Péronne is stop. Laon is go.

After a pleasant day walking I finally arrived at the Parish office and it is written - "La maison des pèlerins est fermée du 15 novembre au 1er mai. Merci." Balls. And my illiteracy in the native tongue means I can't get a word in edge wise. Return between 1545 and 1600 to see what the priest says. I hastily walk about the square and return to the office de tourism who have my credentials! I had high hopes of making myself something to eat here tonight. The Parish option was also closed in Bapaume.

The priest returns but cannot help. The petit maison that they have aside for pilgrims is without heating currently. Not the end of the world as there is an auberge towards the ramparts, but at €30 pour pèlerins! Just enough time to visit the Brassiere De Clerck and collect two biére. Perhaps a take away for meal tonight. As long as breakfast is massive! A better idea eat all my cheese, saucisson, figs and bread then refill tomorrow at another supermarket.

Because it was very cold today I wrapped up tight. However I've a minor case of chaffing in the botty department. This is because I chose to wear sweat pants and long johns! Never a great idea. The long johns are merino. But I've always had a problem with too many layers between my cheeks. Time is a great healer, but so is Savlon ... Or the French comparison. On the morrow I will find something.

...

At some indefinable point in my sleep I awoke with a start. Today I am heading via Saint Quentin. There is a bus which departs from here at 7:50 and arrives at the bus station at nine. A consequence of three etapes being closed so far, with no option of me freezing in a campsite in February, puts a question upon the next two stages as there will only be Chambres d'Hôtes and hotels prior to Laon. It is perfectly understandable that I must find safety to rest after a long walk. In Saint Quentin(Aisne) I will speak to the Parish office, it is in another diocese from Péronne(Arras), maybe they can offer me options, suggestion and the like. Or I take to the train, visit Laon and Reims(pronounced Raenz) as purely touristic visits? It seems twice I've reached this far - Péronne - and felt ended. It is purely down to logistics I know. The weather, after that one atrocious day before Amettes, has been improving (I've caught the sun on my face in February) so I know I could get there by foot if there was a way to sleep that didn't put me in penury. Staying in a Château is not a possibility for me ...

Too much cheese. My night time is filled with extreme dreams. A change of diet is in order. That Galette complete last night is my final "cheesy" meal. They offer muesli, yogurt and fruit at breakfast.

Bus drivers in France are the same unhappy individuals - I awaited a bus for Saint Quentin, which arrived on time, but the driver will not take me because I didn't call in advance. He is unwillingly taking me to Vermand where I am to hitch by his very instructions. So what is the timetable for if it doesn't apply unless you call? It is a dull day. And the driver turns up hurried radio nonsense. I could see peace instead of this. €3 for misery! It is so stupid. Yet this is the Somme and it is perhaps time allow the past to leave them alone - these souls who must see it everyday. For us in England that tragedy is once a year.

No joy in Saint Quentin. The presbyter has no priest to ask - he died quite suddenly (which surely be better really)? And a lengthy conversation in the Tourist Info turns up many possibilities, but each one is either closed or full (Emmäus in France is a place I can turn to if all else fails). So a few more conversations and I head by Train to Laon. Now I walk these streets and find I recall it. Dark and out of options then. Now it is light and I can thank frugality for left over Euros enough to get me to Reims and return back via St Omer. The gentleman in the Office de Tourism was excellent. And he understood my requirement for a simple place to stay. What is the going after Laon to Reims likely to offer?

Three days! Brilliant. Time to await the train in a restaurant! The first such non-Lent apparition. Christ did not vanish into the wild intent on starving. A test is a test. Often those interlocking relations between random events. All toilets in France are locked because of that unnecessary tragedy. So I try to find a pot to piss in. Thankfully this turns out to be such a place to celebrate the bounty of France. Sirloin steak, bleu, frites, biére d'abbeye Wendelinus and pan. If you pass over the railway bridge turn right and come here, even if only for seven seconds: La Vasco de Gama(30, Place Cordier)! They will look after a passing pilgrim here!

To the train. Looks like the one to Tergnier is delayed by 20 minutes. That is twenty minutes less I will have to wait for the other train that leaves for Laon? It is cold for being stood about in a station anywhere.

Suddenly I get the feeling anyone of Middle Eastern origin is shunned in France. Maybe it is a necessary part of understanding you don't come into another persons house and break all their eggs. Too much fear though. Just look at that memorial to the young of France who died for this freedom.