Saturday, April 13, 2024
End: Ailly Lighthouse
Kilometers: 17.9
Total: 58.7
We woke up in our AirBnB in downtown Dieppe feeling rested. I got up and went to the pharmacy to get a patch for Miriam’s heel, which was starting to form a blister.
Our first task of the day was to eat. Actually, that was our main mission for most of the day. We hiked out of Dieppe with a ton of food and we were happy to dig into it early and often in order to reduce the weight on our backs. Same for our full water bottles.
We saw a few things in the Dieppe museum, then slowly made our way out of town. We took a break as the trail went right by an apartment building on the very outskirts of town.
The schedule today was to go slow and take long breaks when possible. We had pushed hard the previous two days, and now we didn’t have to hurry.
On the way to Pourville, we hit some mud. Thankfully we had already seen much worse in our preparations, as well as on our first day.
It wasn’t until we got to Pourville and after I had bought us a baguette that I realized I had left our ham, hot dogs, and cheese in the refrigerator this morning. A little frustrating, but at least we didn’t have to carry it.
We cooked noodles for ourselves on the rocky beach, then left to slowly climb up out of Pourville and head West..
One thing we’ve noticed is that the houses around here are mansions. Tall, with large well-manicured lawns. It was hot today, and we were carrying most of our clothing, weighing us down. My neck is sunburned bright red, as is my face. The others have fared better with their hats.
We took a break on a log, then continued on to a little beach which the Gendarmerie were clearing of people. This part of Normandie has these tiny beaches cut in the cliffs by little streams.
Climbing up, we eventually found ourselves overlooking another such beach from up on a cliff. Alex and the kids ventured down to the stream at the bottom to wash some wild vegetables she had picked. I stayed up high on the cliff and admired the view. I do wish more of the path was on the coast, as the English Channel is such a nice color, light blue.
We took another such break on a bench in front of the hotel and restaurant in Vanderval. I briefly pet one of the many donkeys we have seen on the Normandy coast.
The final few kilometers went by quickly, and we arrived at the Ailly Lighthouse. There is a convenient spot with picnic tables nearby, and we set up our tent in the woods, though still visible from the road.
We’ve now had our dinner and are in our sleeping bags. Today was the first day that we had a more leisurely walk, finishing early. Tomorrow should be more of the same.
