April 20, 2019
I woke up and went downstairs to get breakfast. It felt good to sit at a table and eat like normal rather than hunched over my pack in field 🙂 I tried to get going as quickly as possible, but I didn’t manage to get out the door until 10.
It was a pretty morning to start. Wisques is a well-known pilgrim stop so there are many signs out of town. I was only on the main road for a bit and then I was on tracks and country roads for the majority of the day. I’m really starting to become a ‘track connoisseur’: my favorite to walk on is hard-packed dirt or clay. My least favorite is loose rocks. I also noticed I’m in much better spirits when I’m in the country than in villages.
It was a day filled with long roads in various forms:
I caught myself playing a lot of mental games with the distance and time. I really want to break that habit because it keeps me from fully enjoying what I encounter in the moment, and it also ends up making this seem more of a chore than an experience. I’m going to try and be better about that if I can.
I got close to Auchy-au-bois, and when I was at the main corner where I was supposed to turn, I turned left instead of right and then backtracked. There were a couple of cafes around and a group men were standing together bemusedly watching the crazy woman wandering around the intersection. They started to approach me and I got a little uneasy, but they just wanted to help. I showed them my phone and explained I only had a little French, and one man realized I had my phone turned around and I needed to turn back to right (well, left from where I was standing at that point). I thanked them and made the short walk to my lodging (which was right on the Via Francigena path).
I had been communicating with Delphine, the owner of the home where I was staying (a different Delphine than the one I stayed with in Licques) about my arrival, and she was picking up her son when I arrived, but her daughter and the family puppy welcomed me! I was tired, dirty, and sore so we didn’t talk long, but I always appreciate arriving somewhere where people (and animals :)) seem happy to see me. It reminded me of something Chaplain Wendy said in my blessing: “May everywhere you rest have people welcoming you with open arms.”
I was a little concerned about food because the next day was Easter Sunday, and I wasn’t sure if I’d encounter anything open. I had seen those shops on the corner, so I figured that should be my first priority. I popped on the Internet and saw a friterie in the same area opened in a couple minutes, and I knew it would be quick and cheap, so I figured I’d make the short walk back to grab dinner before I did anything else. I arrived at the truck, and the man who helped me earlier was behind the counter! He recognized me right away and prepared a chicken sandwich and fries for me to take back. He was very kind and patient.
A little after I got back, Delphine arrived home and came up to greet me. She knew some history of the pilgrimage and had hosted a few biking pilgrims a while ago, so she appreciated what we were experiencing and was comforting to talk to. I get really frustrated about not being better with my French when I want to talk with a lot of detail and nuance, like I wanted to with Delphine, but she was completely happy to use the google translate with me, so we turned to that when our own words failed 🙂 At one point when I typed “I’m homesick.” I started to cry a bit and she was so compassionate that I didn’t even feel foolish. She’s one of those people you meet and you feel like they’ve been your friend forever. I wish I could have spent more time there. I also wish I’d taken a picture of us together!
I wanted to bathe, eat, and talk to M, so I was paralyzed for choice 🙂 I decided to eat first, and as I was, Gulliver smelled the food (or my shoes…or both? :)) and came up to visit me! I tried moving away from the table, but he just followed me. Because he’s not my dog, I didn’t want to give him food because I don’t know if he’s allowed to eat people food, and I didn’t want him to get sick. Those sweet eyes are hard to say no to, though! ❤
After eating, I bathed, talked to M and had some much-needed sleep.
P.S. I got a question about packing toiletries. I answered it in the FAQS.
Canterbury to Rome 