Had generally a cloud-covered day to trek the 23+ km (14.4 mi) and started down the Camino waymarkered path until I took a spill among logs and branches strewn across the path. Then I came up to a blockage I couldn't pass. So I backtracked and made sure to stay on small paved roads.

The day wasn't going well until I found a great place to have lunch. It was in the town of Sainte-Catherine-de-Fierbois on the St Joan of Arc Plaza and ironically a young fellow sitting several tables away ended up being my roommate at a small "albuerge" I arranged to stay at through the Office de Tourisme. They also got me a reservation for tomorrow night. All good signs.

My roommate brought to my attention that the town we're staying in, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, is very famous for its goat cheese by the same name. But we're over a mile from town and I may not feel up to going into town for some of that good cheese.

For the first time in France, I faithfully followed the waymarkers for the entire nominal 16.2 km (10+ mi) route. Mind you, this was not the GR 655 (long-range hiking tour) which goes more in the fields and forests, but rather the sanctioned Camino Route--and it worked. I asked the Tours Office de Tourisme to make me a reservation with "City Hall" Mairie here, and I ended up in a 3-bed albuerge type of accommodation and so far I'm the only one here.

I chose to get my 20+ km (12.5 mi) in from where I left off the day before at Monnaie by walking along the scenic Loire River to Vouvray and back (a few pictures of the Loire are included). As it turned out, this was along the sanctioned Camino Route. On the way back, I had lunch at the Guinguette de Tours sur Loire, one of several locations of this restaurant right on the bank of the river.

Fanny, Sébastien and I went for an evening walk to show me some of the sights and sounds of Tours. The city by night is amazing and we ended up at the Tours Guinguette for a bottle of wine. A picture is included that captures some of the atmosphere.

Tried to get an early start for this short 15 km (9+ mi) walk because of the sun. The picture of the sunflowers welcoming me along the way aptly set the tone. At Monnaie, I caught the train into Tours and had no problem finding my Airbnb host family. They welcomed me for lunch and we spent hours talking (in English).

Tours is celebrating the 1700th anniversary of St Martin (he was bishop of Tours), and highlighting each day is a magical sound and light show illuminating the Cathedral's facade--I was mesmerized for the 30 minutes and my pictures don't do it justice. The red cloak of St Martin appears in several pics--its legend is well known and ultimately, we get the word chaplain from the priests who were the guardians of the reliquary that contained half the robe (the other half he gave to the needy soldier)--they were called cappellanu. Note his robe cut in half!

The Cathedral's interior was overpowering with its sheer space and number of stained glass windows. I singled out one glass set, namely the "St James the Great Stained Glass Window" that captures some of the great moments in St James' life.

My goal was to walk the 26 km (16+ mi), but since I had a tight window in which to catch the train back to Vendome, I opted to walk the same distance but in a big loop to a closer town (Saint-Amand-de-Vendôme). I passed picturesque little villages. And, being Sunday, the stores were open until noon, very different from Poland and Germany. Four points to make:

First, a picture of my lovely host family, with one member absent, the oldest daughter, Marylou; on the photo are Alice, Samuel, Eliot, and Romane.

Secondly, and barely out of Vendome, I ran into a French-American memorial that takes us back to the Revolutionary War. Native Son Rochambeau along with a French Expeditionary Force were sent by French King Louis XVI to help Gen Washington.The rest is history!

The third is life-saving advice from Pierre in Paris: "if you ever need water in France, go to the nearest cemetery." Today I needed some, and in a small town with a tiny cemetery, I found a spigot with cool water--a life saver! Thank you Pierre.

Fourth was most unusual. The local St Jacques Chemin (Camino) coordinator and his wife happened by and stopped the car on the road after they recognized my shell. We talked for 10 or so minutes and they gave me some helpful hints for lodging, as did Alice when I returned.

I took the bus from my Airbnb base in Vendome to where I left off yesterday and started walking back the 17 km (10.5 mi). Only a noontime bus was available so the heat in the sun soon hit with full force, even though it was only in the low 80s.

With nearly 1000 miles behind me, I took this picture in the small, sleepy village of Pezou, with under 1000 people and about 100 mi southwest of Paris. It stopped me in my tracks as I felt the deep pain for France. Je suis très. . . non, nous sommes très désolés de cette tragédie! We all feel the pain. For the next three hours I kept getting reminded by their flags (sometimes with the black ribbons) of Bastille Day's terrible tragedy.

A scenic 25 km (15.6 mi) trek weaved in and out of the picturesque sights of the Loir River (not to be confused with the Loire River, France's longest at over 1000 km and studded with over 1000 chateaux). But I was duly impressed with just the one chateau that I saw today.

The fountain I captured has served many a pilgrims over the centuries and was restored in 2002. The family I'm showing was truly a set of trail Angels; they immediately recognized my shell and insisted that they feed me and give me something to drink at their house. I graciously accepted and luckily for doing that because it was the only substantial meal of the day! (My fault--I had chances, but I missed them.) In return, they asked only that I pray for their family!

The Chemin de St Jacques marker stayed with me all day and filled me with warm confidence. After 25 km, I took the bus to Vendome, for my first Airbnb experience ever. Just did a replan of my next four days up through Tours, the next big city to take advantage of available lodging.

I took the train from Chartres in the morning to Illiers and walked the country roads in a generally south direction with a slightly west heading. Nice, cool day that made the 29 km (18 mi) on flat countryside doable even for a while in drizzle. Passing through the small villages delighted me but their lack of eateries frustrated me as well. At one point I gave up and pulled out half of my dry baguette and ate it with my water. Later I even pulled some beans off a stalk in the field thinking that they would round out my diet--they were good.

Then I entered the town of Dangeau and again I looked around--but nothing available (it was also Bastille Day). Then I spotted a fancy restaurant, stepped inside, saw the exquisite table settings, and decided not to enter. At that instant, I looked at the menu outside and saw mainly 5-course "menus," starting at 45€. I was still hungry and figured I might be able to find something a la carte, so I decided to go in.

The name of the restaurant was (loosely translated) The Postal Coach Stop at St James. It's directly on the St. James route and the church across the street is named St James--wow. It was established as a hotel in 1490.

I noticed the a la carte items would have added up to more than their least expensive menu, which I started to order. Then the server saw my St James shell, and she told me that all the plat du jour selections were half price! This no doubt was (and will be) the climax meal of my Camino: escargot, duck, a cheese platter with 20+ cheeses to choose from, and then desert. I just couldn't bring myself to ordering wine--it would have wiped me out for the remainder of the walk! Two quarts of water did the trick. The emotional ride from dry bread to a three-star meal was more than I could handle! I was overwhelmed. Thank you!

The plan said I did 25.4 km, but the road signs give me credit for 36 km (22.5 mi), and it felt like it, too. I started with the trekking route (GR 655) for about an hour, but that led me to a crisscrossing maze of paths in a dark forest and slowed me to a crawl while checking my route every few minutes. That's enough, so from now on it's the bicycle route (near my electronic track). The bike route had excellent way marking--there weren't any markers in the forest!

And a statue of a pilgrim is always a good sign that you're on the right track! Ideal hiking weather--cool and even a slight drizzle. I returned by train for my third night in Chartres, and will leave tomorrow just when I get to know my way around pretty well.

This morning, a couple of Belgian bicycle pilgrims convinced me to use Airbnb for a source of lodging at reasonable prices. I joined, was impressed, and booked my first two nights (for days 85 & 86). I've known about them, but never explored them. It was time; Booking.com and HostelWorld have tried my patience!

If I had more time, I would explore Illiers because of its association with Marcel Proust, considered by many to be one of the greatest authors. As a tribute to Proust's literary masterpiece (In Search of Lost Time), the people of Illiers decided, in 1971, to change the town's name to Illiers-Combray, on the occasion of the first centenary of the author's birth--Combray is Proust's fictional name for Illiers!

Simple day, simple blog, but powerful image seeing the Chartres Cathedral emerging from the fields of grain. It was almost mystical when you consider that the cathedral is at a high point in the city and one first needs to go down before climbing back up.

I took the train back to where I left off yesterday and started walking the back trails of GR 655--with its beautiful scenery. But after a few hours, I switched back to country roads walking through some picturesque villages.

Last night it was a bitter defeat "al final" for France, but they can hold their head high. It was a great soccer game for the 2016 European Championship.

I walked along the GR 655 (I explained the GR on day 80) for some 25+ km (15.6 mi). I am using Chartres as a home base for 3 days at the Youth Hostel. I'll use one more day going back, and one day going forward.

For much of the way, I couldn't help but feel gratitude for attaining day 81 without any problems and able to bounce back after what seemed like a grueling day yesterday. Super tired--YES, but no pains. THANK YOU!

Visiting Chartres ranks as one of the Camino's highlights. In fact, Chartres, for a long time, was the most popular pilgrim's destination within France. And, seeing the Camino Shell and distance marker from the cathedral to Santiago was very special (only 1625 km; whereas my plan using the del Norte Route has 1603 km to go--about 1,000 mi). I now have confidence again in being on the right path.

According to tradition, Chartres Cathedral (Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres) has housed the tunic of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Sancta Camisia, since 876 (a picture included next to the main altar). The current Cathedral was dedicated in 1260 (a number of previous structures did not survive), and has survived the French Revolution as well as both world wars--I find that remarkable!!!

I went crazy taking pictures, but will only post a few, including one of nine portals, the main altar piece, rose stained glass window on the north side (all the stained glass windows form the most complete collection dating back to medieval times), the labyrinth on the floor in the nave once used by contemplating monks and later by pilgrims (the path out is 964 feet).

Short blog: Panicky day, and I had to come up with a new route on the fly!

Regular blog: Heat was beginning to show itself, but luckily only low 80's. Thinking I had a 33 km day in the plan, and starting the GR tracks (I'll explain shortly about GRs), I figured to start the day by taking the train for about 9 or 10 km. So I walked for 3+ hrs to do at least 15 km (plus 10 for the train) that would leave me only about 8 km. Instead, Google Maps indicated I still had 24 km to go (making it a 39 km day). Then I added the distances up on the electronic tracks and came up with about 35 km still to walk to my destination hotel. I panicked!

I stopped for lunch to rehydrate and get some food in me, and then think about my problem. The problem, it turns out, is that there are two sources of distances: Google Maps with the "walk selection" and the meta data for each track I downloaded from the GR source site--they're vastly different! The GR, Grande Randonnée, are long-distance walking paths chosen to go through forests, along rivers, etc. The region I'm in is full of GRs. The sum of the segments for today's walk total 55km--I never saw that when I put the plan together. So while I walked some of the GR-655 / GR 11 (with a few pictures), I modified my route, and ended up walking about 34 km (21 mi). I will need to make adjustments where I have GRs.

Some thoughts about last evening: after we went to the indoor fresh meat-fish-cheese-vegetable market for the dinner ingredients, Pierre prepared a scrumptious dinner last night. Between him and Edith, I probably gained a few pounds these last five days.

When I left this morning, I dwelled on leaving two good friends who gave their all to make sure my stay was comfortable and who enriched my experience beyond any words or any gratitude I could show. That's the awkwardness of being a pilgrim: you graciously take, but can't return their generosity except perhaps in the mysterious ways of the universe when two lives briefly intersect, each one being the better off. Enough said.

My walk, once beyond the périphérique (the beltway) turned into a pleasant mix of walking / cycle paths (Promenade des vallons de la Bièvre), a kind of green belt that went on for miles. Then it turned into a forest path equally pleasant, but with fewer people. The pictures try to give impressions.

Can't wait for tomorrow's football finals. Of course, it won't be the same as being in Paris!

My 22-km walk on July 7th from Roissy to Pierre's flat near Gare du Nord, was totally eclipsed by our experience of France beating Germany in the soccer semifinals that evening. We had dinner in the Latin Quarter with another friend of Pierre's, Stephen (a Scottish expat), and watched the entire game at the restaurant. Yes, I finally got to enjoy some escargot! After the win, Paris went crazy.

We walked all the way to past the Place de la Concorde and half way down the Champs-Élysées, which the police had blocked off to cars-you can see the swarm of blue lights from the police vans. I mean, how often in one's lifetime does one get to walk down the Champs?? It was crazy, but fun crazy! On the way we saw the Eiffel Tower in colors and then sparkling at midnight. By then, I was more than exhausted.

On Friday, Jul 8th, I walked the short 3.9 km from the flat to the Tower of St Jacques, the starting point for pilgrim's beginning in Paris. Then a visit to Notre Dame de Paris, a ride back on the Metro, and time with Pierre finished the day.

To begin with, these two days were totally restructured from the plan. The main reason was to shorten the route. But then it wasn't as easy as A to B to C, because a round trip from the house where I was staying to the train station was 14 km (8.75 mi). I had to factor that into the total I walked for Jul 5th. On Jul 6, rather than taking the train over 75 km., Edith gave me a ride to an intermediate village and I walked about 13 km around the Charles de Gaul Airport to my hotel in Roissy-en-France. Bottom line is that for the two days I walked a total of only 35 km (22 mi).

Staying in Soissons had the advantage of being in a familiar place with familiar people and it added an immeasurable amount of warmth over the last three days, not to mention that I became very familiar with the city (pop of 29,000). I still marvel at what all it has for that size: cathedral, the St Jean des Vignes (vineyards) Abbey established in 1076 (now being studied for archeological remains by a Team led by a Wesleyan University faculty member), and a vast history going back to Merovingian dynastic times. I had to include a pic of the abbey ruins, one of the most outstanding pieces of architecture in the city (maybe more prized than their cathedral).

Tomorrow, I'm staying with a friend of Edith's, Pierre, close to the Gare du Nord. We're planning to watch the Germany vs France Football Game at a local pub--the end is near. I'm excited about that.

I shuttled by train from Soissons to Villers, then walked the 18.5 km (11.6 mi) to Crépy-en-Valois with a lighter-than-usual backpack (many of the heavier items I just left in my room in Soissons). The best part of the walk was being able to avoid the oncoming traffic of the N2 by having extra wide shoulders (see the pic) or being in a construction zone where I had half the highway to myself, or walking on a farmer's frontage road.

I had enough time after arriving back in Soissons by train to walk into the city to visit the cathedral and then to my host's house (another 7+ km, but it was worth it). The cathedral dates back to 1211, its single tower being a copy of Notre Dame de Paris' towers and dating back to the mid-13th century. It was quite impressive. Hanging in the apse was a Rembrandt, the Adoration of the Shepherds, worthy of some oohs and aahs. The nave and tower suffered great damage from WW I and had been restored.

A plaque inside the cathedral caught my eye: England honoring its heroes lost in WW I, and recognizing that many still lie on French ground. Yet another somber reminder of the gravity of WW I's human toll, particularly in this area.

An evening meal outside was planned when I arrived. We got the neighbor to take a few pictures of the family that I included. They were all gracious hosts for having me stay three days, and Edith's good English made for a lively discussion.

Today's 22.3 km (14 mi) walk was similar to being legally on the 101 highway without any shoulder. Although I didn't expect trucks today, being Sunday, it was the hordes of RVs that surprised me. Most of the vehicles swerve to give me more room, but when they can't, I jump to give them room--it's a little tiring walking along the "101."

On arriving at Villers-Cotterêts, I missed the train back to Soissons by 5+ minutes. The three-hour wait, however, allowed me to explore this town of some 11,000 and discover it was the birthplace of Alexandre Dumas, pere (The Three Muscateers, The Count of Monte Cristo, etc.). The pictures are of the town square with Dumas statue and the church in the background.

There are so many rocks waiting to be turned over!

No highway walking from my host family's town of Brunelle--all on little travelled country roads. The 20 km (12.5 mi) passed quickly and I found myself in Soissons barely after noon. My walk took me past their cathedral (pic included) but my first goal was to get settled in my Premiere Classe Hotel (pic included), This hotel is bare bones, but at least they install toilet seats/covers that the last two hostels and a budget Ibis Hotel have forgone--I couldn't believe the shortcuts they're taking.

I met an absolute trail angel in one of the towns about midway. The owner of a bar where I planned a midway rest stop gave me a bag of fruit and an orange juice on the House--bless her soul.

I will use Soissons as a base for the next three days to shuttle by train to the day's walk. I'm in a section where there aren't many, if any, hotels. Then I'll be within two days of Paris.

Most of today's 25 km (15.6 mi) were along the highway, but some with pretty decent shoulders. The last 3 km made me sorry I picked a "forest path": muddy, fallen trees, you name it. I had no problem finding Father Xavier and his 13th century, impressive church. After a welcome and tour of the church, he drove me to a host family in the adjoining village some 8 km away. Braine has a population of about 2,200, yet their church befits a city of 100 times that. I include a picture of the church before much of the nave was destroyed due to fire on WW II.

Can't say enough good things about my hosts including working with me on a replanned route to Paris, which I've been further refining because of the lack of hotels in several of the towns.

Had an easy walk of 19.2 km (12 mi) with many paths parallel to the heavily travelled 2-lane highway. But still, I had to face many a semi truck or bus who could not avoid me because he had oncoming traffic--my only option to jump into deeper grass and try to make forward progress, or just wait it out. I probably had a fourth of the day like that (as many days are--but this road seemed busier than usual). So when I was taken down a peaceful dirt road shown in the picture, I felt ecstatic.

Took the "happy" train back to Reims for my third and final night. Walking back from the train station, I couldn't resist a cheese platter and a few glasses of wine--the cheese was enough for four people, but I managed (and made some sandwiches for tomorrow). And all that made for a happy pilgrim as shown in the pic.

I was lucky to confirm meeting Father Xavier at tomorrow's destination. He'll arrange for lodging for me. And I'm also set for the next day; that significantly reduces my Camino Stress--it's been my biggest concern.