- Day 28 - day 7 for 2023
- Friday, 15 September 2023
- Aigle to Saint-Maurice d'Agaune
- 691 km to yesterday
- 14 km today
- 705 km on my Via Francigena
The hotel has breakfast in the standard manner. I go down shortly after 06h30 to be greeted by at least 10 cops in undress uniform. Clearly not as upmarket as the price might indicate to lesser mortals from way down under. As I sit down, I notice they are in three distinct groups. Two from the Swiss railway system, four sitting together are Polizia and another group are Police according, respectively, to the words on their t-shirts. About 30 minutes later a slightly older one changes places and a few moments later, on some signal, they all rise and leave together. I have as much cereal as seems reasonable and leave a bit later.
There is no rush today: it is only 13 km. And, I think, the shortest stage I have done started with. I emailed the Abbey's gite d'etape the day before and got confirmation of a place.
After about an hour, I am beside the quite wide Rhone River. I am at once struck how fast it flows and by the milky-green colour. The latter I guess is from the continuous washing of limestone from the hills. But the speed of the water is not directly explicable: it hasn't rained for some time and the spring snow melt was also some time ago
Another slow hour and I see a sign for a café just the other side of a 20 metre wide long line of bush that has kept me company.
I go down and almost immediately make a fool of myself: my tiredness or whatever and I have accidentally tipped most of the coffee over me and the table. I tidy up as best I can. And get another cup. I catch up on the news, reflect on my tiredness, suspect I might have a temperature and eventually move on.
Five kilometres to go and I am struggling. Yes it is warm, but low 20s and not the high 20s, low 30s of the weekend.
I decide to not attempt, at this time, any more of the route through Switzerland and especially not look at the route beyond Martigny. Instead I form the intention of transferring to Milano on Saturday, spend Sunday looking around. To have the same pattern for Torino and then return to Via Francigena from Vercelli.
I struggle into Saint-Maurice, drop my pack, say the morning office in the Abbey's church and go and get coffee and pastry.
Tonight's gite (hostel) residents are gathering. We are a couple from Melbourne (35 years married), two solo Scots, a French speaker and me.
The Community eucharist is at 18h. The celebrant is relatively young while the remainder of the community are quite old priests. As today celebrates the birth of Mary, they are habited in alb with a soft (Mary) blue stole. The chanting of the psalms and canticles by the community and others in choir is soothing to hear.
I make the travel and accommodation arrangements.
And so to bed.
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