After yesterday’s almost constant rain, it was a relief to see a completely blue sky this morning. Nancy is a nice city, but I haven’t seen it at its best.
I was up fairly early looking for a baguette so I could make my lunch which would be the same as my breakfast – fried egg and avocado on a fresh baguette. I’m dribbling at the thought of it even now. I went to the closest one that Google said was open. It was out of business. Thanks again google, I’ve learnt not to trust you and I wish there was an alternative.
Sunday morning in Nancy is very quiet, so I went back to the Airbnb, had breakfast, prepared lunch sans baguette and hoped that I’d find a boulangerie along the way. On the way out of town, I did, and judging by the queue to get in, there aren’t that many open today. This one was a really really good one, but you never know immediately. You only find out at lunchtime with your first bite.
Getting out of Nancy involves a long, gentle hill, but because I didn’t look at the details of the route after planning it last night, I was caught by surprise. Who’s idea was this ? It just seemed to go on and on.
I was a ball of sweat at the top, so I sunscreened up and headed west. The rest of the day was mainly secondary roads until I hit the canal that would take me all the way into Ligny-en-barrois.
It certainly wasn’t an easy 80kms and while yesterday was canal day, today was sunflower day. They were everywhere and the sunflower clad hillsides were stunning. Over every hill was another field of them.
When I crested the main hill of the day, I knew I had an easy last twenty kms into Ligny-en-barrois. The fun part was through villages and fields before I hit the canal – my old friend. However, this time, there was something relaxing about it and I enjoyed that final section. It’s different when you have a somewhat boring few kilometres after an interesting day of hard work. Compare that to starting beside a canal and knowing that not much will change for the rest of the day.
The campground was nearby and it was a cracker. It was terraced, grassy, quiet, well appointed… And they sold beer. There’s nothing better after a hard day than sitting back, looking at the trees and relaxing. Beer always helps that, but it means that I’m too relaxed to do the chores and prepare some dinner.
I had a walk around town and reflected on how lucky I am to come to places like this. Locals say hi, and there is always a singlet clad old guy leaning out his front window with a gauloise in his yellowed fingers saying bon soir to anyone he sees … then coughing his guts up. Ah, the atmosphere 😁 the culture, the vibe.
