Finally Back On Trail!

Folks!

I have good news! I will be back on trail tomorrow!

Just one more night sleeping, and then a very early out of bed thing, a getting to the train station thing, a hoping that the train actually runs thing, (as the train drivers in France are currently more or less on strike…).

And then, few hours later, we will be right next to the Atlantic Coast in Brittany, France, to walk part of the GR34.

(GR stands for “Grand Randonne” aka “Big Hike”.)

For some very uncreative reason, the French give these hikes numbers instead of names.

Anyway, I will finish up packing, go to sleep, and hopefully see you all tomorrow in France!

Notice in the picture, I will be able to eat Snicker Bars again without thinking too much about the fat effect on my hips! Yeay!! And no Big Agnes this time, it’s going to be a bit of a luxury hike with sleeping in real beds!

Right, here we are! Train ride went surprisingly smooth. Well, the aircon failed, but who cares, at least the thing brought us (although cooked) to Rennes.

We need to take the bus from here.

“Your ticket is not valid girls”.

“What do you mean?”

“You need to buy a ticket directly from me”, the bus driver woman says,

“yours is not valid” she repeats.

Right.

We grunt and pay.

Well, we are, obviously, in France, where they like to make up their own little rules on the go.

Back home we had decided to start our hike with a big bang. So we will sleep at Mont Saint Michel tonight. It’s a very cool middle age place on a super tiny island, right on the GR34.

We more (in the case of me) and less (in the case of Sandy) enjoy the rather very speedy and apparently double payed bus ride to Mont Saint Michel.

‘Wow!”

Mont Saint Michel is in sight! The thing is  fascinating indeed! Despite that it’s a little hazy today.

We need to walk one mile ish over a huge bridge to get there. Us, together with about one million other people.

“Holy shit Sandy!”

“What have we done!?”

This place sucks! It’s absolutely packed with toooourists! I am speaking heal-to-toes packed in very tiny streets.

Well! What choice do we have? Let’s go and let the crowd carry us to our pre-booked hotel.

Note to myself: “Never book a hotel in a category 1 tourist place ever again!”

Especially if the place is tiny!

We both need a nap.

It’s 6pm, we go back out. And look at this, the crowd thins out! The later it gets, the less tourists are here, we have this actually beautiful, pictoresque super historic place almost to ourselves!

We wonder through the tiny lanes and get a feeling of how this place must have been like a few hundred years ago!

We both feel such a relieve, that the heard is gone!

We are even inspired to check out the sunset by the river here!

But alright, let’s go to sleep, we have to get some miles done tomorrow! Along the beach!

Now how cool is that!

After a very overpriced breakfast, aka “we can charge you tourists as much as we bloody want, because this is a tourist top league place”, we hit the road.

Oh I am so very excited! After seven months of detox, I am finally back doing what I love doing!

And this in company with a wonderful, funny, deep and true friend!

Oh how lucky I am!

The only (but rather huge!) worry is the status quo of my Achilles. They are still very very tender from the PCT. Oregon has hurt them, Washington has killed them).

So let’s see how it goes. At least we will hike along the sea all day today and listen to the Atlantic waves! And at least the path will be flat for a while!

 

17 replies
  1. Tanja says:

    Wow, Heidi, so cool! Du bist wieder unterwegs! Prima! Ich freue mich, wieder von Dir zu lesen und wünsche Dir eine wunderbare Zeit.

    Reply
    • Heidi says:

      Jö Tanja, so härzig! Dankeschön! Vielleicht hike ich ja schon bald wieder mal in Irland! Dunja wäre dann sicher auch wieder mit von der Party! :)

      Reply
    • Heidi says:

      Hey Bruce!! Thanks! So nice of you! :) Not sure I can change your email, but I will give it a try! Will do when I am back home and at my big Computer, it’s a bit iffy over the phone!

      Reply
  2. Marlise says:

    Bonjour ma chère
    Je te souhaite BONNES VACANCES…
    N‘oublies pas: T‘es une PARTIE du tourisme, autrement il faudrait seulerment balader en Suisse pour éviter..
    Bonne chance!
    Marlise

    Reply
  3. Alexandra says:

    Wie hab ich mich gefreut, heute von Dir zu lesen! Viel Spass, liebe Heidi – geniess es!

    Reply
  4. Pirkko.nidecker says:

    So schön wieder mitzu wandern und das ohne Blattern, Schmerzen oder Entbehrungen

    Reply
  5. Kathy says:

    Hi Heidi— I don’t think you have enough snicker bars! Hope you can find somewhere to restock!– Kathy

    Reply
    • Heidi says:

      Hey Kathy! ;) Hehe, yes! You got that right! Oh men, these Snickers are sooo good! I definitely need to restock soon!

      Reply
  6. Steffie says:

    Liebe Heidi, ahhh… schöne Bilder, dazu Deine ehrlichen und witzigen Worte… freu mich richtig auf mehr! Echt schöne Vorstellung – Du wieder “back on trail” glücklich vereint mit Deinen Wanderschuhen … und dann noch eine liebe Freundin mit dabei. Ist schon ziemlich genial. Ich wünsch Euch beiden eine superschöne Zeit! Dein Schatz an Geschichten wird grösser und grösser… :-)

    Reply
    • Heidi says:

      Liebe Steffie! Big smile on my face, während ich Deinen unglaublich lieben Kommentar lese! Vielen Dank!! Und Du hast Recht, es ist wirklich ziemlich genial!! :). Ganz herzliche Grüsse! Heidi

      Reply

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