Friday, April 24, 2026
End: Péronne
Kilometers: 0.0
Total: 78.6
Funnily enough, Isabelle and her family had ended up staying in the same building as us the previous night. I figured they would be gone by morning, on a bus to Amiens in order to get back to Paris, but I saw Timothy’s backpack in the hall around checkout time. They must have taken a later bus.
My day was taken up by town chores. First, I cooked up some scrambled eggs for Alex and Miriam’s breakfast, then loaded up all of our clothing in my backpack and took them to the laundromat. In the future, we ought to take advantage of these laundromats more often, as I think Alex feels much better with clean clothing.
Once I had the clothing finished, I took the longer trek out to the grocery store and McDonald’s, picking up the supplies we would need for the next few days, as well as lunch for Miriam and Daniel.
With that back at the apartment, I tried to pick up an authentic Picardy dish for Alex and I to try, but the restaurant wouldn’t take a pickup order. I settled for a kebab.
In the afternoon, I took the kids back to the swimming pool. Once inside, a lifeguard accosted me, telling me I wasn’t wearing a swimsuit. I was, but it was an American suit, not a European speedo, whose purpose appears to be to show off the immense difference between most older men’s large stomachs, and their legs. He let me off with a warning.
The kids enjoyed their time at the pool, then we went back to the apartment. Alex had kept her ankle on ice for the whole day, and there had been some slight improvement.
I cooked up a pizza in the oven for the kids, and got a burrito (a taco according to the French) for Alex and I.
Our first ever zero day was complete. The next day, we would hike out.