I wake 6.30 and leave by 7.40. The french couple leaves a bit before me, which seems to be my normal.. I seem to be the last one out the door....i discover that my laundry... is completely wet..the worst case yet..the rain outside must have kept the humidity high.. but it also meant that it was a grey morning...so, weather is a bit cooler..it still is humid, once I get going.....first eight kms go much better than yesterday... first part is along the same river again... it is a narrow path and a bit scary as it winds up hill.... French GR trail are usually okay for people with back packs..but this time it is a bit more precarious..balancing weight on my back while walking a narrow path with steep drop offs periodically, requires optimism and concentration..i manage some how....
the landscape is really cool now with the mountains in the back drop..and small villages with witch hat looking roofs... my whole changed dog-attitude keeps me intrigued throughout the day as i meet dogs..are the dogs i meet calmer, or am I....changing changing changing...
first town Bedous ..i went off the trail a bit to go into town to get coffee and some food..... I stopped in shop to try and get electrolyte powder but they did not have it... a woman there spoke perfect english which totally surprised me.....i walked a little further to a bar-cafe... and again there I was greeted in perfect english... I commented on it, and the woman behind the bar, explained that perhaps her english was so good because she was in fact, english.. so I had to laugh..first I have some omletty thing...then we tell each other our life stories in brief....she talked about how she was raised by a very fearful and traditional mother who never traveled even by plane..and who never tried any foreign food..... when she was younger she bought into her mom's fears.. when she finally did step on a plane to go fly to Spain, in her mid twenties, she wondered what all the fuss was about..she felt she had lost out on her youth of travel because of having been caught up by these fears.. ...her mom also told her not to bother with school, since she would be married and have babies soon enough..so here too she tried to live that life...but then needed out...she did have the house and husband but did not have the babies..now her and her husband have this house and bar in France ..she runs the bar....she learned her french here at the bar... at first people would insult her and she did not know what they were saying..now she says she can give it right back if need be, in both french and english...it sounds like she went through a hazing process here and it has toughened her...she never studied french in school and has just learned it here in the bar....she eventually wants to travel more too ..like China and India..she says now she isn't afraid of anything any more... It's funny I feel like i've met a bunch of woman recently who are trying to break the traditional female conditioning, and to become stronger and more independent.. and live the lives they've always dreamed off... .we say our good byes and wish each other luck..
I stop at tourist office to have bit in my book translated, it had looked important so I thought i'd better ask..."dangerous walk along highway"..the woman said I could take a bus for this stretch but since this section would be mostly for the walking stages tomorrow, sunday, I felt the likelihood of a bus running would be slim..and besides I felt I had weathered walking on pretty dangerous streets before...she also said it would only be for two kms..this proved to be incorrect......after lunch I felt a wave of tired and the afternoon would be slow...i walked through another town...Accous.. here I check out the church, it is a st martin's church, again..i wonder about how a town decides who the primary saint is that the church is dedicated to?.. the landscape continues to be picturesque, green hills, nice looking villages...then..scary stretches on highway, the highway is narrow and no real margin for pedestrians and fast trucks come by..once back in the woods..hard to take peaceful break because of..nasty biting flies...
then I finally arrive in Borce..the gite is right at the beginning of town, and easy to find.. the french couple is already there and also try to warn me about the highway walking tomorrow. They say it is four kms, this is also wrong or so I find out later.... then I do a quick tour of town... quaint.. st george the dragon slayer church..seems unusual I see him as an english saint for some reason...the french couple have met up with friends and they are hoping to go eat together...but despite a sign in the gite saying someone would come by between six thirty and seven thirty..no one does..they couple goes and plays cards in the bar waiting..still nothing...i can tell the man is agitated... finally the others go by car and get cooking ingredients while the man stays behind... I think I would have just taken off if I were them...eventually a woman with a bratty little kid does show up and takes our money and stamps the credentials.. I dont speak french so no time is wasted on me... I then go cook and eat the exciting meal of mashed potatoes and lentils again..the afternoon has gotten breezy so both yesterdays and todays laundry dries in the night... I make it an early night ..the two french couples have a little dinner party with champagne bellow.. …
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