This post was written on September 23rd, but is only posted on September 25th
Yesterday, a combination of three trains and one bus brought me to the little town of Saint-Julie-en-Genevois. The town is just inside France, but is in many respects a suburb of Swiss Geneva. I found a delightful little pizzeria, and had dinner. The pizzeria is called Chez Martine, and is a little bit homely and a little bit quirky. On the homely side it is small to the point that you almost feel you are eating in someone’s house, and it is run by a wonderful lady who is most welcoming to all her guests. On the quirky side, the menus are inserted into children’s story books about a little girl called Martine. Naturally, you might say, given the name of the restaurant. I did not ask which came first, the restaurant or the books. Another quirky feature is that you are supposed to pour your own drinks, and it works on an honour system when it comes to payment. All this comes with a background sound track of smooth jazz, albeit from a Swiss radio station. In any case, I enjoyed my meal and turned in for the night.
After an early breakfast, I was on the road. I went straight to where the Chemin de Saint Jacques crosses the border from Switzerland into France. I could have taken a different way, a shorter one, that would have joined be onto the pilgrimage route sooner, but I wanted to go to little bridge that is the border on this route. The bridge crosses a stream, one just big enough to have a name: L’Aranda. I stood on that same bridge back at Easter this year. Back then, I had just walked the last stage of the Swiss section of the route, and I was looking west into France. This morning I was just about to start the French section, and I stood on the bridge looking east into Switzerland and the way I had come months before. I paused for a few photographs and then it was time to be on my way.
The early stages of today’s walk took me close to or through a number of small villages. I skirted Lathoy, going on quickly past fields of corn awaiting the harvester to come to Neydens. From there the route ascends the slope to Verrieres. I had seen plenty of wayside chapels on the Swiss sections of the way, and was glad to see one as I approached Verrieres. In Verrieres itself, I came across what must surely be the second best thing that you can do with a wine press, or maybe the best thing you can do with an old one. From there, the route turns south, going through the village of Beaumont and the domaine of Pomiers, by-passing the village of St. Blaise to reach Mont Sion. The central element of this village is a kind of Santa theme park. It is incongruous, to say the least, to see a large all-year-round Christmas tree. I had hoped to get a meal there, but the restaurant looked too upmarket for me, so I went on.
From Mont Sion, the route ascends to the ridge line. It skirts the settlements of Charly, Chez Gresat, La Motte and Verney, and bypasses the village of Morlioz altogether. It goes through woodland and open country. The weather is unseasonably warm for later September, so I was glad of the shelter on the woodland stretches. As I passed the village of Contamine Sarzin, I saw a sign giving the distance to Santiago. I had passed one in Switzerland saying 1852km to Santiago, but that was more than 50km back along the way. This one said 1826km to Santiago, so someone has to be wrong.
Then it was just a short distance to reach Chaumont. I am staying the night in the Gites there. Gites are a French network of sub-budget accommodation, aimed at the hiker and rambler. This one cost €15, including breakfast. I had not stayed in one for many years, so this is almost a new experience. There is one other person here tonight, and we have been advised that the Gite does not do dinner on nights when the local restaurant is open. It is open on Saturdays, so we will both go over there shortly. It won’t be hard to find. Chaumontt is a small village, and there is only one restaurant.
There is no Wi-Fi in the Gites, so I cannot post this account of the day’s walk. Well, I did say that the Gites are often sub-budget. Anyway, I will post it tomorrow, or the earliest that I have Wi-Fi.
And the step count today? Over 50,000. My feet are fine, but my shoulders ache somewhat from the weight of the pack.
Walkingman 