The traveling Bear

Today was a day full of strange encounters. Before leaving Aulnay, I went to the local pub and sat, as usual, at the counter. And, as usual, the locals started talking to me about the walk and their lives in general. For some reason, people enjoy talking to me, maybe because it’s rare to find someone truly interested in you. That was confirmed since none of them asked me any questions. But anyway, an eccentric lady stayed with me; she was the local flower seller. I learned that she met her husband when she was fifteen in the area. Then they lived near Paris but returned because he wanted to. They don’t share any hobbies or passions, and she’s sad about it. They have two kids: a 16-year-old daughter who  recently learned how to ride motorcycles and went for a ride last weekend. I enjoy hearing people's stories—even if their lives don’t seem thrilling to them, it still means the world to them, and it’s always nice to discover these things. After that talk, I hit the road again and wa...

Since I had a long road ahead, I decided to leave the shelter at around 6:30 a.m. However, I stopped at a bakery and ended up spending a whole hour there, unable to get my day started. It took me three large coffees to gather enough energy before I hit the road. I went off track to take a shortcut and walk along the road. I felt like I might have pushed myself a bit too hard because my heels started to hurt. I walked slowly but surely, still managing to enjoy the view. This time of year is especially beautiful with the fallen leaves covering the ground. I made it to a small town called Brioux-sur-Boutonne, an interesting place with buildings that seemed to rise directly from the river, like this one. I went into a café there. I sat at the counter and ordered a coffee, no sugar. A man sitting next to me was drinking a beer. While I stayed there, he had two more, and I wondered if he’d had some before or would have more after. He had two packs of cigarettes on the counter, and some of hi...

This morning I encountered a surprising neighbour, chilling on top of the wall. I did hi to her then went to do my business and eat my breakfast. I left saint sauvant at around 8 am. The landscape and the nature were beautifully I enjoyed some stargazing since it was still dark when I left.  The sun was shining it was a nice walk. However I felt like my body was getting tired. I arrived at my place to stay around 3 pm. I have a reallyblong walk tomorrow and I think I will take a break afterward because I am not sure my tendons can handle more.

 It was difficult to leave the place thisnmorning because I was busy talking with my hosts. It happened that Alain, the retired university professor i mentioned, was also an author on books about the forests and their preservation. Sole people are just so interesting i can't help but talk to them. I started my walk at around 9 20 am and walked slowly. I only had 22 kilometers to acheive from Coulombiers to saint sauvant and my legs were painfull from the previous week. I walked throught a forest once again, and reached the city of Lusignan which is pretty but was not very active during a Sunday. The walks of today were not very pleasant because there was a huge hunter activity in the woods and between the dog a barking and sounds of rigle shots, the middle of the woods felt like a rather unsafe place at the moment. My reflexions of the were mainly focused on myself (Sunday is selfish day from now on). How do I manage to know if I truly want something? Where is that place in my gut...

 Today was the first fully rainy day. My next accommodation was only available after 5 p.m., so I decided to take my time. I left around 8:30 a.m. My body was still in pain from yesterday, but I managed to get back on track. However, my clothes haven’t been washed in a while, and my smell must be absolutely unbearable for the poor people around me. I did my best to sit far from others during breakfast so as not to be a burden. I walked through a narrow, muddy forest with a rather dangerous, slippery slope. After that, I walked along the river and found shelter, which happened to be under a bridge along the train tracks. I started singing and recorded myself (it’s in my Instagram story). The song that came to my mind was "You’re Welcome" from the Disney movie Moana . It came to me because it’s tied to a wonderful memory I have, and I felt so happy singing it at that moment. It was like traveling through time and reliving that scene. That’s when I realized I was applying the th...