Via Francigena 12 (Cormicy -- Trépail)

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“Notre Dame Cathedral & the yummiest ice cream”
Thursday, July 14, 2022:
Cormicy -- Reims
Said hello to the kitties in the morning & ate breakfast. We had croissants, bread, cheese, etc. Le Crémaux was such a yummy cheese. Nathalie gave us 2 small shells to protect us along the Via & a card that she painted: “Que Dieu Vous geirde Que votre chemin soit fait de belles sencoutres. Amicaleuieut, Nathalie”. We said goodbye to Nathalie and then walked along the vineyards of grapes. In Hermonville we pet a bird sitting on the sidewalk. We stopped at a restaurant to get the yummiest strawberry gelato with honey, strawberries, mint, and a sesame cookie. We walked through a field of wheat. We saw a huge gate that leads to the middle of nowhere. We ate the rest of the risotto when we came to a forest path. We sang songs and rhymes that we improvised. We crossed through a freshly harvested field & stopped at the end to get all of the straw out of our socks and shoes. We saw a burned car on the way and then came up to a canal that we walked along for the rest of the way. We checked into Pays Champenois & took a shower. Then we walked around the city. Between the buildings was a church that we decided to explore. It was closed but we kept walking through the street..& I found..ICE CREAM (Glacé)! And not just any ice cream but literally the best ice cream I have ever tasted: Caprice. Literally nothing has & nothing will ever top it. I got the Noix de coco & Passion fruit. I can’t explain how delicious it was. Reims Cathedral was ginormous & beautiful & definitely a tourist trap. Len met up with us & we enjoyed dinner together. I got a veggie burger with fries & a side salad. Although they advertised milkshakes, they were out when we ordered them. Then we said bye to Len which may be the last time we see him. We went to the market to get drinks & then went home because we were exhausted.
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“Night Hike through the Devil’s woods…”
Friday, July 15, 2022:
Reims -- Trépail
Got breakfast at the hostel and the wasps stole my fruit. We saw the Reims cathedral one more time & got a pin to honor the city. We needed to use the bathroom and I let nick go first while I waited with the bags…but then a HUGE tour group decided it was time to use the bathroom. My jaw dropped. Nick came out of the bathroom in shock & felt bad that a line of 30 women formed. We went to another bathroom. We bought tiger balm then went to the Basilique Saint-Remi. Saint Remi’s tomb was there but his hands and feet were missing?? We were hungry and nothing was open, even though the map said it was. We strayed farther from the path to find some food & in Taissy we found a Bakery. The salad was incredibly yummy. The cheese bread & croissants were also tasty. I was exhausted in Sillery & took a nap outside while Nick was looking for a bathroom (we detoured a while trying to find one). We passed by La nécropole nationale de Sillery then walked through vineyards (Veuve Clicquot) up and down hills. Nick found an old Bullet from WWII. When we finally arrived at Verzy, we sat in a church for a bit then looked food. The whole town was very expensive. It was the middle of Champagne county. There were private parties for champagne with fancy people dressed up for galas. We found a bar to eat at and ordered the cheese plate (we got a discount because they didn't have a lot of cheese left). We drank beer & then ordered a glass of champagne that we had to guess what region it was from and what grapes were used in order to get the glass free. I knew it was from La Montagne de Reims but we didn’t get the mix of grapes right. CHAMPAGNE: PIERRE DEVILLE Grand Cru contains Chardonnay and Pinot Noir Grapes rather than Chardonnay and Meunièr grapes. It was a lot of fun. We decided that it was too expensive to stay in the town and we were going to camp in the famous woods of Foret de Verzy. It has dwarf beech trees that people say the devil cursed the woods. While it sounded like an exciting idea…the plan quickly vanished. The woods were dark and scary and not pleasant enough to sleep in. We ran through the woods to try to make it to the next town. It was darker the deeper we went and at one point it was pitch black without headlamps. We heard gunshots and we got even more scared…I literally have never backpacked so fast. We finally got to the road and we were so excited to finally get out of the woods…but then…the map was leading us to the darkest path. It was terrifying. We were so grateful when we got through. It was a Hallelujah moment. In Trépail, Nick called and asked if we could sleep in somebody’s house whose number we had at 10pm. I was exhausted and in pain and so ready for bed. I played with the kittens and then took a shower before going to sleep.