Day 60 Arras to Achiet-le-Grand
For most of last night, at least the parts of last night when we were awake, we could hear the rain falling onto the roof next door. On waking this morning it looked as though it might continue to rain for most of today, as had been predicted by both our host and the TV.
We finally poked our noses out of the hotel doorway at about 9:30am and discovered that the rain had stopped and that the cobbles were shining in the weak sunshine.
Unburdened by rainwear we strolled across the square on the first steps towards Achiet. On the corner of the square we could see an ornate drain cover in the middle of the road so went to look at it. If Janet hadn’t jumped smartly out of the way a passing motorist would have been startled to find a British tourist, of the female pursuasion, clinging to his windscreen wipers.
At this point the rain started again so we huddled in a shop doorway and dressed for rain. It was our intention to follow the GR for the first mile or two today and we discovered some lovely areas of the city.
The inhabitants of Arras are obviously keen producers of vegetables as the area devoted to allotments appeared to continue for at least half a mile, probably longer.
We now have conclusive evidence that French people like vegetables so why do the restaurants not serve up these inexpensive treasures for us all to enjoy?
We have had a wonderful stroll today as we have managed to avoid busy roads and, after the first mile or two, we had no need at all for rainwear. Indeed the weather has been nearly perfect for us, overcast, breezy, not too cold and not too hot.
This open, sparsely populated, countryside is filled with an abundance of wind turbines and all of the infrastructure which is its inevitable accompaniment. French people seem quite content to live in close proximity to all of this stuff.
As I have mentioned before, each village or town here has a powerful reminder of the past.
Tomorrow we will be heading out for somewhere else in France. Our lunch is chilling on the window ledge .
The blighters were never worn on consecutive days always washed daily along with socks and T shirt,sometimes combined with showering.Oh what fun we had!!!!!
Ah yes, the shower, pants and socks combo is unbeatable. If you can’t find a flannel then knickers make a good substitute. Obviously some care needs to be taken when using this extreme measure.
Speak for yourself. I have never used knickers, clean or not, as a flannel. I always use one end of a hand towel for the purpose.
I sometimes imagine a string of room cleaners all along our route wondering who could be daft enough to make a hand towel so wet.