Long day. Started with big breakfast, courtesy of madame: fromage frais, kiwi fruit, juice, bread, butter and jam and croissants. Plus coffee. On the road at 8:30. We were facing our longest day yet.
Weather forecast was wrong. It said no rain. But the reality was constant drizzle ("bruine" in French) until 1 pm with a couple of bouts of rain.
Still, it was pleasant walking, mostly on quiet secondary roads in what would be quite lovely countryside in the sun. There was one tracked bit where we were startled to see a horse and buggy coming towards us. We did a double-take. A Mennonite? In rural France?? No, an old guy on a racing sulky.
Serendipity
? Each Friday, at 9 am eastern time we pray for a special family intention. Today, just before 3 pm French time (9 am eastern), we came up to a roadside shrine to the Madonna. So we gratefully said our prayers there.By 3:30 we reached l'Abbaye de Notre Dame at Wisques. These are Benedictine sisters who welcome pilgrims. They welcom
ed us. Went to Vespers. Gregorian chant. In Latin. Beautiful.There will be Lauds and mass in the morning. If every day ended like this it would feel more like a real pilgrimage.
Tomorrow we take the train for Calais and the ferry back to England.
24 km, 7 hours
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