Bioncourt to Vic-sur-Seille: Day 140

Woods, open fields and a few villages on a sunny day in Lorraine.

20 kilometres only (!) today across easy landscape. Sustained by a good breakfast from the Clos des Pommes B&B (fruit, bread, cheese, jam, orange juice and coffee) I strode off down the road back to where the GR5 crossed it. The day was spent crossing open hedge-less, fence-less fields of ploughed earth, grass or sunflowers gone to seed, although there was one anomalous field where the sunflowers were still in flower. This was by a convenient shelter and bench where I finished off the chocolates I bought yesterday. 

A late flowering field of sunflowers with the village of Grémecey beyond.

Gentle hills gave periodic views of the surrounding villages with houses of white or light coloured walls and red roofs. Church steeples poked over hillsides looking like little rockets. My route took me through a few villages, the large barn doors on many buildings that I had noticed before seem to be a characteristic of Lorraine, my guidebook calls them "portes de grange".

Inevitably there was a woodland section but in this one forestry operations were in progress. Piles of tree trunks had marks spray-painted on them in luminous pink, the track had deep, wide and muddy tyre marks, and I could hear the sound of power tools in the distance. The route was diverted a little from where my GPS had it, maybe to avoid where work was underway.

These towers are everywhere, used by hunters to shoot at deer.

Some of the tracks had pipeline or powerline markers beside them, like upturned books or little roofs on poles, which may explain the straightness of the tracks and their good level of maintenance. However I was puzzled that a sign indicating a buried ethylene pipeline. Ethylene is used by the chemical industry and there was no sign of any such industry in the open countryside around me, although I suppose it is used to move the product large distances between refineries across France.

Track side view.

Vic-sur-Seille, the village where I am staying announced itself as a "Petite Cité de Caractère". It seems pleasant place, with a museum of an artist I had not heard of, although everything was closed for lunch until 3 pm when I walked through to my campsite. The site itself, mainly static trailers, has an end of season deadness. Another GR5 backpacker joined me, having similar problems finding anyone at the campsite reception. In the village the pizza place was fully booked, the nearby restaurant was closed so I ate at a kebab place housed in a bar that serves no alcohol.

Afterwards I strolled around the backstreets of the village which improved my view of it. There were buildings such as the Hôtel de la Monnaie, once a money exchange, which dated from the 15th century with attractive masonry, although a little over-restored. A chateau gatehouse, a former convent, old buildings and narrow streets added to the town's atmosphere in the kind light of the setting sun.

Hôtel de la Monnaie, the balcony was added by "restoration" work.

On returning to my tent in the dark, I discovered I have pitched opposite a static caravan surrounded by many multi-coloured and flashing lights. Hopefully they will be turned off later. (Update: they were not, but seemed to run on solar power, so that only a few of the lights were still flashing in the morning, however they did not disturb my sleep).