Vic-sur-Seille to Dieuze; Day 141

Today I walked through villages much more important in the past than they are now.

But what I appreciated most, what gave me a "buzz", was when I checked my email mid-morning. A hiker said how much they appreciated my book on the E4, my blog of my trip through Greece on the E4 and the associated GPX files on Wikiloc. He was using it to plan his own walk on the E4 through Greece which he had just started. One reason I write a blog is to help others making the same journey. The second reason is so that family and friends can look up where I am and what I am doing. Thirdly, days on a long distance walk can blur together so you forget where, when and in what order you did what. A blog is a good reminder that in turn brings back other memories. Finally, as one ages dementia becomes a concern, writing a blog, thinking of words and phrasing, deciding what to write, is an exercise for your mind, more interesting to me than Sudoko or the Times crossword (which I could never do even when young).

Back to this morning, as I did not have far to walk today and could not arrive at my Chambre d'Hote (bed & breakfast) before 5 pm I tried to say in bed (i.e. my cosy sleeping bag) a little longer. 15 minutes extra was all I  managed before I got up! I delayed a bit more by walking into the village in the cold and mist of the morning for a croissant and an "escargot", not a real snail but a spiral of bread with currants and icing. Although intending to eat them at the campsite, they did not survive the walk back (the croissant had a lovely crispness on the outside, but was beautifully soft and slightly moist inside). Then I gave up delaying, packed up and left before the Belgian walker next door had stirred from his tent.

The GR5 had been adjusted in recent years and gave me a tour of buildings in Vic-sur-Seille that I had not seen yesterday including a 16th century half timbered house. Then I had the inevitable climb up the hillside into woodland as the sun burnt away the mist, causing me to  remove a layer of clothing, apply sun tan lotion and don my sunhat. 

I dropped down and crossed fields to reach Marsal, which had a very grand entrance for such a small village. Salt was the reason for its importance, the 17th century gatehouse was once part of the fortifications but now housed a salt museum. As I had time I walked around. From Neolithic times salt has been harvested by heating underground brines, and production remained important until the 17th century. Although once important the village now had no shops I could find and the café-bar was closed.

Porte de France gatehouse at Marsal.

After Marsal it was a long straight, quiet, flat road across open fields almost as far as Dieuze. Doing a final wriggle the GR5 included a woodland walk, a lake, an army barracks (complete with soldiers out for a run) and some parkland. However I was looking for a coffee which I found at a Salon du Thé with a slice of the delicious baked cheese cake they cook around here.

One of the many crosses and shrines beside the roadside in these parts.

The straight flat road from Marsal.

"Barn doors" typical of Lorraine on houses in one of the villages 

After strolling around Dieuze, which also looked like it has some historic buildings, I headed off my to find my Bed & Breakfast. School had just finished so I made my way through crowds of pupils to the house in the suburbs where I am in the basement. Returning to the town's centre for a burger I could not resist a beer sitting beside the square. Shear (but slightly guilty) joy!