But your senses can feel a change on the way. Jacques henceforth J with whom a friendship was forged on another long walk, in the south of France Camino Le Puy has joined us in Bar-sur-Aube. He says the best champagnes are already behind us. Even to my untrained pallet, the local wines and bubblies and I try at least one local product daily, out of a sense of political correctness of course!
In inept hands such as mine, the camera fails to record these ups and downs as little more than molehills.
From Saint-Ciergues down to the Reservoir La Mouche, which supplies drinking water to the surrounding districts and up the next rise, the views are just as breath-taking. A final heart-stopping climb mercifully short brings you to the magnificent city of Langres, with three and a half kilometres of ramparts, opening out with 7 gates, one of them from the first century BC.
In Langres, we are indeed at the cross-roads. We are still in Champagne but edging into Bourgogne. Over the last few days the vineyards have given way to dairy farms — Fromage Langres is on the menu. The city is the birthplace of Diderot, one of the most radical 18th century philosophers, who argued vociferously against the church. His name everywhere, from streets to boulangeries. So J is a little mystified to find that the city has more than usual number of Catholic schools.
Most famously, the city contains the intersection of 12 Roman roads, some leading to that other destination of the modern pilgrim, Santiago de Compostela. For a week now, roads to Santiago have crossed our path, tormenting me with a nostalgia for that past-perfect hike — reminding me of all the highs, the warmth, the laughter, tempting me to take one wrong turn and head for that other place — somewhere you have been before, a place that in your memory has become a comfort-zone.
