Day 32-34

Day 32-Savieres to Troyes- 12kms
At breakfast I bring our the Vegemite to have with my toast. We head back to the canal which we continue to follow, straight, flat, grassy or bitumen, depending on which side we choose. At the locks there are little houses which would have been for the lock master in the days when the canal was in use. On the ground we walk thru fluffy bundles of kapok, fallen from the trees above. After 12+km the path along the canal ends at Barbery-St-Sulpice. Here we are met by Jean-Pierre our dinner companion from last night. He drives the 3 of us to Troyes, first to check in to Maison Notre Dame to leave our back packs, then a personal guided tour. The cathedral, where because of the unstable ground there is only one tower, and inside the vaulted apses are slightly askew. We vist the Eglise of Saint Madelaine with its intricate gothic over altar gallery, masterpiece of the master mason of Troyes, Jehan Gailde. We are driven past other interesting places like Hotel-dieu -le-Comte with its gold embellished gateway, and the half timber buildings- distinctive in the Troyes style. We farewell our generous and kind friend who leaves us with a tear in his eye. The 3 pilgrims enjoy lunch in a courtyard off the Rouelle les Chats. Delicious. Back at our accommodation we meet up with Siets the Dutch Kiwi again.

Day 33-Thur 26/6- Troyes to Foret-Chenu- 29km
Today there are 4 pilgrims, including Siets. We first take the bus outside to city and start walking from La-Rivière-de-Corps. Across fields, through villages with no shops. We have started without breakfast for the first time. In Laines-aux-Bois a lovely lady makes us coffee and gives us fresh croissants from the bakery she visits while we wait for her to go out then come back to us. Such beautiful generosity from an angel. We stop for lunch at the Fontaine de Montaigu, where we also fill our water bottles. Upwards thru the woods on a carpet of oak & beech leaves. More grain fields, huge expanses of golden wheat & barley as far as the eye can see. We make good time climbing & descending through the warm sunny day. Mainly on farm tracks. At 2 Grande Rue we leave Siets who  goes on. We stay in a small garden house up the back of the property in the vegetable garden. I will sleep in the kitchen on a fold out bed.

Day 34-Foret-Chenu to Ervy-le-Chatel. 15km
Up the hill, through the woods, brilliant sunshine, hectares of golden grain waiting for the harvester. More fields of grain with canola more than a metre high, across parched pathways with huge cracks then into the cool forest where the road is deeply rutted with puddles, frogs swimming & green slimy water. We have to watch every step. In Ervy-le-Chatel it is market day & we are met at the roundabout by the warden of the refuge. There are 2 rooms, each sleeping 2 pilgrims so I am on my own in the one which also has a small dining area. We hang our washing in the sun in the street then take a walk around the town, past St Nicholaaspoort(1450), St Peters church(1433) damaged in the 100year war but later rebuilt, and back to the round Korenbeur(corn exchange) in the centre of town.