evening day three

A recollection of last night: lightning without thunder and a lot of jet plane activity around midnight... And I thought it's an invasion from space... It was distinctly indigestion!

26 kilometres and I am here. No stopping - 5 hours straight. First soul in the Gîte (€16.50) and next to the Nef and Cours de Château and next to L'Auberge de la Poule Noire. Straight in. A glass of class: Sancerre! But it was expensive and took me over budget. Could I call it a day then?

***

I've a Hemingway (A Moveable Feast) and a beer, but no other pelerins in three nights. No idea what could've happened to the Dutch brothers other than they probably didn't like the idea of sharing so are in a hotel. The older brother, Bos, had walked from Le-Puy-en-Velay, but Joost never had - and he struck me as the more conventional of the two with his flowing brushed out locks of hair. But it doesn't matter. They've gifted the centre of La Charité-sur-Loire to me!

Earlier I ate expensively before coming back for a siesta. Then the sun became unbearable as I looked for love, and a place to drink more of the good quality Sancerre. Which I found, but had to return to as the proprietor was flogging a lot of wine to a stupid American, with too much money and little sense but a taste for Sancerre...

I popped to a deli on my way back to the Gîte and hung about at the Auberge, but it doesn't open until 7 and is only for eating, not drinking. It did me a favour. Two classic cheeses, two glasses of beer, a boudin rilette and a yaourt brebis and I thought I should write this as Notre Dame stuck 8... The baguette tradi is fantastic. And two of the boiled eggs compete supper. Tomorrow I have plenty of food, but zero coffee: it's the first Gîtes d'Etape I've ever stayed in without a coffee machine - drip version. Locate a café tomorrow. After a deep night's sleep. The bed I chose has no end to it so shouldn't cripple me with its shortness?

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Jaded. Another day tomorrow, but the forecast thunderstorm wakes me from the kitchen chair and transports into the sack. It's just me and that battle outside. The Loire seemed very low in its course today so the rain is welcome? If not the torrents...