Eva on the Via Francigena (and beyond)

Song of the Day: Ooh La La — Faces

“I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was younger / I wish that I knew what I know now, when I was stronger”

As crude as the lyrics are at times, I love this song. It’s got that jangly acoustic guitar that makes you want to kick your feet out as you walk. And it was relevant to the conversation today: sitting in a Swiss village over a cup of coffee, I recounted to Sam and Patrick how Nathan and I had seen Rod Stewart in a hotel bar in Aspen — and how I was shocked I even recognized Rod Stewart!

This morning was a bit of a comedy of errors. I overslept my first alarm but even so was up by 5:20, intending to make it to 5:45 breakfast (which the French couple next door had said would be served with the monks). I quickly packed as much as I could, and then headed down into the breezy, dark, morning waiting for a priest to pick the four of us (French couple – Beatrice and Daniel, Patrick, and I), up. 15 minutes went by and there was no sign of anyway, so Beatrice walked into the Basilica where a morning prayer was happening to ask. Eventually a priest came and brought us to a room in the basilica where we were served a typical Euro breakfast of bread, butter, and jam. After a few minutes, another priest came in and started speaking to us in rapid-fire French. He was incredibly animated, gesticulating and pulling faces, but he was speaking so quickly I could not figure out what he was saying, other than that he was providing a history of the Abbey. This went on for literally 15 minutes straight — there was a very nice Swiss clock in the room right near me — as Patrick and I looked at each other in confusion. At 6:30, Patrick and I headed back to the rooms to pack up to leave.

Patrick headed out a few minutes before Sam and I as I needed to finish packing. So, it was still light out by the time we left, just a few minutes before 7. Leaving Saint-Maurice we stopped repeatedly to admire the sunrise, which painted the clouds a deep pink above the mountains. The first section of the path was through the suburbs of Saint-Maurice — we had nice views of the mountains on either side but it was not particularly scenic. After maybe 20 minutes of walking we had Patrick in our sights a few blocks ahead. I looked down and realized I had a message from him: “Two pilgrims from the abbey bearing down on me. Don’t worry – I will see if I can save you a bed at the hostel this evening.” I typed out a quick response — no worries, that’s us! And soon enough we caught up to him, and the three of us set off together as the path zig-zagged between fields and suburbs.

We entered the charming town of Evionnaz, where we stopped at an open cafe for coffee and croissants, and swapped stories about our various run-ins with famous people. Today was a short stage and we were in no rush, so it was really nice to be able to sit for awhile and enjoy the coffee and the company. We made it a few blocks away from the cafe when we heard a loud whistle, and realized I had forgotten my hiking poles — so I had to speed walk back to grab them while Sam and Patrick waited for me.

Coming out of town we we were walking on a side road past an electric fence — I warned the boys not to touch it when all of a sudden we hear loud barking. A very angry guard dog was charging right at us. We took our defensive positions (i.e., I stepped behind Sam, poles raised), but luckily the dog did not seem eager to cross the fence, though it very well could have leapt over it. We continued walking and the dog continued to lunge at us, angry and gnashing its teeth. We shouted at it to leave us alone, that we were continuing on, but to no avail. We passed the sheep it was meant to be guarding and finally it gave up. A good reminder to keep the sticks at the ready, just in case.

From here the path took us on the border between the towns and the mountains, before dumping us on the main road for a bit. Eager for a bit of novelty, we decided to take a bit of elevation walking through the trees above a gas station rather than taking the road. This was a completely unnecessary detour —- but hey, a good chance to get some uphill and downhill practice in. Soon enough we rejoined the road, and arrived at the turnoff for the Pissevache waterfall. Yes, this is the “cow piss” waterfall. It’s pretty spectacular, though we did learn it is man-made as it comes from the hydroelectric plant above. Combined with its proximity to the highway, there was a real irony about the whole thing…something about nature tourism… Either way, it was a nice place for a snack stop. Patrick left before Sam and I — though not before taking a few photos.

Sam and I found that the route marked on the app was interdit, blocked by red and white tape. So, we rejoined the road where we could see Patrick a ways ahead of us. Eventually we found the turn-off into the woods (at which point we could no longer see Patrick). This was a nice chance to get some proper nature walking: we meandered through a lovely forest, somewhat surprised to see the forest so dense this close to the edge of the mountain. We also passed a beekeeper at work tending to their hives, before being summarily booted from the forest and dumped back on the main road again.

We’d made very good time and it was barely 11 at this point, but we were both starving. After some back and forth we determined that we would do a second McDonald’s lunch (I know, I know). Look, at 11am on a weekday, where else are you going to get food in Switzerland? And is it really going to be much healthier than McDonalds? I can guarantee you last night’s rosti was not. Also, the “McCrispy” chicken sandwich is delicious. Stupidly, I also decided to have a cup of Coke with lunch — the sugar, carbonation, and ice are just fantastic after miles of walking — even though I knew the caffeine would get to me later.

After lunch Sam and I split up — I was headed to the pilgrim gite, where I had managed to secure a bed, and Sam headed to his hotel. I remotely helped Patrick navigate to the gite as well, and we were soon joined by Beatrice and Daniel. I took a much-needed nap, still recovering from yesterday’s mileage and today’s early wake-up, and then got around to showering and doing all the normal pilgrim things. After that Patrick and I sat together and each planned our next few days. I have decided to take an unplanned rest day in Aosta — one, I am feeling a bit burnt out due to the heat (which is going to break soon), two, I think the introduction of significant uphill and then significant downhill is going to do a number on my body, and three, I need to buy new boots! I had sort of forgot that this day would come, but inspecting the soles of my boots earlier today I realized the tread was wearing down. Fair enough as I have literally put hundreds of miles on them (I must be getting close to 500 now!) They’ll get me over the Alps okay, but Aosta as a large mountain town is a good place to shop for a replacement, though I will need to wait till Monday when the shops open.

Logistics sorted, I headed out into town to look around, stopping at an outdoor exhibit showcasing local syrups. There was a stack of cups which you could take, add a few pumps of syrup, and then fill up with mountain water from a fountain. I had a delicious myrtle drink as a bunch of local kids ran back and forth, trying all of the flavors. In general I have noticed that Swiss kids are given very free reign — I have seen kids who must be young as 10 walking and biking around these cities with no supervision.

At this point the caffeine from lunch was starting to impact me — embarrassing that a small soda can do that to me, I know — so I went off in search of a snack. I ended up sitting outside a cafe and chowing down on a planche of local cheese and charcuterie. Sam and I then did our grocery store re-stock, and headed to the pilgrim gite to make dinner: rigatoni bolognese. Patrick made his own meal of ramen and the three of us sat and chatted about all sorts of things: clinical trials of psychedelics, droughts, and camping stories, to name a few. It was a nice dinner and it was cool to watch Sam get into the pilgrim rhythm that has dominated my life these past few weeks.

Tomorrow is supposed to include the most technically challenging / dangerous section of the entire Via Francigena, though luckily this section is in the first 5 km. This is the part I was most worried about and I think Patrick was too, so we are both glad to be walking with Sam tomorrow. With that, going to try and get an early night and and early start to hopefully beat the rain, which seems expected to come through in the afternoon tomorrow (knock on wood).

Final mileage: 11.97 mi
Walking time: 4h 48m
Elevation gain: 994ft

Accommodation: The pilgrim gite in Martigny, which is in the cellar of the priest’s house. It’s been renovated recently and has a nice kitchen and dining area. It has 5 beds which are in close quarters, but that’s fine by us. And Wi-Fi too!