E5 Days 36-40

Wednesday, April 10

La Dragonne et La Pèrriere

• Super cozy breakfast with our hosts, Murielle and Christophe, in their living room.
• A really nice conversation in which we talk about our hiking plans and they tell us that they are from the area – but have also traveled a lot (in France) and lived in all kinds of places.
• Thank goodness our shoes have finally dried next to their open fire.

• Today’s route takes us along beautiful country lanes through fields of rapeseed in full bloom, across lush green meadows and along small roads with little traffic – through the ‘du Perche’ National Park.
• The sun is shining from the sky and it’s early spring at its best – and our mood is accordingly good.

• We do indeed encounter other hikers/walkers here and there on the paths – some local hiking trails also run through the park – but it is tractors that we see most of all.
• A surprise is the village of La Pèrriere, which is again situated on a hill. First, I start complaining about the path making detours across hills, but I quickly stop as we hike through the beautiful village.

• I’m very reconciled when an open (!!!!) café appears in front of us – we can’t pass up an opportunity like this – we sit inside and enjoy a coffee and a Coke =)

• We continue on to Bellême, where we stay at ‘La Dragonne’, a bed and breakfast.

• Bellême is apparently the Kitzbühel of places in the Parc du Perche, all the accommodation here was extremely expensive, at least compared to what we usually paid for accommodation in the middle of nowhere – we don’t quite understand why, because the place isn’t that much nicer than the other places our route has taken us through – but we don’t have much choice, and are grateful to have somewhere to stay anyway and not have to fall back on our bivouac.
• The bed and breakfast is located in the Achterhuis – you get there through our hosts’ house – a somewhat impractical construction at first glance. This impression is reinforced when Justine shows us our exit, for which we have to walk through the long garden, then through a junk room, then unlock a door with great difficulty and then come out in some back street, from which we reach the main square via a secret path along the church.

• This kills my last motivation to go out today.
• We’ve arranged the Talking Hands meeting today anyway, so we make ourselves comfortable in the warm living room, which soon isn’t so warm any more as Justine regularly turns the heating down to 17° Celsius.
• We’re a bit cold at 17 degrees though, especially as she’s only given us very thin blankets to sleep under, so we have a kind of heating battle: we turn the heating up manually (as high as possible so that it at least gets warmer quickly), Justine turns it down again (remotely, mind you) and so on – very environmentally friendly and ecological.

Thursday, April 11

Time goes by, so Sloowli <3

• Breakfast/brunch at Justine’s, who reminds us a bit of Aubrey and quickly checks that everything is ‘in order’ on departure – but one thing I have to say: Her scrambled eggs are a real treat!

• We set off along small roads towards Sloowli, a tiny house in the middle of nowhere that caught my eye during the initial rough planning in February and hasn’t left my mind since, which is why we naturally included it in the route.
• It’s only about 14 kilometres from here, which is good because we can check in from 3pm (‘But not earlier!’) and I want to enjoy and make the most of all the time we have at the accommodation.
• When we tell Justine, with whom we have an surprisingly good chat afterwards, where we are staying tonight and tell her about the key box in the middle of nowhere, she says ‘Wow, courageux, but rather you than me!’

• We stock up on dinner, breakfast and snacks for the road at the boulangerie and supermarket, the local Epicerie.
• Today is also a market, which is why there is a surprising amount of people in the streets of the small town and quite a hustle and bustle.
• Fully equipped with quiche, pizza and beer, we set off and make super fast progress along the really relaxed paths

• In a small village, we suddenly see two people in high-visibility waistcoats standing by the trail markers with buckets of paint – and realise: a team of trail markers! Nice!
• Of course, we immediately strike up a conversation and are all delighted: we are grateful that they have freshly marked the paths for us, and they are pleased that someone is using their freshly marked paths and appreciates their work.

• They tell us that before the Paris 2024 Olympics, all the trail markings on the GRs heading towards Paris will be renewed – wow, what a cool initiative! (Although I’m not sure how many people will be travelling to the Olympics on foot).
• From here, it’s not far on our stage and the markings are so fresh and good that we reach Sloowli right on time.

• From 3pm we can open the electronic key box, which we do immediately and move into our Sloowli cabin.

• It’s mega – even better than I imagined and dreamed of and more luxurious than the bunker/tiny house where we once stayed in the Czech Republic, very close to Oberndorf near Weikertschlag, and which it reminds us a bit of.

• Right next to the door is a cassette player with cassettes lying next to it, which I test immediately – and it works!

• We chill out in the cosy little house, drink coffee and tea, read, puzzle, Bob Marley sings in the background, and we enjoy the really relaxed atmosphere.

• In the late afternoon, I actually do a yoga session, which I’ve been meaning to do since the start of the hike, but which I’ve always lacked the energy for after a long day of hiking.
• Apparently we’ve got fitter after all, because it goes surprisingly well and I feel great afterwards.

• ‘The Sloowli awakens all your spirits,’ says Matthäus.
• As the sun goes down, we eat the quiche, toast with the delicious craft beers and chat, gaze blissfully out of the window and chill out even more – it’s really great!

• To top it all off, we fall asleep under a fantastic starry sky with a crescent moon. =)

Friday, April 12

Yoga and Angora sheep

• I wake up at our usual time and am immediately wide awake and – to my own surprise – I’m in the mood for a yoga session.

• The sun salutation programme seems fitting – and I feel very much like a hipster.
• Cosy breakfast with a great view of the forest in the mist.

• A bit of writing, packing and off we go – further into the Perche National Park.

• Today there are paths of every kind: many country lanes, small roads and also some forest paths with mud, of course – we even walk along a ‘Voie Verte’ for a stretch.

• I’m once again complaining about the mud and while I’m moaning to myself, I suddenly hear a loud, really pathetic-sounding ‘baa’ from next to me. I look over and see a sheep in a stable looking at me in despair and emitting another desperate, drawn-out ‘baa’. ‘Look,’ says Matthäus, ’the sheep is whining too – just like you!’ ‘Yes,’ I say happily: ’I feel you, sheep!’

• The sun shines mercilessly from the sky, making us long for the forest after a few kilometres of fields without shade.

• Or, we think, we could escape to a restaurant in Rémalard, which is on the way, for lunch and eat there.
• Good idea: however, firstly, when we get there around half past one, the restaurants are already closing again and secondly, everything is totally overcrowded – Friday lunchtime seems to be a popular meeting and lunch time.

• So we leave Rémalard behind us, sit down with our supplies at the edge of the forest instead and start eating with relish, when suddenly a tractor appears in the field next to us and we realise: The farmer is spraying his field – the very field we are sitting next to.
• It can’t be that healthy, we think, so we quickly pack up all our food and move on.
• The farmer is super friendly and very accommodating and waits until we have moved on before he continues spraying.

• We soon reach the housing estate where the farm we are staying at today is located.
• We can’t miss it, as large signs along the way are already advertising the ‘Open Farm Day’ next Sunday.

• The farmer, Malvina, reminds us a little of a younger version of Fabienne: she manages the whole farm (and a bit more): There are Angora sheep and in addition to renting out the Tiny House, there are quite a few activities on offer. She also makes many of her own products, such as wool, which she sells.

• The Tiny House in which we are staying isn’t so tiny after all – especially compared to the Sloowli yesterday – but it’s beautifully furnished – with a hammock where I spend the rest of the evening chilling out.

• Malvina comes by briefly, because we have a confusion with the booking – apparently our breakfast, which we have booked through the system, does not show up in her system – but she says no problem, she will bake fresh bread for us and bring it over tomorrow – wooow!!!

Saturday, April 13

A sunny hiking day

• Breakfast with home-baked bread, really tasty local apple juice, granola and home-made sheep’s cheese jam, which has already won a few prizes and tastes simply delicious.

• Today is a really warm, summery day with temperatures of up to 24°C.

• Our mood is not so summery for the first few metres, we have a brief argument and a ‘Maybe we should break off the hike!’ phase.
• Thank goodness that subsides – we make up again in the beautiful weather and from then on we can enjoy the really great, albeit very long, day of hiking.

• The whole day we walk through the beautiful ‘Parc naturel du Perche’, which looks even more beautiful in this weather.
• We hike along canals, through sparse forests, across vast fields, lush green meadows and bright yellow rapeseed fields in glorious sunshine.
• As there is a lot of sun and little shade and we have recently learnt from Sebi, my brother, that the risk of sunburn is greatest in spring when there is not yet so much ozone in the atmosphere, I unpack all my sunscreen and protect my head as well as I can.
• I also put on my shorts – yeah, ‘De korte broek kan aan!’ (https://kanikeenkortebroekaan.nl)

• Surprisingly, as difficult as it was to find accommodation here in the region, we pass through some small villages, all of which are very idyllic.

• The biggest surprise is probably the small town of Senonches, which appears around kilometre 20: Wide avenues, beautiful old stone houses and a lake, where a few people have gathered on camping chairs and cast their fishing rods, characterise the townscape.

• And: there is a castle! We briefly consider paying it a visit, but it is already relatively late, our legs are quite tired and we still have more than 10 kilometres to go.

• So instead we treat ourselves to a short break with ice cream – njam!
• We pass a park with fruit trees in full bloom, where we are immediately put in the mood for Japan and nostalgically think back to the great holiday in Japan with Matthäus family a few years ago.

• A large section of the path leads straight through the forest, which we are very happy about at first, as we think to ourselves: ‘Ha, shade at last!’, until we realise that the sun is coming in at the exact angle that it is shining straight ahead into the path and therefore onto us.

• We continue along great paths, partly through the forest, partly across fields, partly through small villages, until we reach the beautiful village of Dampierre, a super small town that surprises us with its beauty and where our accommodation is located today.

• We are warmly welcomed by our host lady, Sandrine, who shows us our flat on the first floor and offers to bring us hard-boiled eggs – from her own chickens (although we’re not quite sure about the ‘hard-boiled’, at least that’s how we understood it with our rudimentary French) – we briefly ask ourselves whether we want to risk pecking the eggs or rather peel them carefully.

• We enjoy the beautiful sunset, the pleasant peace and quiet and are happy to finally put our feet up.

Sunday, April 14

The fancy horse-ranch

• A leisurely wake-up call, breakfast and off we go.
• Sandrine is super nice and comes round again in the morning to say goodbye and even brings four eggs – mega!

• It’s now sunny again, but not quite as hot as yesterday.
• Our path is finally marked again – we follow the GR35 liaison or something like that – direttissima to Dreux.
• The path today leads over beautiful country lanes and meadows – it’s super relaxed to walk, we make great progress – all in all a great day of hiking!

• We pass a few small villages, each consisting of a beautiful old stone church, a mairie and five to ten houses – the opposite of the Chinese mega-cities that Christoph, Matthäus’ brother, told us about on the phone yesterday.

• However, the places all surprise us in terms of beauty: the old, massive stone houses are mostly in good condition, well maintained and as everything (don’t ask me what exactly) is blooming in all kinds of colours, the overall picture is very attractive.
• We pass two smaller chateaus, but each of them is very private and closed off.

• We’ve been looking for a bench all day – preferably in the shade, but both benches and shade are rare today, let alone both at once.
• Only at kilometre 14 (of the approx. 18 today) is there a bus stop on the path with a bench!

• Although, we’ve noticed that by now: we’re getting fitter and fitter, so we need fewer and later breaks.
• We treat ourselves to a snack and a break before continuing on the last few kilometres towards Crécy-Couvé.

• Crécy is as small (but not as nice, I’m sorry to say) as the other towns, yet everything is spread out and spacious, so it’s a bit reminiscent of small American towns – only a bit nicer and with smaller cars.
• At the end of the village is the accommodation’s Google Maps marker – in the middle of the road.
• We experience a brief moment of shock: was that a scam after all? Does the accommodation even exist?
• But then, just after the town sign, we discover the entrance gate to the super fancy horse ranch where we have booked our overnight stay today.

• We are now standing in front of the huge gate, a little lost with our hiking rucksacks, looking for a bell, which we don’t find – instead there is a camera watching us.
• Matthäus pulls out his mobile phone and I call to let our hosts know that we are standing in front of the gate.
• Less than two seconds later, it slowly opens and a huge, stately, estate-wide avenue appears in front of us, with no recognisable end.
• Great, we think, now we can walk an extra kilometre on the horse ranch…

• It’s not that far, we soon see our host, David, who is waiting for us at the end of the avenue in front of a collection of very stately-looking houses, looking a little puzzled but then waving wildly.
• He and his girlfriend, Eudoxie, also turn out to be super friendly and totally welcoming, although, as he says, they have never hosted hikers before, normally people arrive by car.
• You can tell, because he shows us the room, the communal kitchen with coffee machine (to my delight) and a huge tea collection, as you would expect in a place like this, and then says: ‘You are welcome to visit the rest of the grounds later, don’t be afraid to just wander around the horse ranch and look around!’
• Erm, we don’t want to wander around any more, thank you…
• Instead, we make full use of the common room, which is totally cosy, and relax.

• There’s even a bathtub, which I of course use to round off the day. =)