Day 48-49. France

Day 48- Le Chatelet to La Chatre - Fri 11/7- 31kms
JP & I set off before 8  - 2 pilgrims once more - after breakfast if yoghurt, toast, jam, vegemite & coffee. We make a sandwich to take with us, grainy bread with Camembert. The weather forecast gives us a 5% chance of rain, but after 6 days in a row of rain I am hoping and praying for some sunshine. It is supposed to be Summer!!!  We enjoy our morning walking on quiet country lanes, away from traffic. We pass a flower pot man sitting high in the window if a barn at a very well kept farmyard. In Saint Jeanvrin, there is a pretty church, lots of potted colour, all very neat & tidy, even a stick figure pilgrim outside the Mairie. We make good time through the undulating countryside, arriving into Chateaumeillant around 10.15. Here we enjoy a coffee at the bar & take a 1/2 hour break. We climb a hill past a very large manor/farm house with stone walls. Here is a memorial to locals who died in Buchenwald. Down a wet grassy lane to Neret, another flower bedecked labour. We take the Chemin de St Jacques past stone houses. The wheat & canola in thd fields are grey and almost mouldy looking. Our lunch stop is at the Lavoir St Solange where we enjoy the comforts of a table max chairs. We pass more gem sunflowers with their faces turned away from us, an old iron cross, vistas of grain and pasture. More sunflowers but now we are on the right side for us to see the smiling faces, quiet tree lined country lanes, a little up & a little down. We take a break in Lacs to eat a banana, on the common where marquees have been erected for Mondays Bastille day celebrations. We go down to cross the 3 bridges before climbing again to the market square of La Chatre. We enjoy a cold drink and celebrate the no rain day. We retrace our steps to our accommodation which is just before the first of the 3 bridges on Rue de Marquis. Here Anne settles us into her pilgrim refuge guest quarters. She helps us make reservations for the weekend. We will have yo change our schedule as accommodation is quite difficult in some places.

Day 49-Sat 12/7- Le Chatre to Cluis - 25km
Healthy breakfast, then up the hill, back thru the town and head south west. It has been raining in the night so our boots are soon wet when we follow the grassy pathways between the hedgerows. At last it feels like we are actually on a Grand Randonnee (long distance walking path). There is mud & puddles in a lot of places but we manage to stay upright. The scenery is now hills  & green pastures with only a few fields if rather grey, mouldy looking grain. As we walk past the paddocks the cows and sheep always look up and often come to the fence to greet us. We spy deer crossing the path ahead. Our first break is at Sarzay where we have our coffee looking at the chateau which originally had 38 round towers and. 3 drawbridges. Sadly only 5 round towers remain. One of the most visited National Monuments in France. We pass the ancient Abbaye of Varennes, now a chambre d'hote. Lunch at a bar in Neuvy-Saint-Sepulchre, next to the basilica. Across the bridge, around the lake, along quiet country paths and through farmyards. All is quiet and we hardly see another soul. The iron crosses are often at corners of the road. We descend to the bridge then climb steeply, past the ruined fortress of Cluis and the chapel to the church. It starts to rain as we get to the church. A quick trip to the epicerie for a key to the refuge and we can settle in for the night. Here we meet Suzette from Charenton again. There are beds for 4 pilgrims upstairs and a lounge/dining/kitchen downstairs we get some supplies and make a yummy potato omelette for dinner.