A rebel without a clue.

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 expensive...

Walking through endless forest in the far distance I always feel that there is an angelic figure or a knight on horseback, gleaming in polished steel, ever out of reach of my distance trapping feet? Is the legend of the White Hart at play popping out of its mythical past? As I get a little closer, on this occasion, I realise it's an Opal Corsa CDTi arrayed in virginal white...

Two nights out from Vézelay and I feel a bit remote from the Chemin Saint Jacques... The previous two nights sleeps were overly effected by uncomfortable beds: too short. Even the one last night was slightly too short. And, in my imagination, I felt a little fearful in the large but empty Gîte; some presence in my mind kept me awake until beyond 10. But I managed to go into Lalaland until 6. Perhaps eating the final few mouthfuls of the 'stew' I'd made in the afternoon rested heavily on my digestion. Like Scrooge the feelings I had were driven by the rumblings of the stomach? On the way shortly, after the usual ablutions. The items I washed the afternoon previous are slightly damp, but will dry out once I stop in Charité-sur-Loire later today? The sack has the remainder of the lardon bread, an apple (not used in the stew) and 6 boiled eggs: so no need to purchase anything here in the crossroads village, as the bells peel the time: 7am. Returned the keys, quick coffee and aw...

To make my morning smoother I've bought various comestibles for the morning. Natural yogurt. Which in a pack of 4 will be two down this evening. A half a dozen free range eggs of which some will be for breakfast and the remainder for the walk into Charité-sur-Loire, where I am sure I spotted there is another Gîtes, but not on the isle in the Loire, @ €10. None of the people I left Vézelay with yesterday morning have shown up this evening. And there is only one other Gîtes a little further along from Châteauneuf Val-de-Bargis, before it's some distance to the Loire crossing, so they might've gone there or they're still on their way to this articulated lorry crossroad awfulness. It's too busy at 17:40... No wonder there are properties for sale around €70k... Too busy: move the damn route nationale. Back to the Gîtes to finish off what I left after lunch. Now off to bed. Worn out really. Too much yesterday for a sensible person and where are the other pelerins?

What is the Telos - the end goal/the purpose towards which I put one foot in front of the other second after second, minute after minute, ad finitum? At another crossroads with 2.5 kilometres to Champlemy I can't find a goal or an end point in my thoughts. So is the Camino pointless really? On the positive side I note I never feel lonely alone. As I walked through a forest, and as the first deer ked dropped on me and I hastily wiped it off my precious body. I realised for quite a few persons a huge woodland, like the ones I often walk through in France, a scream of fear would be on their lips quite soon into the feeling of remoteness it's possible to feel? The remoteness is an illusion, because all forests in France are 'managed', but the scale of the repeatedness of the trees in all directions, except straight ahead, is potentially very threatening: what's in there lingering to pounce or drop, as the deer ked just did, to attack my precious body? *** After a brief ...

A fairly satisfying night's sleep once next door switched off the TV which went on @ 6am, but I was already awake. I think I saw the occupant on my way to bed as she took out Fifi - a yappy Yorkshire Terrier - I guess she must be very lonely trapped in that Chambre permanently?  Varzy is a mainroad passing through it town, so from around 5 I was aware of the comings and goings of articulated lorries. Last night's repase was good, including a compote de pomme which I had forgotten can be so nice, but a little more than I had budgeted for at €40 for 4 demi Weiss beer, one saucisse de Toulouse assiette, a demi pichon of vin blanc and the dessert. So frugality is the way today: must locate a Gîtes d'Etape/Accueil Pelerin and not walk 7 hours without a break. I think I made an error just following the Voie de Vézelay when some of the places to sleep are along the GR654 which meanders around it...

Beginning of day one (five) from Vézelay: seeing people is a revelation. Being in a accueil pelerin with several dormitories is unreal: very nice. 100% better for a great night's sleep and I managed to complete East of Eden  before I turned in. My backpack is lighter. Fresh clothes: the last pair of grundies before I will be required to hand wash... Briefly regarded the Miam Miam Dodo and there are two sleeping positions up ahead. Fantastic homenade confiture! Who knew you could make it with courgettes! That's a thought? All those courgettes being forgetten... Courgette, lemon, ginger, mint... Wonderful: but more like a chutney so would go wonderfully well with meats? Like a less vinegary chutney... Ready for the offski on day one of nine. Where will this path take me? Having no repase last night was a brave decision: I am not starving and mostly the habit of overconsumption before bed keeps me awake. What with a weak bladder too... *** A very tiring day. By 2pm, without a plac...