Date: 2008-02-28 18:59 Subject: 327 miles completed, only 963 to go! Security: Public

Back in France and into the mountains with less than 1000 miles to go. 

Having arranged accommodation as far as Pisa and completed the last of the outstanding miles in the UK, I boarded the plane for the flight from Southampton to Limoges on 20^th Feb.  

The one thing that had not changed in the intervening couple of weeks was the unseasonably warm weather with T shirts being the order of the day rather than thick coats and gloves.  

The first walk back on French soil was a gentle stroll of 5 miles as far as Feytiat as Kate who had rejoined me for a further three days arranged for us to stay with her friends Janet and Roger in Treignac for the remainder of the week. Having reached Feytiat, Janet and Roger picked us up and took us the 40 miles (65 kilometres) to their home in deepest Limousin.  

A wonderful couple, I was made to feel welcome from the outset and unknown to me they had arranged a fundraising evening during our stay where fellow ex-pats were invited to an informal get together and donate to the cause. The evening was a great success with everybody keen to learn more about the walk and around £100 was pledged as a result. 

On Thursday, we began our walking in earnest with a six hour walk through the countryside and along the banks of Lake Bariousses, a man made lake with several sandy beaches along its edges. Luckily, Janet had told me about the beaches otherwise given how far inland we were, I might have questioned the sanity of the Sat Nav!

On Friday we decided to try and find a local landmark known as “La Pierre des Druides”, we were warned that it was not easy to find and this proved to be the case. Having walked for over 3 hours with no sign of the landmark we decided that we would have to add ourselves to the list of failures and having stopped for lunch headed back to Treignac. 

Saturday gave me the opportunity to do some local walking and gain a better understanding of the local culture by exploring the town in greater detail while Kate attempted to find the “Druid“, sadly it was to elude her yet again. All too quickly it was time to move on and having said farewell to Janet, Kate and Roger arrived in Peyrat Le Chateau to spend a few days with more friends

.

John and Helen, friends for many years had, with the help of a fellow Englishman who owned a hotel in the village, arranged a fundraiser in the form of a quiz evening and had also been encouraging people to donate their loose change to the fund. For the two days I was to be in Peyrat I was joined by two more dear friends, Vivienne and Valerie who accompanied me on my daily jaunts. The first day was a gentle walk around part of Lake Vassiviere another man-made lake but much larger than Lake Bariousses, before heading back to the village.  

In the evening, John and Helen joined us for a walk around the village and its surroundings before we all headed to the pub for the quiz night. This was another success if not slightly embarrassing as I found myself part of the winning team. I would like to thank the owner Martin and his wife Maggie for hosting the evening, the amount raised was still to be confirmed at the time I left as people were still donating loose change. The second day saw us venturing to the local town of Eymoutiers with John and Helen joining us for a well earned lunch and where the rain finally caught up with me. 

Wednesday saw Viv and Val returning to Southampton whilst I headed for Clermont Ferrand for most of the journey by train but on foot for the last 12 kilometres. All I can say is that I was glad it was downhill into Clermont Ferrand!! 

For the first time since setting off I am on my own but I finally feel that I am on my way to Rome and more importantly confident that I can do it.