Day 16/ Étourvy - Tonnerre / 19.3 km

Today I will run to Chablis. I’m imagine  myself sitting in a nice restaurant consuming a nice Chablis. I know some snow is forecasted but at 9 o’clock the sun would shine and I, again, would be a happy camper. 

I open the curtains and indeed some snow has fallen. There is still snow falling, quite a lot of snow. I make coffee and prep breakfeast. Still not concerned. I check the weather radar and see clouds hanging over the region I am. Not good. Ingeborg, my host, comes in and informs me that it will continue snowing all day. I’m sceptical as Monsieur Meteo Argicole has told me otherwise.

9 o’clock and it is still snowing. It indeed doesn’t look it will stop. I decide to change plans : I will wait until this afternoon and run only to Tonnerre, some 20 km away. I was already planning to split up the route to Vézelay into 3 stages anyway. The area is quite hilly and otherwise I had to do 2 stages of more then 45 km following the GR. 

I keeps snowing, I keep myself busy reading the newspaper and organising lodging for the next 2 days. I find affordable places to sleap. Although still snowing I decide it’s time to start running. I tape my toes and say farewell to Ingeborg. 

I need to climb 2 hills ascending around 250 meter each time. The first hill is a slow ascent and descent. The ascent grade is around 5º.To steep to run. I don’t care to walk to day as I have plenty of time. The white landscape is beautiful. The descent is a short nice run.

The second hill. The ascent is steeper, over 6º, I walk around 3 km to reach the top. Once I pass the top the road goes down for 9km, requiring little effort from my side :I run at 12.5 km/hour with a heart rate below 100. 

I pass a farm which is called Ferme du Pélerin. I’m curious to learn why it’s called this way but nobody is around.

After 2 hours 25 I reach Tonnerre. When entering the city, making the picture of a nice mural,  an elderly strolling couple asks me what I’m doing and where I do come from. I explain I’m from Belgium, running to Compostella, that I had initially planned to run to Chablis but due to the snow I’m staying the night in Tonnerre. I ask them if there is any bar open in the city-centre. They think everything is closed as everything in Tonnerre is closing. I say goodbye and run the last 2 km to the B&B I’ve booked.

Tonnerre is a small city with an impressive medieval hospital and spring called the Fosse Dionne. The economy has been dwindling done the last decades as results I count a record of closed shops and houses on sale. a depressing last 2 kilometres.  The longer I’m running around in France the clearer it becomes that a lot of regions in France are doing badly economically , In most cases they are doing nothing anymore. 

A good example are Bars and restaurants. I found the same  pattern in most of the villages and cities I passed so far. The “French” bars and restaurant are closed. If they are open during daytime they close around 6 in the evening. The only places open are either pizzeria’s or kebab’s. This Sunday evening I found 2 restaurants open (the bars where all closed) in a city of 5500 inhabitants : a Turkish kebab restaurant and a Asian all you can eat (where I’m writing this blog). The only other place open was a kind of night shop which mainly stocks and sells alcohol. Cheap half liters with an alcohol percentage of at least 7%. The type of beer you need probably to drag you through the weekend and forecomming blue monday.

Below the spring called The Fosse Dionne. Fosse is derived from pit. Dionne from Divine. In average it produces 100 liter  of water per second.

I also want to inform you I. entered, after the French Ardennes, The Champagne and the Aube region a new, probably more known region : The Bourgogne. Another 2 days and I will be In Vézelay !

Lesson learned today :

- If it snows, let it snow.

- Snow above rain.

- If you want to eat in rural France in the evening your best chance is Asian.

- You can make great toenails from Compeed. Compeed should start a new productline aiming at pilgrims. (Thanks Jan DW for the advise).

Song of today : Snow in March - Dan Walsh

T.

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