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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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
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