Day 26-28

Day 26- Thursday 19/6-Bazancourt to Reims-18kms
We have breakfast then head to the local bar for our early morning caffeine fix. We trek out of town along farm roads, through grain fields. The terrain is changing. Now the soil is chalky white clay/limestone, very fine dust like talcum powder. We arrive into Reims and the grand cathedral where a Canadian lady takes our group photo. We do a quick skip thru the cathedral where security is grumpy & the staff at the shop need to learn about customer relations. On one portal of the cathedral is an angel with open wings, a smile on her face & a twinkle in her eye. Here, in the afternoon a Friends of St Jacques group are very helpful & friendly. They book our accommodation at the monastery St Sixte. We also meet a Dutch Kiwi pilgrim Siets, who is having a rest day. Max buys his train ticket for tomorrow when he will return to Amsterdam. Later in the evening I am cleaning my boots at the window -we are on the 3rd floor- when one boot flies out the window. Thud, onto the roof 2 floors below. It is 8.30pm & no staff around. It will have to wait until the morning.

Day 27-Reims to Mardeuil 39km
First things first. Retrieve the boot. The man from security is most helpful. He gets a key for the room       immediately below ours, on the first floor and also a large broom. Max takes his long walking stick. Together they retrieve my boot. Hooray!! Jean-Pierre & I set off, across the candles then follow the canal. We miss a turn. By the time we realise our mistake we have gone 2.5kms. Only way is to backtrack. Approaching the village if Trois-Puits we see our first champagne grape vines. The soil is very fine, white & chalky. We top up our water bottles at the public wash house (lavoire) in Rilly-la-Montagne. Most villages have a lavoire and we wonder how long since they were last used as many are not old buildings. At Bellevue near the Royal Champagne restaurant there is a spectacular view over Epernay & the surrounding valley. We have climbed some steep tracks on unmarked paths through forests to get here. A long steep downward road before again climbing to the hilltop village of Hautevillers, where Dom Perignon's tomb is in the church. Very steep descent on very rough tracks  between the vines to Cumieres. Then across the narrow stone bridge with a queue of traffic in both directions and into Mardeuil at 5.30pm. At the Mairie(town hall) we are met by the Mayor's assistant who welcomes us with a big smile, stamp & keys to the refuge in one hand & a bottle of champagne in the other. Campaspe could learn something here perhaps??? Our refuge for the night is also the building used for preschool & after school care. Some children are still here until 6pm. We are to to help ourselves to the well stocked fridge, with soup, salads, vegetables, meat, milk, cheese, orange juice etc. Bread is also provided. Everything we need & more. The mayor's assistant also makes our reservation for tomorrow night. The Mayor himself calls in to have a chat & even goes out in his car to look for an overdue pilgrim. Service with a smile.

Day 28-Mardeuil to Champaubert via Montmort.  24.2km
Our trail starts with a climb up the white chalk hills, thru vineyards, steep, up. All is quiet apart from occasional agricultural machinery. The vines are being trimmed. Delightful views across the valleys, small champagne villages, row upon row of grape vines & a clear blue sky. We have a break in Moussy then up past the Eglise Charot, up past the lookout point, through the woods to Morangis where we enjoy our lunch under the shady branches of an ancient walnut tree. Our path later becomes more overgrown with thigh high grass. We arrive in Montmort-Lucy, past the beautiful chateau, just before 3pm. We sit at a bar near the town hall for a cold drink & call our host contact for tonight. She picks us up in her car