Martin M. Miles' photos

...a rest and stayed for two days to recover...

...the "Cathédrale Saint-Étienne" has a very old crypt, dating back to the 6th century...

...where we had dinner in front of the cathedral...

....the Abbaye de Pontigny shows a different style, as Cistercians, lead by Bernard of Clairvaux, did not like any luxury. Every thing had to be simple and utilitarian, as any kind of ornamentation would distract the monks....

.What is Chablis in white wine, could be neighbouring Irancy in red....

.....walking up I past the place, where Bernard of Clairvaux had preached the Second Cruisade in 1146...

...of the entrance doors of the church in Chablis. For centuries riders have nailed old horseshoes onto it. Maybe they had drunken too much of the white wine, produced here..........

...the Fosse Dionne is for sure one of the nicest wash-houses in the whole of France. Actually there is a mythic secret. Deep inside lives a gaelic godess, who from time to time...

...the Hôtel-Dieu in Tonnere even had toilet seats...

...found the grave of french impressionist painter Auguste Renoir...

....the first thing I saw was a gigantic lothringian cross. The former french president Charles de Gaulles had lived in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. He is buried there next to the little church. His testament had made clear, that he wanted no politicians at his burial.

...after two days of pouring rain, the tracks got muddy...

....the building looked quite old. Maybe young Jeanne d’Arc passed it, walking three times from Domrémy-la-Pucelle to Vaucouleurs in 1429, to beg the town major for a horse there. In the end she got one and rode to Chinon to meet the Dauphin...

......from Toul to Vaucouleurs, where I had booked a room....

Roland, Errolan, Roldán, Orlando, Rotllà. A man of many names died here in 778. Roland, a paladin to Charlemagne, was killed here by the Basques on the return from Spain, having battled the Maurs (muslims) with Charemagne´s armee. To preserve his miracolous sword named Durendal (containing a tooth of Saint Peter) from heathenly hands, he threw it over a distance of about 400kms to Rocamadour, where it still sticks in the cliff today....

..the mountains don´t really look "alpine" up here...

..a sign marks the beginning of the "Route de Napoleon", a small road Napoleon had ordered to be constructed for the french armee to invade Spain and raid Portugal. Now this is -peacefully - converted to the "chemin" for all walking over the Pyrenees...

..between the very early morning, when all walkers head for Roncesvalles on the other side of the mountains, and 10 o clock, when all others start their businesses, the town is very quiet...