25^th July. The Via Francigena suggests the coastal route but after morning service at Rochester Cathedral I took the North Downs Way which follows the old Pilgrims Way for much of its length and I think is a prettier though perhaps longer route. (St James scallops on some of the signs!). I managed to follow the path for the first half and the countryside and villages were terrific but the track was very muddy and eventually I diverted onto the road. The Black Horse at Thurnham has rooms and a good atmosphere and is directly on the route. Chilham was another village that stuck in the mind though perhaps a little too picture postcard. Canterbury emerged slowly and I was surprised how close to the centre of town it was before you saw the Cathedral. Showing the Pilgrims Passport allowed one entrance to the Cathedral without paying the £5 fee otherwise necessary. After help from the lady at the bookshop within the Cathedral I managed to contact Clare one of the cannons who kindly gave me a blessing after the evening service, which had a really interesting visiting choir. Although not yet really set up for pilgrims of the walking and cycling type, the staff at all Cathedrals in the UK I stopped at were helpful and interested. The reason for attending so many services is the difficulty of finding anyone who will stamp the Litterae Patantes at any other time. I have left the bike at the Cathedral for a couple of days and gone home to join Bronwyn who did not want to cycle through London. We start again on Thursday. Interestingly Clare said that she had blessed 9 pilgrims on their way to Rome this year and only 1 bound for Santiago, Mike who had started on Saturday.

We left Canterbury on Thursday 28^th for Dover, took the ferry across to Calais and stayed our first night in Guines: Auberge du Colombier. We mostly stayed in small 2 star hotels, often Logis, usually in towns. Distance about 55km (no bike milometer). Terrain: hilly in the UK, flat in France.

29^th Guines to Arras. We followed Sigeric’s route down the D341 which was quiet until the last 30 km. We had meant to go only as far as Bruay but when we got to Calonne Ricouart and the hotel we were headed for was closed and we realised that in the centre of a coal mining area there would not be much else we decided to go on to Arras. We arrived there in the early evening and flopped into bed at the first hotel we saw which was one of those cheap modern roadside boxes you see in France and I would not recommend. We should have stopped at Amettes where there was a Chambre d’ Hote but we had not booked ahead and did not realise the extra distance we would have to cover. On top of that France until Arras is surprisingly hilly and we had not counted on that. All in all not the best day. Countryside great though. 100km. Terrain: Hilly.

30^th Arras to Vendeuil. We followed the walkers’ route to Bapaume and then via Bertincourt and close to the Canal to Peronne and across country to Vendeuil, Auberge de Vendeuil. Another long day but this time much easier as the hills had petered out. Bapaume and Peronne both seemed like nice towns but we were beginning to notice parallels with the Via de la Plata in that there was not much life between towns. In France it was not that there was no villages just that few if any of the villages had bars, shops or any other sign of life. This was not so bad cycling but would mean that walkers would need to stock up in the towns and given the French opening hours especially at weekends even that would not be simple. On this section we saw road signs to Ham and Brie and also to Y. This part of the Via goes through the Somme battlefields and a diversion via Thiepval would not be difficult given time. 87km. Terrain: relatively flat.

31^st Vendueil to Reims. We went via St Gobain to Laon through the forests, but chickened out on the climb up into town, then there was quite hilly country to Oeuilly and flatter roads on to Reims, Hotel Cathedral. Getting into Reims was a pain, the city is strangled by its motorway network and we were on some nasty major roads going in, getting out is not so bad as by now you will have gone to the tourist office and picked up a city map and have some idea of the direction you are heading. I got a stamp at the cathedral (up until now they have been tourist office, hotel or home-made) which is historically significant as the first Gothic cathedral and the place where the kings of France were crowned. 96km. Terrain: varied.

1^st Reims to Chalon. Today was a short and very pretty day’s cycling through the Champagne vineyards for much of the route, basically along the walkers’ route to Chalon, Hotel du Pot d’ Etain. Here we saw a couple of pilgrims for Santiago in the Cathedral, not wanting to disturb them there we waited till they went out but they seemed to disappear so we could not speak to them. 54km. Terrain: flatter than yesterday.

2^nd Chalon to la Rothiere. We followed minor roads beside the walkers’ route except where it struck off across country on the Roman road, to la Rothiere, Auberge de la Plaine. Very little to eat or drink between Chalons and Brienne. 80km. Terrain: basically flat but not quite.

3^rd La Rothiere to Langres. We started along the walker’s route to through a village called l’Autre Monde to Bar sur Aube. Then via Bricon, Richebourg and Arc en Barrois to Langres, Hotel de l’ Europe. The route was varied and picturesque with a kick in the tail in the final climb to Langres which could not be avoided. Whether it was an easier gradient or the miles in our legs it did not seem too bad compared to the hills near Calais. One could easily stop in Arc en Barrois as there is a good hotel there. 96km. Terrain: a little hillier than yesterday.

4^th Langres to Cussey sur Ognon. We followed the walkers’ route or the minor roads close by to Seveux then Sigeric’s route to Cussey, La Vielle Auberge. We stopped for lunch at the first bar on our way into Dampierre and had a first class low cost no choice menu. We could have stayed in Dampierre but it was still early afternoon. Very good cycling country again. 90km but practically no accommodation in last 40 km. Terrain: similar to yesterday without the killer hill at the end.

5^th Cussey sur Ognon to Pontarlier. One of the best days. If we had had more time we would have stopped in Besancon, another city like Reims strangled by its road network, and will another time. This time we went through the town and up the steep slopes to la Veze. Here we diverted from the route and went via Ornans and the Valley of la Loue. Just after Ornans we stopped for a break at a canoe / climbing centre beside the river with ropes and ladders for children of all ages including the grown up ones. We had lost a lot of height going down into the valley and had a long climb up through the Gorge at the end but it was worth it, fantastic scenery. We joined the N57 at the end but should have gone via Ouhans and minor roads to Pontarlier, Hotel le St Pierre. 75km. Terrain: mountainous but worth it.

6^th Pontarlier to Yverdon. After yesterday we were worried about another big climb but it was an anti climax. Yes there was a climb to St Croix but it seemed like less than yesterday followed by a very steep drop. If you look at a relief map of the region it is like a wedge of cheese a long rise up to St Croix from Besancon then a steep drop. Yesterday and today were very sunny and with it the little mountains looked great. 45km. Terrain: up and down.

778km from Canterbury

932km from Home

That was end of our journey this year and we hired a car to take us to Geneva for the flight home. We will pick it up again next year and try to take things more slowly though the days were fixed by the towns and accommodation. It often meant a longer day cycling or kicking your heels in a small town all afternoon with not much to do, generally we chose the former.

We never saw a sign for the Via Francigena once on the journey.

One thing we found difficult and I imagine is much worse for the walker is the lack of accommodation on the route and information about it.

We found the Topofrancigena very useful and also had the 4 regional Michelin maps that covered the route. We lost our Vademecum on the second day so cannot comment on its accuracy.

All in all the French section is a pretty decent cycling route with varied terrain and some interesting towns. It is probably better to cycle than to walk but then I would say that.

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