The next morning, I was up early again. I left the overnight accommodation and went back again to Auchel. Once again, I stopped at a boulangerie on the way out of Auchel, andfound a good place to sit and have a relaxed breakfast close to the town war memorial. Then I continued on out of town along the D183 to rejoin the trail at Lozinghem. There was a light haze over the countryside, but it boded well for another sunny day ahead.
At Lozinghem, I took a right turn and went along the main street of the village, which is the D188. I passed the church and turned right towards the countryside. The route goes uphill onto the high ground. It was soon clear that I was coming into mining country. Here and there, old conical slag heaps indicated the locations of the old mine works.
The main town in the area is Marles-les-Mines, the name being a clear indicator of the main previous activity of the area. . The trail brought me downhill into the town, where new housing has sprung up on sites that I suspect were once the cottages of miners. I passed the Mairie and the church to come to a park alongside the river La Clarence. Coming out of the park, I crossed the river and continued along its bank before turning left and going on into Bruay-la-Buissiere. The route takes a kind of zig-zag path to get into town. The route doesn’t go right into the twon centre, but goes along the southern edge, passing a supermarket, where I was able to get some refreshments.
The official route goes directly out of Bruay-la-Buissiere, back out into the countryside, but I was intent on finding a place to stop for lunch, so I took a different route. I followed residential streets through the edge of Beuay before turning south towards the area of Houdain Le Haut. I continued on, taking the underpass to get south of the D301and reach Houdain Le Bas, which is the commercial area of Houdain. And there, I found the Black Cow restaurant, where I had an excellent lunch.
Once suitably refreshed and with energy replenished, I had to get back on the trail. I took an unnamed road out of town, and then the Chemin de la Comte, which brought me back on the official route. The trail follows that road for a while before turning off to the left, using gravel tracks to get to Rebreuve-Ranchicourt. This is a picturesque little hamlet with its mill and chateau.
Coming out of the village, I followed again a combination of road and tracks, first going south-eastwards, then turning sharp left and going north-eastwards, before another sharp right turn brought me into Parc d’Olhain, where I had arranged accommodation for the night.
The Parc d’Olhain is a leisure area, and it offers very reasonably priced accommodation for those using the park. I had managed to secure an excellent room for less than half of what the hotel equivalent would cost. But there is one snag. The restaurant is only open at lunch time. The bar however, is open until 6:30 in the evening. Having had an excellent lunch in Houdain, I didn’t need much, and between the liquid material in the bar and the supplies picked up at the supermarket in Bruay, I had a light, but sufficient evening meal.
With all that done, it was time to turn in for the night. The following day was set to be a long one.
Walkingman 