Eva on the Via Francigena (and beyond)

Song of the Day: Swim Club — The Cave Singers

“Oh ain’t that the way things work, ain’t that the way things go / Ain’t those the stories we’ve been told? / Sister, let’s ride again”

This is just a good duo walking song. I first discovered it in, I don’t know, maybe 2011? Off of some indie playlist I had downloaded? And have had a soft spot for it ever since.

Today was a long day, and another day of heat. Despite these difficult elements, it was a good day — Sam’s first day walking (certainly an adjustment!) and a chance to set the stage for the proper Alps walking. Sam was a very good sport about the extra mileage, which he considered as training for a marathon he is running in a few weeks time.

We got started a bit behind schedule, meeting up along the lake a few minutes before 7. The morning was just starting to transition from blue to pink, and the Montreux promenade was quiet and still. As I waited for Sam I started to get nervous — it was already quite warm again and I knew we had a long day planned. As he walked up, he said, “it’s already warm and my pack is heavy…” Glad to know I wasn’t the only one with these complaints, we set off.

The morning’s first stint was relatively easy. We continued on the lakeside path I had started in Lausanne — however here it ran just next to the train racks and below a large elevated highway, so even early in the morning there was a good deal of noise. We stopped to snap some photos of the historical Chateau du Chillon for Nathan, and quickly reached the town of Villenueve which marks the intersection of the Lac Leman and the Rhône Valley. It’s been very interesting to see — this end of the lake is primarily encircled by mountains, with one large empty space at the mouth of the valley. I’ve been watching this empty space in anticipation for two days now, and we finally began making our way up valley, which will eventually take us towards the Pass.

That’s getting ahead of myself, though — the first bit out of Villeneuve was pretty uninspiring walking along some asphalt bike paths (where we could hear a shooting club from across the highway — what a way to start your Monday morning), some road crossings that had us scampering in between the flows of early-morning traffic, and then eventually more asphalt to bring us to the town of Roche. We made a detour into town in search of breakfast, which we found at the Cafe de la Place, which had surprisingly delicious croissants and a decent cup of coffee. From there we picked up more asphalted roads criss-crossing farms, until we joined up with the Rhône river.

We started out following a sandy trail next to the river, a welcome departure from the pavement. The Rhône in this part of Switzerland flows surprisingly fast and is a muddy greenish-brownish color reminiscent of the Tiber. We hypothesized that the river may have been narrowed, contributing to its speed, given the evenness of the banks.

It was nice having company again and I was glad Sam was able to join. We chatted about all sorts of things, from marathon preparation to Formula 1 to geography. And we kept up a solid clip, just at the top end of my comfortable walking pace — according to his fancy running watch we started out above 3 miles an hour, but I’m not sure I believe that.

Eventually the path gave way once again to asphalt, which would be the case for the rest of the day. The sun had finally risen above the mountains lining the valley, and we were already starting to swelter in the heat. But, we had fantastic views of the mountains ahead and on either side of us, and at least for this first section of the day we still had some intermittent shade from the trees. The walk was uneventful mostly — the main point of interest was that we passed the headquarters of the international cycling organization, so stopped to inspect the outdoor BMX tracks and a weird Rube Goldberg-type machine they had out front made of bicycle parts. Otherwise the track was quiet, though we were passed occasionally by cyclists — some professional-seeming ones affiliated with the UCI, but mostly amateurs of all ages.

Soon enough we reached the town of Collombey, where crossing a bridge over the river we exited the canton of Vaud and entered Valais. We were both quite hungry at this point, and had collectively decided to venture well off the path in search of an American oasis in the Swiss dessert: the Golden Arches. I don’t really eat McDonald’s in the US, much less in Europe, but the prospect of a chicken sandwich and a McFlurry (and air conditioning!) propelled me forward. The walk in town was hot and sunny, so by the time we arrived I all but collapsed in our booth. We took a leisurely lunch and after a Coke (with ice!), chicken sandwich, and a McFlurry I was feeling human once again.

Over lunch we chatted about Sam’s experience living in Australia for a year, and talked about the similarities between the US and Australia. Ultimately we came up with a framework for plotting countries based on the availability of two things: ice and healthcare, as a proxy for different types of cultures. The US has high convenience (ice) but a weak social safety net (healthcare). Europe has lower convenience (tepid water and soda) but affordable healthcare. In Sam’s opinion, Australia has an ideal combination of ice-and-healthcare, though of course like all countries has its own problems, and he had done some interesting research on Australia’s relationship with Aboriginal peoples.

Refreshed, we set back out into the strip mall wasteland that is Collombey. Sam noted — as I have thought from time to time on this journey — that Americans tend to glamorize European countries as full of tiny medieval towns and quaint villages, but there is also suburban sprawl that is equally unappealing (though the background of the Alps is very nice). Soon enough we were once again along the river, this time with significantly less shade. While the going was slow, we clearly had made significant progress — the hilltop villages we had ogled at in the morning were far in the rear view, and we ended up passing a spiky, monumental mountain we had spent the morning trying to identify.

Podcasts in for awhile, we trekked onward in the sun in silence. We passed a large water plant and some typical Swiss houses. We also saw two examples of streams feeding into the Rhône, highlighting its strange color. the first was a perfectly clear mountain stream that was quickly diluted by the fast-flowing river. The other was a disgusting brown stream that looked highly polluted and made the Rhône look clean in comparison.

After one final break in the last bit of shade, we said goodbye to the river and crossed to the road that brought us into Saint-Maurice, where we quickly found the Abbey and checked in. The rooms here are very nice, and the 35 EUR fee includes breakfast (though there was significant confusion around the timing, and in the end I think we’ll miss it). We also caught back up to Patrick, who I had been in touch with and who is also in the Abbey! I ran into him in the hallway, both of us somewhat more sunburned than when we last saw each other in Besancon at the beginning of the heatwave. It was great to catch up and swap some stories from our walks.

Sam and I did a quick grocery store and bank run, and then I went about my normal pilgrim chores. Once my laundry was hung up to dry, around 4:30pm, I decide to take a quick power nap before getting up to write. Unfortunately, deliriously tired from the heat and the wrong day, I accidentally set my alarm for 5am instead of 5pm, so ended up sleeping for over an hour. I managed to drag myself from bed and wake up enough to just make it in time for 6pm Vespers in the basilica. It was a lovely service (though of course I couldn’t follow what was going on), with plenty of time to reflect on my journey thus far. The church dates from the 17th century but has a much longer history, stretching back to the “decimation” of the Theban Legion in this town by the Romans in the 3rd century. Saint Maurice was the leader of this legion who refused to attach Christians living in the region. The church has some beautiful stained glass windows that I believe were dedicated to this massacre.

After service Patrick, Sam, and I headed to a restaurant in town for a dinner of rosti and beer (very Swiss!) and some lovely conversation. We circled back to the topic of Australia and Sam’s work with Aboriginal communities as part of one of his courses, and how differently the Australians treat the Aboriginals versus New Zealand’s relatively integrated relationship with the Māori.

At this point I was crashing hard so headed back to the Abbey for an early bedtime. The pilgrim accommodation tomorrow is first-come, first-served, and there are a lot of pilgrims here tonight, so we need to make an early start!

Final mileage: 20.17 mi
Walking time: 4h 52m
Elevation gain: 423ft

Accommodation: The Abbey at Saint Maurice. A lovely place to stay, with the opportunity to join in for services.