Date: 2008-02-03 09:49 Subject: 90 miles completed, only 1200 to go! Security: Public

The end of the first week and oh boy what a week!!

The journey to Rome officially started from the Town Hall in Gosport on the evening of Sunday 27th January 2008. The Mayor, family and friends, representatives from the charities together with a number of people from the town gathered to see me on my way. The first stop was the Catholic Church of St Mary’s in the High Street for a short service and blessing and to meet up with my walking companion for the first few days.

Onwards to the Gosport Ferry to make the short journey to Portsmouth where the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress were waiting to greet us. We all walked to the Royal Maritime Club for a fundraising opportunity with Shep Woolley who was waiting to entertain us and other members of the public who had gathered to wish us well. All too quickly, it was time to say goodbye and make our way to the Continental Ferry Port for the overnight crossing to Ouistreham.

After disembarking and a quick coffee and croissant in the nearby ferry terminal we set off for Caen some 11 miles away. Following the canal path, we paused at Pegasus Bridge and took a few minutes to look at the hotel, tank and glider that mark the events that took place in 1944. Although there had been a hard frost overnight, the temperature soon rose and it felt more like late May or early June rather than the end of January.

The city of Caen is twinned with Portsmouth and Caen city council had paid for our accommodation in a hotel in the Place Courtonne and the tourist office had paid for us to eat in a nearby restaurant. Their generosity did not end there, the following morning we were hosted to breakfast at City Hall as guests of the deputy mayor, Monsieur Jean-Pierre VIALLANEIX. Having said our goodbyes and given an interview to a local radio station, we set off around 1030 for our next destination, Bretteville-sur-Laize 25KM down the road.

Sadly, things started to go wrong as we found out that hoped for accommodation had not been arranged. The « Maire » (local mayor) of Bretteville-sur-Laize pulled out all the stops and located accommodation for us in a Chambres d’hote in a nearby village. The owners, Marie-France and Bruno Giard had opened up 2 rooms especially for us and we owe them a huge debt of gratitude for their kindness and hospitality.

The plan had been for the first 3 weeks accommodation to be booked en bloc but discussions with our friends in Caen late on the Tuesday confirmed that the expected accommodation had not been booked for a variety of reasons. It was nobody’s fault but a series of circumstances that conspired against us and would mean having to contact each tourist office on a day to day basis and there was no guarantee of success.

On Wednesday we proceeded to the historic town of Falaise, birthplace of William the Conqueror. After visiting the tourist office and confirming that there was no accommodation available for us at the next stopover in Necy and after some soul searching and discussions with my walking companion and a brief visit to the local church decided that the risk of proceeding further without a guarantee of accommodation in advance was too high.

Having previously promised my family and the charities that I would not take unacceptable risks with my safety decided that the safest option was to base ourselves in Falaise for 3 days, complete the miles we had intended to cover via daily walks and then return to Portsmouth on Saturday 2nd Feb. This enables me to book accommodation for the next leg from Limoges to Nice myself and return to France on 20th Feb (when I had originally planned to arrive in Limoges) with everything in place.

What about the miles you would have walked I hear you cry – well, I will be doing them in the UK around Gosport, Fareham, Stubbington and Lee on Solent to ensure that by the time I do arrive in Rome, the full 1290 miles will have been completed as planned.

What a week it was, from the superb hospitality and kindness from the people of Caen and the many people we met along the way to the disappointment of having to rethink things so early into my epic journey. From Gosport to Falaise and back to Gosport – somehow Rome does not seem any nearer – or is it just my imagination.