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11 September 2026 - Saint-Christophe-Sur-Dolaizon

Awoke at 7AM this morning after another night of shivering. The Walmart summer sleeping bag just isn't warm enough. I'm getting more efficient with my morning routine, so I was on the road by 7:30. Movement generates warmth. Down the road through open fields to St. Germain-Laprade. There I found coffee and a pastry in a boulangerie, along with some smiles from the old ladies who also visit the boulangerie early in the morning. I really do love the small town boulangeries in France.

• shoes - soles good, but pinky toes both escaping. I have a spare pair.
• socks - new "France" socks bought in St. Julien. spare pairs
• shorts - crotch holes growing, pocket holes ok, spare pairs
• underwear - spare pairs
• shirt - still some t-shirts left
• sweatshirt - not warm enough for nights and mornings. no spare.
• poncho - used, but probably ok
• hat - good. also have a spare.
• tent - good, but not warm enough. Permanently wet.
• pad - good. My oldest piece of gear!
• sleeping bag - not warm enough. hole at the foot end.
• water bag - good
• backpack - seams ripping and repaired many times. frame ok. straps ok, but attachment points have failed in the past (and one would fail again later today in Le-Puy)
• snacks - probably too many
• wine - in plastic screwcap bottle. Currently a mix of viognier and cabernet sauvignon
• books - still too many. need to drop off Hugo somewhere
• body - richt ankle ok, legs strong, back ok but sore
• laptop - behind on blogs (actually transcribed this list from my journal back in Erlenbach)
• phone - half-charged, as is the spare powerbank
• flashlight - dim, but have spare batteries
• pocketknife - good
• swimsuit - unused
• towel - used after rain
• cup & utensils - used
• TP - 2 partial rolls
• sandals - good (soles freshly glued last week)

The road continued downward to Loire crossing in Brives-Charensac. The Rhône, where I started, flows into the Mediterranean. The Loire flows into the Atlantic. Hence the hills I've had to cross the past week. I stopped at the Intersport, which did not sell any wool long underwear, but I was able to pick up a warmer yet smaller sleeping bag. I also found a café for a another cup of coffee before continuing on to Le-Puy.

Le-Puy-en-Velay is the end of the Via Gebennensis and the beginning of the Via Podiensis. Most impressive are the former volcanoes people have built things on. I climbed up the tallest sheer tower of baslt to visit the Rocher Saint-Michel, a church built atop a spire of rock at the center of town. I also bought a book about the volcanoes in this region there. Then I stopped in a restaurant to have lunch and a work meeting (I'm online 3 afternoons a week). Leaving I broke one of the connection pins for my backpack straps, but fortunately the restauranteur had a large safety pin I could replace it with until I could buy a keychain in a gift shop. Then I visited the impressive cathedral on another hill in town with stones carved of pumice leading up to it. The arch exiting onto the start of the Via Podiensis is rather impressive and on many a postcard from the town. (I bought them to send to the the nieces and nephew.) Then the rest of the afternoon I spent in a lovely little Greek restaurant which had wifi to work by. I bought an eSIM from Airalo with plenty of GBs for this purpose, but sadly in France their eSIMs do not allow tethering to laptops. This is the first time I've ever experienced this problem after having used their eSIMs in at least a dozen countries, but I guess I need to be more careful going forward.

After work and dinner I began the hike up from Le-Puy along the red dirt roads. After a while I found a nice field to watch the sunset and camp for the night. This has been my shortest day, with only 17 kilometers walked. but the blisters have started forming between my toes all the same.