no Meunier. And when I asked her her thoughts on the trend towards Extra Brut / pas dosee champagne, she pulled a face. While I personally do like Extra Brut, I understand her argument (as with other traditional vignerons, I would imagine) that the dosage is needed to balance the wine. After an hour or so of chatting, Giulia and I excused ourselves to head to bed — after all, tomorrow will be a very early morning.

Final mileage: 15.49mi
Walking time: 6h 57m
Elevation gain: 294ft

Accommodation: We are staying in the pilgrim gite at Madame Jacqueminet’s home in Trepail. Giulia and I have a shared room upstairs. Mme. Jacqueminet is very lovely (I wish I could speak to her directly without a translator!), as is her son, who ran to the pharmacy to get things for Giulia’s blisters.