Tergnier to Suzy

The forest of Saint-Gobain

A sleepy start to a long day. The site was very noisy overnight so we were tired today. We packed up and left at about 9 and stopped for coffee twice to pep ourselves up.

We have learned that the 'stage distance' listed by the Francigena website is always about 10-15% short of the real distance on winding paths. Today's stage to Laon is '39km' (40+ in the real world) which is probably too much for us so we will stop short if needed.

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Today's date: 18.7.20

Weather: sunny and warm

Steps: 41,460

Distance: 26.33 km

Climbing: 336 m

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We walked along a canal to leave Tergnier and saw our first boat.

We walked across and then out of the wide and flat valley of the river Oise. It was very warm but we took a long path through woodland by Saint Obain. The woods were deserted and we saw nobody for hours. The path was very rutted and tough on the feet.

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We went off-route to Saint Gobain for lunch. It is at the top of a steep hill and it looked for a while as if we had made a mistake. All the bars were closed but luckily the boulangerie was open. We had a picnic in the churchyard and convinced ourselves we were half way to Laon.

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We get barked at all the time by dogs. These were less scary than the norm.

The afternoon was very warm and despite walking through a large forest the sun was overhead and our pace slowed. The paths went on and on so we decided to stop short and walked to a campsite in the pretty village of Suzy.

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Camping Etangs du Moulin

A wild-west themed campsite. It's actually quite fun. We are right at the far end of the site which is hopefully good for a quiet night. We have interesting neighbours including a pregnant lady and a baby who all arrived by bike.

Supper at the bar on site which is super busy. The connectivity here is poor and it is awkward to charge phones so we will probably move on tomorrow even though we fancy a rest.

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