Champagne Country and Charles DeGaulle
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We’ve walked right into France’s Champagne Region
Day 62 – Villiers sur Suize – Chaumont
We are officially in France’s Champagne region which, in my book, is pretty close to heaven. That said, we didn’t get to sample any yet. I plan to pace myself. The walk today was pleasant and cool. We had our usual missteps and wrong turns along the way necessitating a little backtracking. We constantly chastise ourselves for too much chat and not enough attention to the path, then continue to do the very same thing. But really, what’s a few extra steps among best friends?
Champagne-Bourgogne Canal
We walked along the Champagne-Bourgogne Canal once again and encountered a good-sized hill at the end of the day. Otherwise, no pilgrims, no interesting wildlife, no interesting people … just us and a pleasant walk on a pleasant day.
Hotel Le Royal was modern, spacious and comfortable
Our hotel, Le Royal, was a surprise. It was modern, spacious, comfortable, reasonably priced and it had a bar downstairs. I’m sure there were lots of things to see in town, but we just didn’t have the energy. We walked to a nearby grocery, bought supplies for an in-room picnic dinner and relaxed the rest of the evening. All of the ingredients for a fine overnight stay.
Day 62 – Villiers sur Suize – Chaumont
15.07 miles walked /35,044 steps
Leg distance: 12 miles / 420 miles to Canterbury
Day 63 – Chaumont – Colombey les Deux Églises
Leaving Chaumont in the morning, we walked along and past the city’s iconic viaduct. Built in 1857 to accommodate the Paris to Basel railway line, it is 171’ (52m) tall and 2,000’ (600m) long with 50 arches. It’s pretty impressive.
Chaumont Viaduct
The path varied between dirt roads, old cart roads and field paths. We were expecting vineyards, but we saw mostly wheat, cereal grains and sunflowers … acres and acres of sunflowers.
It was a long, long day. We left in the morning without coffee or breakfast, expecting to find what we needed along the way. We were disappointed as we passed through village after village hoping to find a cafe or a boulangerie or something, but the couple we found were either closed or out of business. By the time we arrived in Colombey, we were very tired and very hungry.
Our hotel in Colombey was Les Dhuits
Our hotel, Les Dhuits, was a pleasant surprise and, luckily, they were still serving lunch. After a beer, lunch and a brief nap, we went out to explore the picturesque little town. Colombey les Deux Églises achieved fame as the home and burial site of former French President, General Charles de Gaulle.
‘If one day, after I have gone, someone wants to mark this place, this is the spot they should choose… but it should be very simple, no statue… only, perhaps, a cross of Lorraine’ - Charles DeGaulle
Charles DeGaulle Memorial and Museum
We walked to the memorial, but it was close to closing so we didn’t go in. We had seen the Lorraine Cross marking his burial site from miles away, but up close, it wasn’t visible behind the trees. We stopped in the town to check out the local epicerie (convenience store), but were disappointed to find the shelves fairly empty … no chips, no peanuts. We found a champagne tasting house, but it was closed. We did, however, find ice cream cones en route which helped us overcome our disappointment.
The town’s name, by the way, is Colombey les Deux Églises which would lead one to believe that there are two churches in this tiny town. Though we looked, we were only able to find one church. I’m sure there’s a story there somewhere.
Day 63 – Chaumont – Colombey les Deux Églises
18.91 miles walked / 43,970 steps
Leg distance: 17 miles / 403 miles to Canterbury
Day 64 – Colombey les Deux Églises – Dolancourt
We were on the path once again at 0530. DeGaulle’s Lorraine Cross was visible on the hill at sunrise as we passed and for miles and miles we could see it every time we peered behind us.
DeGaulle’s Lorraine Cross memorial at sunrise
It was quite cool this morning and we walked with our hands in our pockets for a few miles before warming up. Once again, we’d left the hotel without breakfast or coffee and once again, finding a village with an open boulangerie proved difficult. But wait … what’s that up ahead? A fresh baguette vending machine? Why, yes, it was. We anticipated dry, stale, yesterday’s bread, but the bread was fresh and wonderful and we gobbled it up hungrily as we walked.
A vending machine for fresh baguettes?
Up on the hill in front of us, we saw the biggest hare we’d ever seen. Or, could it be a jackalope? David pointed out it had no antlers, but maybe female jackalopes don’t have antlers. But, wait, we’re not in the USA and there are no antelopes nor jackalopes in Europe (at least we don’t think so). It remains a mystery.
A giant hare? A jackelope? Maybe a long eared kangaroo?
We tromped along mostly gravel roads, farm paths and through hay fields passing innumerable small villages along the way.
The villages might not have a boulangerie or a coffee shop, but every one of them had a sizable church. We noticed that the steeples are black now and at the top, they all display a rooster as a weathervane.
All the village churches have black steeples and rooster weathervanes
We finally arrived in Delancourt, famous as the home of Negloland, a French amusement park. We weren’t in need of amusement, so gave it a pass though it was right next door. There wasn’t much else in Dolancourt other than a picturesque little church in the center.
St. Leger Church in Dolancourt dates back to the 12th century.
Our hotel, La Moulin du Landoin, was pleasant and air-conditioned with a restaurant on a terrace overlooking a stream and a very picturesque. large waterwheel. Dinner, wine … asleep by nine.
Day 64 – Colombey les Deux Eglises – Dolancourt
16.55 miles walked / 38,478 steps
Leg distance: 16 miles / 387 miles to Canterbury
Up next … half-timbered churches, a Napoleon museum and champagne vineyards … Stay tuned.