Resting up, and recovering
It seems an age since I trekked out of Roanne, alongside the canal, but it is a week today. It was under very different weather conditions, with an expected high of 37°, and the normal higher humidity. I left early in the cool morning, following my own path out of town until I was able to connect with the cycling path alongside the canal.
I had learnt my lesson the previous day to make sure that I was on the correct side of the canal. I left the centre of Roanne on the Saturday, walking about four kilometres to the edge of the city ready for an easier day to follow. That day I was on the wrong side of the canal, and the only way to get to the other side, without retracing my steps, was to partake of a small amount of bush bashing, up the bank and through a blackberry patch. A lesson not to be repeated if possible!
On Sunday I walked well, with my feet feeling good, only feeling uncomfortable in the rising heat as the morning wore on. I reached the pretty little village of Briennon around lunch time, turning right to cross the Loire and reach Pouilly-sur-Loire. Knowing that I would be retracing my steps the next day, and starting to feel the heat, I decided it was time to put my thumb out. Eventually an older man stopped for me. After dropping his wife at the shops, he insisted on dropping me in the centre of Charlieu. I did protest, but he insisted, and secretly I was pleased.
Charlieu, like so many villages in France, is very old. Half-timbered houses, historic monuments such as an ancient Église and a ruined Benedictine Abbey, help make this town very appealing. After visiting both the Abbey ruins and the Church I set off up hill to Chandon and to my accomodation for the night. Odile and Edourd are part of the Accueil pèlerin network, generally providing accomodation, and often food, for a donation. They didn't speak much English, but somehow we managed to communicate, and I was very glad for their kindness and help.
Odile had arranged for me to stay the next night, just 5 kilometres down the road in Briennon (or on the outskirts), with Maryline. I had only gone a few kilometres when I realised I was not going to make it. It was here that persistence worked. Stopping at a good place for hitching, I was ignored, thus I made my way to the next road, but was again ignored. It was very near a supermarket, and I made my way towards it, thinking I could have a rest before trying again. Heading there, I had observed a lady loading her shopping into her car and we both arrived at the drive at the same time - where I bailed her up! She only spoke French, and even though it was further than she was going, she generously took me across the Loire to Briennon where Maryline was going to collect me.
I spent the morning working out what to do, and by the time I got to Maryline's place I knew the only thing was to abandon any thought's of walking until I was to meet Carol, my sister, in le-Puy-en-Velay. Maryline's help and advice were invaluable. She drove me to the station in Roanne, crossing the cycle path from yesterday, and from there I caught the train to St Etienne.
The tourist office here helped me find a physio with whom I have had two appointments, with three more scheduled. It was, as I thought, ligament damage, but also some tendon damage. I am now walking around with a very fancy bandage on my foot. I have spent five nights in one apartment, and am in the process of moving to another for the next six nights, meeting Carol as she changes trains on Saturday here in St Etienne, rather than in le Puy. We will set off on the Regordane Way on Sunday - a week today.
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