pile.org

2017 E5 walk, day 37: Avranches to l’Anglaicherie

Up at dawn, I stopped in town for bread and pastries, and then hit the trail. I had a bit of trouble following its exact route through the north­western part of town, but found it quickly enough.

The trail descended Avranches’s bluff, then climbed back up again east of town. This was kind of a theme for the day — the highland that Avranches was on extended to the east, and the trail skirted mostly along the top of it, but occasionally dipped down briefly.

This was the day that I decided I would end my walk in Paris, rather than continuing on the E5 for perhaps three more months. The various aches and blisters were manageable by this point; I felt like I was physically capable of continuing indefinitely. But I was tired of constantly wrangling a place to stay for the next night or two, and most importantly, I missed my family. I was in touch with Meghan every day by text message, but we didn’t speak or see each other nearly often enough. They had already made plans (with my mother and my brother and his family) to come over for a two-week European vacation after school was out, so my new plan was to end my walk in Paris, and then occupy myself until they arrived.¹

The walk itself was fairly unremarkable — or at the very least, I didn’t take very many photos, and don’t have many clear memories for most of the day. Shortly after the tiny hamlet of l’Anglaicherie, I left the trail and headed north for about 45 minutes through a wooded trail, which became a country road, to the night’s campsite, Camping de Brécey. I believe I was the only person there, though the campground was technically open for business.

After setting up my tent, I walked along the highway to the nearby town of Brécey for dinner. I ended up eating a pizza and a massive salad at le P’tit Nicolas, before heading back to the campsite for a good night’s sleep.