Eva on the Via Francigena (and beyond)

Song of the Day: Holocene — Bon Iver

“And at once I knew, I was not magnificent…I can can see for miles, miles, miles, and miles…”

I love this song for the opening bars and the slow build of the melody. It’s a song that I find extremely peaceful and have listened to many times on early-morning hikes — most notably on some sunrise hikes I did on my own in Piemonte when I visited in November of last year.

Oh boy. Today was a big one — the longest I’ve walked so far. It was supposed to be 25 miles, though through some shortcuts along roads I was able to somehow shave off 2.5 miles. Still, 22.5 miles is a LOT, certainly more than I’ve walked at once before.

I didn’t feel well this morning when I woke up — I had trouble falling asleep — so I let myself sleep in rather than getting the early start I had planned. I got up at 6:15 and finished packing (luckily, I had made good progress las night), and forced myself to eat a yogurt for breakfast. I know the protein is important, and I actually do like yogurt sometimes, but given the early hour I found it kind of nauseating. Anyway, I finished my breakfast, said a very fond goodbye to the Airbnb — by far the nicest place I’ve stayed so far, especially given the washer/dryer — and headed out in the early morning light.

I cut across Langres’ main town to the eastern ramparts, where I could see the pink and purple ribbons of light spread out above the plain below. I stopped for a bit to admire (and put on Bon Iver, for the first of many times today), and then continued on my way. In the end it was a long walk out of Langres’s industrial suburbs, first on a sidewalk and then on the side of a D-road. The grass was heavy and wet from the morning dew, and soon my feet were soaked from slogging along next to the road — not a great omen as I had 7 hours of walking left. But even so it was a nice walk — the sun was hanging low and blazing red through the mist, as it had the night before at sunset. It was really beautiful and helped take my mind off my wet feet.

Finally I was able to turn off the busier road onto a smaller D-road, which wound its way through trees and fields towards Cohons. The sun was up but still not too strong, and it caught the dew in the grass in a beautiful way. Just outside of Cohons, Maps.Me wanted me to cut through the town’s manicured gardens — these were unfortunately closed so I took a detour on a forest path, re-emerging on the outskirts with a view of the village. It was a lovely town perched on a hill amongst the tress — it seemed like it would have been a lovely place to stay, but I had miles to go before I sleep…

So, onward and upward (literally) towards the next town, Heuilly-Cotton. Climbing up a farm track, a horse came to investigate. As I walked along the ridge of a hill, a group of cows did the same. It was like a game of “red light, green light”: as I walked, the cows would cautiously jog toward me. If I stopped to look at them they would freeze. We ended up in a bit of a standoff before I decided to continue, the cows jogging alongside me. After a quick descent I was in the charming village of Heuilly-Cotton, where I decided to take a break to try and dry off my feet. I found a bus stop and spread out: boots and socks off, laid in the sun to dry; snacks out of the pack; towel shoved inside my boots to try and absorb the extra moisture. I was about 7 miles in and had about 17 to go…in no real rush, I sat for a long time, relaxing.

Eventually it was time to continue, so I packed up and headed out on a very quiet D-road (so quiet I eventually forgot it wasn’t a trail). This was a shortcut that got me to Saint-Broingt-le-Boris a bit faster, where I planned to stop for lunch. It was a smaller village than I had realized, and there was nowhere in town to sit (most villages at least have a bench outside the Mairie). So, I sat down on the steps to the church and had the sandwich I had pre-packed, and looked (to no avail) for a place to refill my water. With still 12 miles to go somehow, I was anxious to get back on the road, so didn’t sit for long.

On my way out of town I was surprised to see the familiar red-and-white blazes of the VF — I must have rejoined the trail, which winds its way down from Langres and covers what I was doing in one day in 2.5. Having learned from my mistakes going into Langres, I decided to continue following my maps, regardless of what the VF signs did.

The next section was really lovely — after a quick trek alongside fields I was headed up a hill in a wooded section, able to hear the thinking of Saint-Broingt’s music box-like church bells announcing it was noon. The forest gradually got denser, and smelled like pine as soft pine needles padded my path. Other than one near-miss where I whipped around, having heard something behind me in the forest, and nearly rolled my ankle on a pine cone, it was a a very peaceful section. Soon however I was out of the forest, still up on a ridge, and back onto hills covered in fields of hay and sunflowers. I also spotted my first tick, hanging out on a piece of wheat waiting for a passerby to pick it up — thankfully I evaded it.

The fields outside of Maatz were beautiful, covered in sunflowers. I followed a farm path over them, up-and-down, occasionally doubling back, till I rejoined a D-road that was unpaved but freshly covered in gravel. I knew I was less than an hour out from Leffond, the last stopover point outside of Champlitte. I ended up having to pull over 10 minutes outside of town to inspect a potential hotspot on my foot, before continuing on.

In town, I could hear the sounds of someone throwing a darty: bumping rap music, people shouting, etc. It was so incongruous with the small village, and the first sign of young people in any of these villages I had seen. Once again I struggled to find a spot to sit, and after popping into the church (actually open!) I sat down in the cemetery, refilled my water, and had my final snack of the day. From here I had the option to follow the VF path which tracked farm roads on two sides of a right triangle, or take the hypotenuse on the D-17. Despite my general feelings about two-digit D-roads, I decided on the later: one, because I was tired and wanted to save distance, and two, because the Cicerone guidebook suggested this would be a quiet road.

And yes, for the most part the road was quiet — however, it wasn’t ideal for walking as it was lined in trees and frequently twisted and turned, leading to a number of blind corners. A walker needs to be hyper vigilant for the sound of cars approaching. Eventually it opened up into more fields with more visibility (and had a wider, grassy shoulder), improving the experience substantially. My dad called me and we chatted for awhile as I made my way towards town. About 10 minutes outside of town I had to stop again, sitting down on a soccer field to again inspect my feet. I’ve had a small blister forming on the sole of my left foot for a few days now, though it hasn’t get begun hurting and has been manageable taping it up each morning. However, given my wet boots, my feet were drenched all day, making it difficult to keep on top of this blister. I just hope it won’t get worse.

After a quick call with my friend Ryan to catch up, I made my way into the town of Champlitte. It’s a small town bisected by a busy road, so crossing the street can feel treacherous as large trucks blow by. But, it’s a town that embraces its heritage on the Via Francigena — all throughout town the little yellow pilgrim symbol can be seen on the sides of buildings. I got a stamp in the tourist office, and when filling out the guest book was pleasantly surprised first of all to see that Terry and Ken were also in town (they must have caught back up to me during my rest day yesterday) and that Patrick had stayed in the pilgrim gite last night (he had planned to stop a few kilometers short of Champlitte but must have decided to continue on). A few minutes later, as I meandered around the center, I heard someone shout “hey, Eva!” Wheeling around, I saw Ken waving at me from outside of a hotel, and I jogged across the street to catch up with him and Terry on their journey so far.

Afterwards, I got the keys to the pilgrim hostel from Jacques, a very nice guy working for the European association that manages the Via Francigena (for example, they run the VF app). We chatted about my experience on the VF so far and the sections he has walked already, and then I got settled into the town-run hostel. It’s quite nice — linens are provided, it has a small kitchen, and it’s clean and bright. I was certainly happy to stay here over a hotel, especially having it to myself.

After a quick walk around town to see the chateau and the church, I headed to the one hotel restaurant in town for dinner. I happily joined Terry and Ken (who were staying in the hotel) for coq au vin, local wine, and a molleux au chocolat. It was a really lovely meal — we chatted about our plans, our experiences so far on the VF, and their shared Camino de Santiago experience. Once again, I was very grateful for their company. We also chatted a bit with the owner of the hotel who spoke English — she commended my choice to head to Seveux rather than taking the recommended stage to Dampierre-sur-Salon, which would mean a super long day to Gy the next day. I was grateful to have someone appreciate my planning efforts! After dinner, Terry, Ken, and I parted ways, unsure if we would cross paths again (perhaps in Besancon…) That’s just how it goes with these pilgrimages, it seems — day after day you might run into someone, and then one day your paths diverge, maybe forever. So, you enjoy the moments while you have them.

I walked the two minutes to the pilgrim hostel to get ready for bed — even just after 9pm the town was dark and deserted. To be honest, once again I had a small case of the creeps staying here all alone.

Final mileage: 22.50mi
Walking time: 9h 20m
Elevation gain: 604ft

Accommodation: I’m staying in the town-run pilgrim hostel. It’s a great spot with room for 3 pilgrims (maybe there are other rooms with more beds, I’m not sure) and a kitchen. For about 20 euro for the night, it’s a great option in Champlitte.