We’re going international baby! And not just a little bit either, but a full on epic European greatest hits tour. Oui mes amis, we’re kicking the ‘long distance’ up a notch and heading to Rome. (Although not renaming this site “riportando indietro il gatto” for a while yet!).
First, some background. The Via Francigena follows the route that Sigeric the Serious, Archbishop of Canterbury, took back from Rome after having lunch with the Pope in 990AD. By all account Sigeric was a pragmatic sort, doing deals with Sweyn Forkbeard in the form of silver goodies, to prevent Canterbury Cathedral falling to Viking incursions.
His entourage made a good record of his journey through Europe which today covers Canterbury to Dover, down through Eastern France to Switzerland, over the Alps and so down to Rome through Piedmont and Tuscany. Over the past 30 years efforts have been made to waymark and develop the route, similar to the Camino de Santiago de Compestela in Spain.
My friend and I decided we should walk and/or cycle as much as we can (and driving or training the bits that don’t seem fun) to get to Rome before we we hit our sixth decades. It might take a while, so we started early (being just at the start of our 5th).
Our Part One\première Partie covered Canterbury to Bapaume and is about 220km. Call it 10% of the whole thing. We did it in three sections:
Section 1: Canterbury to Dover, ferry to Calais
Section 2: Calais to Arras
Section 3: Arras to Bapaume
Section 1 felt like a natural extension to the Old Way. Starting at Canterbury Cathedral felt like visiting an old friend (I confess to a lurch of something akin to, but not quite, nostalgia at the wisteria still climbing Choir House) and the Cathedral Constable could not have been more welcoming. We received our ‘stamps’ in our pilgrim passports and took a moment to mark the start of our journey at the pilgrim stone before heading out to cover the 32km to Dover. (I’m not given to including photos of people in these blogs, but will make an exception this time).
The route out of Canterbury is uphill but not strenuously so. We passed St Augustine’s Abbey on the way out, passed small alleys and side streets before emerging into wide open space of the North Downs Way. It’s a beautiful walk to the coast, abundant with life and buzzing with sound. I love this part of the world and have cross crossed it many times; it never gets old. Kestrels swooping, crickets chirping and flitting butterflies make for a tranquil route. Big skies, ancient villages and the occasional glimpse of the sea over towards Sandwich and Deal give a sense of place and, for us, purpose. The steep descent into Dover, and the view of the ancient bastion of Dover Castle indicates the end of this section; we were walking out of the country.
Section 2 was not a walking section ; we only had 3 days and no intention of walking Pays de Calais region, so for section 2 we made like Sigeric and loaded up the latter-day donkey for that most modern of approaches to pilgrimage, a Kia EV6. It’s still horsepower after all.
On arrival in Arras we set up shop in our AirBnB base on the Place des Héros (one of the main squares in town) and marvelled at the town around us. Practically entirely rebuilt after being shelled to ruins in WW1, Arras is a beautiful little town and absolutely abuzz with that kind of summer vibe that oozes from characterful towns with fine food and drink on offer!
We did a little sightseeing, taking in the cathedral (on the Via Francigena route), the bell tower (see above) and, very excitingly, the extensive limestone caves 12 meters below the city centre. We indulged in a little market shopping (OMG the cheese…), enjoyed the atmosphere of a local food festival and perhaps partook in a few local ales. Rude not to. We also collected our Arras stamp for the pilgrim passports. ‘Stamp’ in French is ‘Tampon’. This made us laugh. Pff, children.
But fret not, for we did walk some more, this time for section 3, out of Arras towards Bapaume, a 20km ditty through wide open arable land. We didn’t actually get to Bapaume, instead getting just under halfway and then looping back because there were no real transport options and the menfolk had the latter-day donkey elsewhere.
Nevertheless, we got a good feel for the route and greatly enjoyed the warmth of a French Sunday afternoon. The way was on cycle paths and farm tracks, walking through fields of vegetables (carrots, chard, potatoes, beans) and occasionally admiring les vaches.
No boots required here. Easy walking, although very exposed. We pitstopped in a small copse for a packed lunch before moseying back to Arras via a windmill that we both swore we’d seen from the bell tower the day before. Honestly after following signs for ‘les Moulin’ for 40 minutes only to find rather unprepossessing industrial estates we thought we were going crazy. We were not going crazy. The day was a win.
A shower to take of the dust of the road. Allowing the warm breeze to wash the buzz and bustle of the food festival through the open apartment windows. Lazing with a book and vaguely planning what part 2 might look like. Followed by dinner and (almost) the last of the wine.
On the final day we remounted the latter-day donkey and had a quick lunch sojourn in Ypres before heading back to Calais and the ferry home.
All round a throughly satisfying start. Walking ‘out of the country’ is hard to do on an island nation but I think we did it with aplomb. And exploring northern France on foot is clearly going to give rise to some real gems!
It will be some months before we return for part two/deuxième partie, probably on bikes around Laon.
But for now, the satisfaction and purpose derived from just starting such a journey will sustain me for many more paths to come….
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