After a tough two weeks team Two Women Walking is back ion the road to Rome.
Pat’s decision to give her knee rest time proved wise. We’re now determined to walk shorter days and indulge in some luxurious rest time as well.
We left Lausanne with first class seats via paddle wheel steamer ship for a glorious trip along the north shore of Lake Geneva to Villeneuve.
In Villeneuve we went shopping at a huge outdoor equipment store for a few extra bits of warmer clothing. When we exited the store the temperature has risen to 23 degrees. So we packed all this extra stuff into our packs and walked to Aigle - a short flat easy twelve kilometres.
That night we stayed with wonderful pilgrim hosts Bernard and Marion. After an evening of wine and stories Pat and I bedded down in their grandchildren’s play room amid mobiles from around the world and nightlight globe.
The next day we took a series of trains - so fun riding electric Swiss trains. Virtually silent - They are frequent and run to schedule. It took two changes and a few hours to arrive in Orseliers - a pretty mountain village. We’d written to Paul Chinn’s, author of our Lightfoot guidebook and he’d suggested this as a way of accessing the more pleasant mountain trails and we’re really happy to have taken this fast forward, feeling we’ve not missed much scenic walking. Our afternoon was spent sitting in the warm sun on our balcony while wearing minimal clothing as our laundry dried. We listened to cowbells and watched two guys plant a tree.
Yesterday we hiked up to Bourg de St Pierre. A beautiful mountain walk! We took our time and Pat arrived with a tired but not painful knee. An other pilgrim - Laura - who we’d met several weeks ago arrived so we had beers together and later she joined us for dinner.
Today - another clear sunny day we’ve stayed put. Just soaking up the atmosphere, sun and this afternoon the heat of a sauna in the hotel’s very nice spa.
Tomorrow - 7 Oct - is Pat’s 70 th birthday and we’ll celebrate by continuing to the summit of the Grand Saint Bernard Pass - where we now plan to stay for two nights before descending into Italy.
So - significant changes to a hurried march to Rome, but we are both pleased with this new way of approaching our journey.
May I take a moment to remind anyone who is thinking of making a donation to our MSF fundraiser - doing so in honour of Pat’s birthday would be a perfect opportunity.
Happy Birthday Pat and it seems I don’t need to help remind you to have fun