Villers-Chatel to Arras

Cows

The BnB was great. Quiet, spacious and relaxing. It deserved better guests than us - we arrived and just crashed out in our room.

Breakfast was wholesome with good coffee and lots of fresh fruit. We packed up, grabbed the leftovers, and left at 9.30. It was good to be on the road a little earlier, especially as it was warmer today.

Quite grand for a BnB.

We settled into a routine of stopping every 90 minutes or so. The villages rolled by and everything looked splendid in the sun.

We stopped at the bakery in Acq and grabbed a coffee in the busy local bar.

There was no food available in the pretty village of Maroeuil but the bar seemed quite happy for us to just buy a tea and picnic at their table.

The fields are full of poppies and we passed a number of wartime cemeteries.

The pace in the afternoon was relaxed as it was not far to Arras and our accomodation for the next two nights was already sorted. We are taking a rest day tomorrow.

The Via has been really well marked and the whole region seems to have a really extensive network of trails. We are currently sharing the path with the Camino to Compostella.

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Today's date: 7.7.20

Weather: sunny

Steps: 37,800

Distance: 23.78 km

Climbing: 75 m

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The walk into Arras runs along the river Scarpe, and we emerged into the city quite close to the centre of town.

The route in the city is marked with tokens stamped into the pavement.

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Saint-Vaast of Arras

Tonight we are staying in pilgrim accomodation in Arras. The rooms are in a huge monastery about a km from the city centre.

The rooms are cheap and cheerful but provide everything we need, including a stamp. We walked around the centre of Arras - the extra few km are easy without a pack on your back.

The grand squares in the city centre were full of people drinking in the evening sun. Arras looks to be an interesting place and we will visit the Cathedral tomorrow. We had a light supper and headed back.

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