May 3-6, 2019
**For the record, as I’ve been told many times, “Reims” is famously challenging for non-native French speakers to pronounce. I’ve had a number of the locals good-naturedly coach me, and the best way to describe it to a native English-speaker is to say the word “Raunce” without moving your lips, (really relying on the back of your tongue to make the French ‘r’ sound, and don’t go hard on the ‘n’ or ‘c’).***
I really couldn’t walk these days. The bottoms of both feet couldn’t take any pressure and the tendon on my left heel was on fire and couldn’t bend. I was scheduled for a 2 day stay in Reims to explore the ‘Unofficial Capital of Champagne’ but it was clear that even if I stayed off my feet for both days to heal, I wouldn’t be well enough to keep walking without injury (if I wasn’t already injured). Also, I’d miss seeing all of Reims. I had to do something to fix the situation, and not just seek advice for how to cope like I’d been doing. I started researching to find a someone in the city who was covered by my travel insurance and could diagnose what the issue was. She had an opening.
It turns out I have capsulitis of both second toes and a strained Achilles heel on my left foot. She was impressed/concerned I had been walking as much as I had been in such pain.
She said, “Flex your foot up and down and listen.” I heard a weird creaking noise. She said, your tendon is not supposed to make that noise. It’s damaged.
She thinks it was the shock of all the extra weight combined with not taking breaks to stretch and rest. So, I will be taking a break from the walk for a bit to heal. I’m so lucky I made it to such an incredible place before this happened.
I just ate and watched movies for three days, enjoying delightful snippets of the city on my quick jaunts out for provisions. It felt extremely indulgent and weird after the past few weeks.
Canterbury to Rome 