E5 Days 6-10

Sunday, March 10

• Although we thought there would be none, Veronique prepares a delicious breakfast for us.

• Veronique, the patient lady, is super sweet, comes in regularly and asks if we need anything, and radiates real grandmother vibes.
• Strengthened, we set off through the valley and then up towards Mont d’Arrée.

• Veronique told us about the storm and how severe the damage was here and today on the trail we see it everywhere: fallen electricity pylons, power lines hanging down, trees snapped like matchsticks – no wonder nobody had the time and energy to clear the hiking trails yet.
• So progress is difficult and I’m not feeling well today, either morally or physically. When we’ve walked five kilometers (of our planned 35) after two hours, we seriously ask ourselves how this is supposed to work.

•  One ray of hope is a flock of sheep who, when they see us, all come running and “mow” loudly.

• “Look Marie,” says Matthew, “they’re cheering you on!” Mooi <3
• We find a solution to our dilemma and decide to go south around the lake instead of north as originally planned, which shortens the route by around six kilometers – a not insignificant distance when hiking.
• After three hours, when we have already covered nine kilometers, we become a little more confident.

• However, the hollow paths along the hiking trails often remain flooded – sometimes real streams flow down them and fallen trees are lying across the path everywhere.

• However, none of this detracts from the beauty of the national park.

• We soon reach the vast, barren and almost steppe-like landscape around the lake, which reminds us a little of Yellowstone National Park, only with cold water instead of hot.

• At the top of the hill, just as we’ve finished listening to our first audio book, two cyclists come towards us and at the sight of the bumpy, rutted path, one of them exclaims very aptly: “Oh lalalalala!”

• Indeed! At the lake, the path also leads through a sparse forest in places. We are slightly panicked at the sight of it, in our minds fallen trees appear around every corner- and indeed they do.

• To top it all off, I make the serious mistake of putting the Commentators Curse on us and say: “Nothing can shock me anymore today!”
• Shortly afterwards, a huge tree and its crown lie on the path, through which we have to make our way – almost literally.

• To make the whole mess (badumm-tss) perfect, it also starts to rain.

• We are accordingly relieved when we reach our accommodation for the night – although we get a shock at first when we see the ruins at its Google location.

• Luckily, we discover the farm where we are staying and meet our host at the entrance, who is fittingly in the middle of felling a tree but kindly shows us to our accommodation.
• We treat ourselves to our microwave meal and put our feet up in front of the fireplace with the fire burning.

• There is plenty of wood to add and we take revenge on all the trees along the way by adding a full load, making the temperature in our accommodation soar, which at least dries our shoes.

Monday, March 11

•  Finally our long-awaited break day 😀

• The 4km to Huelgoat are – really typical – super easy cheesy lemonsqueezy and we’re there in no time.

• As we approach the hotel, I realize with some disappointment: “Look Matthäus, only one room has a balcony.”

• Guess which room we get – today is our lucky day!

• The first thing we do in the room is wash our laundry (practically everything we have with us) by hand!

• Just like on Route 66, our stuff is hanging all over the place to dry afterwards.
• For lunch, we treat ourselves to a visit to a crêperie around the corner.

• Huelgoat is a really nice little town, beautifully situated on a lake.
• The crêperie fits in very well with the town: small and quaint and a one-lady show.
• The lady in question conjures up truly delicious crêpes, both sweet and savory main courses.
• We enjoy the two-course crêpe meal and I even treat myself to an espresso at the end – that’s the way to live!
• We spend the rest of the afternoon planning the next stages and booking accommodation in particular.

• Urgently needed, as we haven’t booked anything for tomorrow, for example.
• The chiller afternoon is definitely good for us, especially after the last few stages.
• In the evening we have a talking hands meeting.
• And afterwards we go to the hotel restaurant for dinner.

• We treat ourselves to a three-course meal – also super nice after all those microwave meals.
• Served with delicious local cider in a jug – njam!
• The starter – salmon in a homemade lemon sauce – is simply delicious.
• During the meal, we listen to some great music, which I immediately use to create the “E5 France Playlist”, which you can find here on Spotify.

Tuesday, March 12

Chèque bancaire

• Strengthened by breakfast and the rest day, we make our way to Carhaix.
• First of all, it’s a bit of an adventure on small but beautiful paths over a hill – partly along a mountain bike trail – but through the beautifully enchanted Huelgoat Forest, which Mum sent us a link to yesterday.

• We soon reach the “Voie Vert” (green track/trail), which we will follow for the rest of the day, which makes us very happy, as the path is also designed for cyclists and is correspondingly easy to hike along.
• We are therefore making really fast progress, which really motivates us.

• The only thing that dampens the mood a little is the rain, a persistent drizzle that just won’t stop.

• We take several shorter breaks and only towards the end do we need a few more and longer breaks.

• Once, when we had made ourselves comfortable on a bench that we had FINALLY found (the spaces between the benches are designed more for cyclists), a farmer comes along and fertilizes the field right in front of us – Are you kidding me?!

• When he passes right in front of us, even I have had enough and he has successfully chased us away.
• Finally, we walk along the road into Carhaix.
• It’s nice that there is a footpath- especially since the railings are already so badly demolished in some places, that we are really glad about the separate footpath.

• Carhaix is a strange place, somehow faceless and with a lot of cars.
• We pay a visit to Lidl and are shocked when the woman at the checkout in front of us pays with a check…?
• “I thought this payment method had long since died out and only existed in American gangster movies,” I say to Matthäus. Well and in France apparently…

• The accommodation wasn’t expecting us yet, but after a few initial difficulties we are able to get in, relax and bake ourselves a quiche for dinner.

Wednesday, March 13

Canal de Nantes à Brest

• Our first walk today is to the bakery, where we buy pain au chocolat, baguettes and paninis for tonight.

• On the way out of Carhaix, we meet an elderly gentleman who asks us where we are going and whether we think the people here are nice and then wishes us a “bonne marche”.
• It has to be said at this point that we have only had positive experiences with the people so far: we have met people who have shown great hospitality, patience and interest in us and our venture.
• Now the route leads along the Canal de Nantes à Brest, a beautiful stretch where you pass locks and their lock houses again and again – great!

• It’s an easy cheesy path that is very flat and apparently also a popular bike-trekking route, at least we meet a few cyclists who look equipped for it.

• One of them asks us in disbelief: “You’re walking along the whole canal?”, as if that would be so much crazier than cycling along the whole canal.

• By the way, we thought it would be really cool to meet long-distance hikers who hike further than we do, but Matthäus thinks the chances are slim.
• The only thing is that the soles of my shoes came off yesterday and I have now temporarily fixed them with tape – the construction holds up to kilometer 20, then just (logically, actually) as we turn off on the path up to Gomel, which is a bit rough and muddy, the construction falls apart.

• Gomel is unspectacular and very sleepy, except that a lot of people are streaming into the small church.
• Judging by the average age of the people, probably to a funeral?
• A second one could almost follow, because one of the grandpas almost runs me over when he pulls out of the parking space.

• We are glad when we reach the canal again, where cyclists pose the greatest danger.

• We walk along for a while before reaching our accommodation, the “Maison du Canal” – run by a British couple.

• Rob greets us with the words “Ah I saw the Dutch address and was so happy, because usually that means you can speak English.” – Visibly relieved.

• First we treat ourselves to a coffee and cocoa in the room and then we hop into the swimming pool. 🙂

• The only drawback is that it’s quite cold in the whole house and even though the water temperature is around 26°C, you cool down quite quickly in the water.

Thursday, March 14

New Hiking Shoes

• First of all, we enjoy a huge and delicious breakfast today, nice!

• Then we slowly pack up, get going and set off after a brief chat with Rob: he tells us that the storm raged here too in November and they were without power for two weeks.
• He also shows us how we can take a relaxed route to Rostrenen, which we do straight away and are surprised at how beautiful the paths actually are.

• In the shopping center we immediately find the sports store, in front of which I take off my shoes, because I think it’s best to leave them outside.
• On this Thursday morning, the store is nice and empty.
• The first pair of hiking boots I try on fits immediately and is also on sale – perfect!

• I keep the old ones to change for safety’s sake, but set off on stage 10 with the new ones.
• Today our route takes us along the Voie Vert, which fittingly runs directly behind the sports store, to Gouarec.

• The route isn’t long overall and we make quick progress, so we’re in the small but pretty village of Gouarec in no time at all, where we shop in a small corner store for dinner and snacks.

• Our accommodation is beautifully located in the heart of the village and run by Brits, whom we don’t meet, but who, according to the information flyer, have fulfilled their dream of a BnB with this house.
• There is everything we need, especially very comfortable armchairs.

• Dinner, jitsi with my family and leisurely writing are still on the agenda.

• And we treat ourselves to popcorn – njam!