Day 25 / Issoudun -Châteauroux / 33.56 km

I wake up at “Hotel de La Gare”. I have slept on a matress which is probably older then me and could use some Botox. I look outside, as predictited by Monsieur Agricole, it’s raining. Monsieur has forecasted rain all day. Breakfeast is not served until nine in the hotel I pack my things and start my search for a bakery and a bar for a coffee. 

At 8.30 I start running. It rains. The path follows departementals. Exceptionally the path opts for a field track, in most cases to difficult to run. I pass small villages without any bars or shops. No possibility to stop. It continues to pour. I have to cover 37.5 km today to reach Châteauroux. I look if I can find some shortcuts. Which I find. I gain 4 km’s of no rain by taking another departmental. The experience is the same though. Traffic flashes by, a mix of cars and trucks, giving me a shower everytime they pass by. Some drivers are sensible and try to maintain some distance. Others are less sensible. Not sure why the Saint Jacques guys opted to put the path on these departmental roads. Maybe it has to do with penance.





I arrive finally at Châteauroux around 1 o’clock in the afternoon. No stops. Food has been a Mars and cereal bar in the pouring rain. It takes another 1 hour through industrial and suburban zones to enter the city centre. The hotel is another “Hotel de la Gare” (same price as it’s Issoudun cousin-better matress). The city is grey, it’s still raining cat’s and dogs when I check in. I undress (when I’m in my room)and take a hot shower consuming all the hotel’s hot water.

I put my clothes, which are soaked, close to the central heating.I guess it will take until tomorrow to dry them based upon the level of warmth the heating is radiating. I go into bed.Warmth. I sleep until 17.00. When I wake up it stopped raining and I force myself to a brief visit of the city. Waist of time. The city is grey  and doesn’t seem a lot to offer. I buy some rice pudding and a small bottle of wine and retreat to the hotel. 



I’ts now 19.46 and I have dinner in a Vietnamese restaurant. The starter, Porc nems, are acceptable. The main dish, which is just served, also.

Today was not a fun day. When checking Monsieur Agricole the prediction for the next 7 day’s is similar to today : RAIN. Tomorrow even more rain is predicted. Not sure if this is even possible. I hope it’s an error in Monsieur Agricole’s algorithm. Not sure if I want to run another 7 day’s in the rain. Tough day. OIGO.

Lessons learned today:

- The sun doesn’t shine always after rain. Sometimes it just keeps raining.
- My Salomon paints are still keeping strong. My Patagonia rain jacket is a wussy after 2 hours of rain.
- Studio Brussels “Music at work” is great when running in the rain. Not sure the same if you are working.
- Sometimes one really hopes algorithms are wrong.


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