Day 46-47

Day 46- Charenton to La Touratte (Arcomps)- 25kms
Rained all night. Left Charenton, Salome, JP & me, following the yellow/blue signs of the pilgrim way to Compostelle. After a short way we are again back at the Canal de Berry, after first squelching our way through muddy farm tracks. Mostly grassy paths which soon wet our boots. All is quiet apart from the dogs which, as we approach then pass by, yap, bark, growl and generally make a very loud noise. We are probably their only entertainment they get each day. All around are very black skies. Just before St Armand we cross the canal on the green bridge and arrive into this large town with its colourful floral hanging baskets. We enjoy lunch at the kebab in the central square. We head south to. Bouzais where we meet the German couple who are hospitaleros at the refuge here. We are following the scallop shell signs but know we will have to move off the route to get to where we are staying tonight. We again meet some rain which has been coming towards us all day from the south-west. We make the turn that takes us off the scallop shell route & up the hill into the village of Arcomps. Here we shelter from the rain for a while then continue on, down the hill, past fields of sunflowers then up again, towards the chateau. We walk past the chateau wall then turn left up the driveway to Le Grenier. We are made very welcome by Madame Lucy du Jeu and her grandson. After showering we get a lovely hot cup of tea. This building was converted from an old farm building some 50+ years ago into what is now a large and very comfortable home. Huge ground floor living space plus Lucy's quarters with generous guest accommodation upstairs. We enjoy a home cooked meal around the kitchen table with Lucy, her grandson & 2 granddaughters.

Day 47- Thur 10/7- la Touratte to Le Chatelet -2 kms walking
It has rained all night and at breakfast the wind us howling, the rain is falling & it's almost still dark outside. We decide to wait an hour and see what happens. There is no change and the decision is made to return to the refuge at Bouzais. Lucy drives us there, raining all the time. After hot chocolate & a talk with our German hospitaleros they drive us to le Chatelet where there are more options for accommodation. Salome is sick of the rain, as also are JP and I. After taking shelter in a bar in le Chatelet we head out into the rain. After only a km we call it quits for the day, knock on the door of a gite and go inside. We will have a rest day. My first since Maastricht. There is good wifi which gives me a chance to update the blog. First though we go back into the rain for a trip to the supermarket for supplies. We will cook our own lunch, dinner & breakfast. This requires more rain walking but only a km or 2. Salome makes the decision to return to Geneva tomorrow, which she quickly organises.