Day 26 – 22.5 miles to Metz

The walking wasn’t the issue today. It was everything else. Good and bad in equal measure, apart from one spectacular BAD.

The day started badly with overnight storms. Tent obviously wet, but the sleeping bag was also more damp than usual. The good news is I slept quite well. Must have got 6 hours, which is about 2 more than previous nights.

Not much to see on the way – some roads, some very slippy & muddy forest tracks and that’s about it.

Along the way stopped at a bar for a lemonade, and since that was all I was having, they didn’t charge me. Also on the way into Metz a guy mowing his lawn asked if I needed any water or anything to eat.

Definitely does restore your faith. Makes me a but less cynical with individuals. The same cannot be said for big companies. See later.

Anyway, got to Metz and the heavens opened 15 minutes from the campsite. Enough to get soaked.

Metz seems OK. Will take a quick tour after a shower. The Metz campsite is a dump. Campers are definitely the lowest class. They offered my a piece of muddy, stony ground. After complaining, I eventually got a piece of uneven grassy ground with twigs on it. 10 minutes clearing the pitch again. The good grass is saved for camper vans as they pay more.

Metz…

Now the really bad news. My resupply parcel has not arrived. Asked Nick and Kev to chase it. The news is that it is in a depot somewhere. Apparently as France has had a couple of bank holidays in May there is a 3 to 6 day backlog of parcels. It may arrive sometime, but your guess is a good as mine. Have asked my resupply host (B&B) to ring them as his French is better than mine, but no response to my email.

You can never be too cynical when dealing with big companies.

So if it is going to be a week, my walk stops tomorrow. No way can I wait a week going up the wall, and then re-motivate myself. I’m on a tight schedule as it is. To put it into perspective, all my recent hard work and long days mean I’ve made up 2 days. No way can I lose a week.

So no idea of the future beyond tomorrow.

To end on a cheery note, here’s some flowers