DAY 14 - JUVISY TO PONTHIERRY

Today we had another walk through the southeastern Seine-side suburbs without our backpacks.

We started where we had finished yesterday, at Juvisy.  We followed the GR2 for the first 20 or so kilometres before taking a shortcut to avoid a bend in the river. It was a more pleasant route than yesterday, with less high-rise and more greenery.  On the way we saw lots of birdlife: swans, geese and ducks.

Swan

Geese

Ducks - good weather for them

Swans nesting

We crossed the river after about 15km to enter the town of Corbeil-Essonnes. Now a part of the larger Paris conurbation, Corbeil has a long history which is evident in its old churches, ramparts and cobblestoned streets.  We wandered around the town for a while, before going into a bar for a hot chocolate.

The medieval ramparts at Corbeil-Essonnes

 

Refreshed from the pause and the welcome hot chocolate, we resumed our way southward along the GR2. All day we had passed recreational joggers and cyclists, and, on the river, training rowers.  The weather continued to be quite cold, with intermittent showers.  Dismal to walk through, but good for artistic puddle photos.

Artistic puddle photo

Another artistic puddle photo

At Le Coudray-Montceaux we left the GR2 and headed inland towards Ponthierry, the end of today's walk (and the start of tomorrow's).

Waiting to cross at the school crossing - Le Coudray-Montceaux

Day:  14
Distance:  26.53km
Walking time:  5hrs 04mins
Elevation gain:  296 metres
Cumulative distance:  336.76 km

DAY 13 - PARIS TO JUVISY

Apart from the first few kilometres which took us out of Paris, this was not the most interesting day's walk. 

Lovers' padlocks were for a long time a feature on some of Paris's bridges. The bridges were becoming unstable because of the weight, and the padlocks were removed.  People are now placing them wherever there's an available railing.

 We started where we left off before our rest day, just outside Notre Dame. Our delightful older daughter joined us for the first few kilometres. Our route out of Paris went across the Île Saint Louis, up towards the Bastille, and out to the Bois de Vincennes via the Coulée Verte, a raised garden walkway above the traffic.

With our delightful older daughter on the Coulee Verte

Striding out along the Coulee Verte

  

We had our lunch in the Bois de Vincennes looking out at the lake, then went on without our delightful older daughter. We worked our way through Charenton, crossed the Marne by a footbridge just before it joined the Seine, and found a footpath that followed the Seine southwards for several kilometres. 

A rest stop in the Bois de Vincennes

For the rest of the day we just followed the river through the south-eastern suburbs, occasionally diverging slightly when the GR2 found a hill it thought we'd like to climb, or to find a bar for our afternoon hot chocolate/toilet break.

Walking south along the Seine towards Juvisy

 

Day:  13
Distance:  29.74km
Walking time:  5hrs 34mins
Elevation gain:  419 metres
Cumulative distance:  310.23 km

DAY 12 - PARIS (REST DAY)

As we had a rest day from our walk today, strolling around Paris with our delightful older daughter, today's regular walk update will be replaced by Random Rest Day Ramblings.

Enjoying our rest day in Paris

RANDOM REST DAY RAMBLINGS 

• We also have a splendid son, who prefers not to be mentioned in this blog, so we are not mentioning him.

Some essential information

• Toilets:  In provincial Normandy, we found one public toilet (in Auffay). On the plus side, there are many forests.  In Paris, we have found cemeteries not only interesting places for searching for famous people and war graves, but a great source of free clean toilets. 

 

• Foot Care:  The gel inserts that I have for the balls of my feet have proved excellent for avoiding the blisters that I received before inserting them.  We are searching for some for Russell.  Aunty June found us some microporous tape (39p at Boots, England; 3 euros in France) which is wonderful when rubbing develops - tape to prevent blisters.  The lambs wool (thanks Manny & Victoria) is useful for extra padding, and I have used it as shoulder pads to protect against rubbing from my backpack.   Another tip is to loosen your laces aroound the toes if rubbing develops there.

Foot care products for long-distance walkers: Victorian lambswool and microporous tape

• Dogs:  Every house in the country (and possibly in the city) has at least one.  Walkers are the highlight of their day - they bark madly and (usually) wag their tails.  We have had just a couple of incidents where unrestrained dogs showed undue interest - one was called off by the owner in the nick of time, the others lost interest.  There are interesting signs on many fences warning of the degree of dog savagery.

Watch out for the dog.  Running tally:  Postmen 6, Balls 17, Thieves 8

• Table d'hote:  On three occasions so far the hosts of the chambres d'hote have cooked specialities for us and it has been a highlight.  On the first occasion we ate homemade pate, foraged trumpet mushrooms with chicken, and apple crumble made from homegrown apples.  On the second occasion we had pate made from wild boar (shot by the host's friend), brioche stuffed with camembert and a version of French toast with apple and cream.  On the third occasion the host was Vietnamese and made us homemade spring rolls, chicken and rice and chocolate muffin with a caramel centre.  Often the hosts eat and talk with us, and it is a great way of connecting with people and a different culture.

Some regional specialities: Opera, Merveilleux and Paris-Brest

 

• Patisserie:  We had a slow start to our consumption, partly because we were recovering from colds and also adjusting to eating the large breakfasts (that are provided at the chambres d'hote).  On most days we eat a croissant and often a pain aux raisins as well - we usually have a fruit pastry for morning tea (so we get some healthy fruit); in Paris we have started exploring the wide variety of patisserie available.  It's all good!   

DAY 11 - ST-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE TO PARIS

We had been looking forward to this stretch for some time. We are staying for the rest of the week with our delightful elder daughter in St-Germain-en-Laye, so we'll be leaving our backpacks behind while we walk through Paris. We will be using public transport to get to the start of each day's walk. Except for today, of course. Today's stage started where yesterday's finished - at the front door.

Breakfast with our delightful older daughter outside Paris 

We set off after a late breakfast intending to follow the long-distance walking paths into Paris. However, we ended up becoming disillusioned when we missed the signage a couple of times, and when our route took us to gated communities where the roads were barred to non-residents.  So after following the GR2 as far as Bougival we ended up plotting our own path into Paris.

Leaving St-Germain-en-Laye, with the buildings of La Défense in thé background

This took us via Garthes to Saint-Cloud, where we first visited the cemetery.  It had an interesting section of World War I graves, including several men who died after the Armistice, in December 1918 and into 1919.

Among the war graves at Saint Cloud cemetery 

We then headed for the footbridge across the Seine. This was a wonderful way to enter Paris, with views of the Eiffel Tower beyond the Bois de Boulogne straight ahead of us, and glimpses of the golden dome of the Invalides and of Sacré Coeur basilica.

The footbridge at St-Cloud, heading towards the Boisde Boulogne and the Eiffel Tower 

Once across the Seine, we strolled through the Bois de Boulogne and down to the river by the statue of liberty. We were walking along the Allée des Cygnes, with the Eiffel Tower looming ever larger in front of us, when we fell victim to the bird poop scam. (Lots of accounts of it on Google - of course we're kicking ourselves for having fallen for it). The result was that in the confusion created by the supposed bird poo mess and our new good friends helping to clean it from our clothes, the thieves helped themselves to the money from my wallet (inside a zippered side pocket). We didn't notice until several hours later, when I next got my wallet out.

So when we walked the short distance on to the Eiffel Tower, via the Australian Embassy,  we were feeling quite contented, and took a ceremonial selfie to mark our arrival in Paris.

Ceremonial selfie at the Eiffel Tower. We look happy because we didn't realise we'd just been shamelessly robbed

After a bit of a delay while I took advantage of the available wifi to finish and post the blog post for yesterday, we strode on along the quais on the left bank until we reached the Quai St Michel. Here we ended today's walk and took the RER back to St-Germain-en-Laye.

Day:  11
Distance:  34.04km
Walking time:  6hrs 23mins
Elevation gain:  512 metres
Cumulative distance:  280.49 km

DAY 10 - BREUIL-EN-VEXIN TO ST-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE

This was a day we'll remember for the weather. Cold, then warm, then cool, then warm, then raining, then snowing, then dry and warm, then snowing again, etc. In a word: changeable.

We left Breuil-en-Vexin after breakfast and headed towards Hardricourt by country paths through fields and forests. At Hardricourt we bought supplies for the day, tried to organise our Paris transport tickets for the week (unsuccessfully - the station workers were on strike), and had our morning coffee/hot chocolate in a café.  We then headed across the Seine, plotting a fairly direct line to St-Germain-en-Laye, our stop for the night.

Through the fields to Hardricourt 

From the bridge at Meulan, this route took us through quite a variety of scenery - streets of suburban high-rise buildings, forest, cropped fields, and back into lower - density suburban architecture.

Lavoirs were communal washing facilities in use before everyone had their own. Some have been left as historical curiosities. Judging by the colour of the water in this one (green), it is no longer in use

When we saw a bench surrounded by spring flowers we stopped for lunch. We had just about finished our cheese sandwich when the sky turned very dark and we could see a storm rapidly approaching. We packed up our things and took shelter just as the rain and snow were starting. This was to be the first of 2 snow showers we were caught in today.

Sheltering from the snowstorm 

10 or fifteen minutes later the rain had stopped and the sun was out. We continued our walk down to the Seine at Villennes-sur-Seine, where we turned right and followed the river as far as Poissy. On the way we stopped for another sustenance break and walked through another snow shower.

A fine rest spot

By the time we got to the Parc Meissenet in Poissy the sun was out, and there was no hint of the cold, wet conditions of such a short time earlier.

Sunshine in the park in Poissy

We made our way to St-Germain-en-Laye through the forest, passing a golf course and several dog-walkers on the way.

The forest at St-Germain-en-Laye

Kath's Tip:  Chocolate is a wonderful restorative when you are wet, the path is not where it should be and then it starts snowing!

Day:  10

Distance:  30.37km

Walking time:  5hrs 55mins

Elevation gain:  586 metres

Cumulative distance:  246.45 km

DAY 9 - GIVERNY TO BREUIL-EN-VEXIN

We left Giverny after breakfast, with another peek at Monet's garden through the fence on our way out. A few kilometres along quiet roads and we arrived in La Roche-Guyon, an attractive, historic village on the Seine.  We walked into the village along a road where the houses were set into the cliff face, along with their garages and storage areas.

A garage cut into the cliff

There were many other interesting features of the village - Germanic rather than French script on the signs, the distinctive ruined castle on the hill, the relatively modern castle underneath it, the extensive formal fruit and vegetable garden, and several streets of old stone houses.

La Roche-Guyon castles

We sat down for a reviving hot chocolate in a café  (it was a chilly morning), and then left La Roche-Guyon on the GR2. The path went straight uphill (of course), then followed a ridge above the cliffs for several kilometres before descending to the town of Vétheuil. Here we found a historic church and an interesting-looking second-hand bookshop (closed on Mondays, like most other shops in this and many other French towns and villages).

Another spectacular ridge walk - the GR2 between La Roche-Guyon and Vétheuil 

From Vétheuil we left the GR2, and travelled by quiet streets and off-road paths to our overnight destination at Breuil-en-Vexin. Among the highlights of this stretch was a monument at Les Millonnets to Roger Coquoin, 'A Hero of the Resistance'. 

Like René Artois, a hero of the Resistance 

Day:  9
Distance:  28.87km
Walking time:  5hrs 49mins
Elevation gain:  783 metres
Cumulative distance:  216.08 km

DAY 8 - PORT-MORT TO GIVERNY

This was a short day in terms of walking, as we wanted to have plenty of time to explore Monet's garden in Giverny.

We got to the bakery in Port-Mort shortly after it opened, and loaded up with enough supplies to last until lunch. We then headed off southwards, using a mixture of roads and tracks, towards Giverny. We had a brief pause in Pressagny l'Orgueilleux for croissants and pain aux raisins, and a longer stop beside an old mill near the bridge at Vernon.

 Morning tea spot near the bridge across the Seine at Vernon - for those who requested to see pâtisserie feature more in our blog

It was only a few kilometres from Vernon to Giverny, which we covered on a hard-surfaced track that was once a small railway. The track was being well-used, mostly by locals enjoying the bracing Sunday morning air to get some outdoor exercise.

'Rail trail' into Giverny

Shortly after we arrived in Giverny it began to rain, and we joined hordes of other tourists in heading indoors for lunch. This was the first major tourist place we have visited this trip, and has all the things you'd expect: tourist shops, signs in English, higher prices, and lots of people wandering the streets.

Among the tourists at Monet's garden 

After lunch, we checked in to our accommodation, had a short rest, and spent the next few hours wandering around Monet's house and garden. The display of Spring-flowering plants was spectacular, 

Models lining up to be photographed on the iconic bridge in Monet's garden 

Day:  8

Distance:  19.73km

Walking time:  4hrs 2mins

Elevation gain:  253 metres

Cumulative distance:  187.21 km

DAY 7 - LE PETIT ANDELY TO PORT-MORT

After yet another wonderful breakfast, which this time followed a fantastic dinner of local specialities, at our chambre d'hôte (Aux Fenêtres du Château), we walked across the Seine and followed the GR2 up to the Château Gaillard.

Those who don't know the history of the Château Gaillard can read about it on site

We stayed there for quite a while, exploring the ruins, reading the information boards and taking in the views.

Magnificent views of the Seine and Les Andelys from the Château Gaillard 

When we were ready to move on, we followed the path southwards. It continued uphill for a while, and away from the river, before descending to the village of Bouafles. We then followed a bend in the Seine to our overnight stop at Port-Mort.

Moving on from the Château Gaillard 

After checking in to our accommodation,  we went for a walk around the village, and found a boulangerie where we were able to find provisions for the afternoon.

Some healthy fruit for afternoon tea

Day:  7

Distance:  18.8km
Walking time:  3hrs 56mins
Elevation gain:  409 metres
Cumulative distance:  167.48 km

DAY 6 - ST-PIERRE-DU-VOUVRAY TO LE PETIT ANDELY

A relatively short distance today, walking alongside the Seine for a while before joining the GR2 for the entry into Les Andelys.

We started the day retracing our steps back to the Seine, crossing over the bridge at Andé.  After about 2 hours we came to the village of Muids. We went inside the only shop in the village, a post office/café/general store, sat down for a coffee and bought our daily baguette.

A flat section of road at Muids

We stayed on the road at river level for several kilometres.  Just past La Roque we had our picnic lunch in a grassy spot by the Seine, admiring views of the river on one side and chalk cliffs on the other.

Hermit caves - our wonderful younger daughter in Canberra would love exploring here

After another few flat kilometres, we joined the GR2 at Val-St-Martin for a spectacular up-down-up-down walk into Les Andelys. From the path we had a good view of some caves cut into the cliffs.

Along the GR2

The final descent into Les Andelys featured fantastic views of the Le Petit  Andely and the Château Gaillard, an imposing ruined castle with a fascinating history.

Wonderful views approaching Les Andelys and the Château Gaillard 

Day:  6
Distance:  23.83km
Walking time:  5hrs 7mins
Elevation gain:  486 metres
Cumulative distance:  148.68 km