Day 9: Pommiers

Thursday 26 April
Didn't sleep so well last night, despite being in such a comfortable gîte: the bright streetlight outside disturbed me all night and I couldn't work out how to shut the shutter! Not for the first or last time, I wished I had included an 'eye' mask in my pack.

There was a very lovely section beside the river to start off the day's walk. The path first went downhill then followed closely along by the River Loire before diverting along a small inflowing stream.

After the 'flat' terrain of recent days, my body wasn't sure it wanted to climb another long hill, but that was what the new morning had in store for me. The winding road trip up to the village of Bully covered 8km, and for once it was shorter by the chemin, with a 6km climb. I was pleasantly surprised to find a (new) bar/epicerie in Bully, and had a delicious hot chocolate there, plus bought a bit of tinned pâte for my emergency supplies.

The great thing about climbing uphill though is that yet again there were some superb views.


And I could see quite clearly back down to the Loire where I had begun the morning.

After a few more kilometres the track flattened out again across farmland, and I made good time to Dancé.

There was a different breed of cattle appearing. One of the things I love about about walking in France is how things change as you move into new regions.

Along the way there was some evidence of damage to trees from the strong winds of the previous afternoon. This blossom tree was so beautiful it was sad to see it broken like this.

There was some more easy walking to Amions where I arrived in time for a delicious lunch. The meal was a  welcome contrast to the day before, and the service was excellent.

There were quite a few dandelions again in some of the fields.
After lunch it was only 7km to Pommiers. It turned warm though, and I stripped down to a t-shirt, and put on sunscreen for the first time on the trip.

The afternoon walk was all flat, and was also mostly on highway, which my feet weren't used to. I felt really tired by the time I reached Pommiers, even though it was only a 20km day.

My nightly accommodation on this trip was certainly varied, and this evening I was to have a caravan to myself in the camping ground, good value for 10 Euro (though the toilet block was fairly primitive.) The downside of being here in April was that the night was freezing cold, and the inside of the caravan was frigid! I had all my clothes on, as well as my sleeping bag and, thankfully, the thick blanket that came with the caravan, but I still found it cold.

Once I had settled in, I walked back to town to explore the town properly, and to see the old Clunisian priory. The priory was especially interesting, and had had a change of 'purpose' after the Revolution when it was used as a chateau.

The whole old part of town was full of history and it was a fascinating place to walk through.