…I managed 28 kilometres in the end! It was a breeze and I have finally come off the “Voies Verte” pathway! That must have been about a 90 kilometre trek from Cherbourg to Coutances-where I am now. Beautiful cathedral with two 80 metre towers and a vast interior. I am sat in the Café directly opposite-drinking a coffee that has reduced my budget from 9 euros 55 cents to 7 euros 65 cents.

So here’s the deal. I have 7 euros 65 cents left, (I have £45 back on my boat in Cherbourg) and I have a few options. (The option I have just missed is catching the train from here to Avranches. That was 9 euros)!

So option 1 is take two buses, total 4.40 euros and arrive in Avranches later on today. Option 2 is stay another night in the campsite I found last night, (6.90 euros) or third option, continue the walk.

Problems with the third option. 1) Very sore feet. 2) Poor footwear. 3) No one here seems to know the cross country route, namely the ‘English Way’. It’s clearly marked with a 2 inch line on my tourist info map but there seem to be no detailed ones available. I DO NOT want to get lost, get frustrated, get dehydrated, waste (more) time!

I would dearly love to walk it. The most popular ‘marked’ way is via the coast but that’s about another 100 kilometres…and I need to be earning money, not practising new and numerous survival techniques!

I found an interesting article on the internet this morning, all about getting your e book done and ‘out there’ earning you money. That’s the position I’d like to be in then all this walking can be paid for-and made sense of.

So where do we go from here? I guess a call to my mate in Avranches to see if arriving tonight is suitable. My feet are calming down. I can walk slowly but I’m not keen to mess things up by trying for the ‘English Way’ path just so that I can say I have done what I said I would do at the beginning of this little quest.

Sense says make the call, then get a bus. Pride says just walk slowly, you’ll get there. With my 7 euros and 65 cents I still have creative licence…but if I get those two buses please don’t give me too much of a hard time. The first bus goes in an hour. The pathway is open year round. Cheers!

(ps. I met a French guy a few moments ago. He’s a keen walker and we were talking about my crappy shoes! He’s off to Cherbourg and then on the ferry to Poole tomorrow. He recommended a great outdoor shop in Dorchester, close to where I live. I said you mean the one just down from the church in the high street. He said yes, that’s the one! We grinned, shook hands and went in opposite directions).