feb 28 - mmmm... salty air

after a couple of days off for recovery (very important) today's pace was slow slow slow and long! my longest day yet! now that's something to celebrate and i intend to do just that here in the fantastic town of Le Crotoy. oh i can almost taste that verre du vin, i think tonight shall be blanc. but i'm getting ahead of myself i'm so excited by the thought of wine.

the run began through more fields to the beginning of Le Crotoy. I passed by la gare (the train station) and ran to the north west end of town before turning in the 2 blocks to the beach. and what a beach! Le Crotoy is on La Baie de Somme. Wow. Words fail me. La Baie is 2.5 km wide at the narrowest point! And so much to see along the promenade.

distance today: 8.5 km

distance to date: 129.7 km

feb 25 - eglise

today was a short fast run. i've been reading about how to improve my running and i'm learning a lot. i remember way back when i was in shape i found that i never really got any better. turns out if you run at the same pace for the same distance you won't really get faster or better. so now i shall have 3 different types, 1 is endurance - slow and long, 2 is speed - short and fast, and 3 is sprints - alternate sprints and walking. today was a speed run. i began through fields southbound down the D940. i veered east to the town of Rue because there's a spectacular eglise (church) to see.

and check out the medieval house! i bet there's a walk in fireplace for roasting huge hunks of meat which you wash down with tankards of ale. and sit on a long rough trestle table.

after a run through town i headed west back to the highway south and finished the town at the edge of town.

distance today: 5 km

distance to date: 121.2 km

feb 23 - les champs

today began with a decision, to go westward back to the sea and sand or continue south through the countryside? having seen a few towns the last few runs I opted for the countryside. I'm sure Fort Mahon was stunning however I enjoyed a few kilometers of champs de ble (wheat fields). just a nice steady run.

distance today: 6.5 km

distance to date: 116.2 km

feb 21 - moo

todays run began eastward on the Rue de Berck through the town of Groffliers heading towards the good old D940. As I approached Waben I came across another reminder of the past, this German infantry bunker.

Once through Waben, (which took just a few minutes, small town) I again headed south to the open countryside. Running alone can be a bit dull but I can always have a conversation avec les vaches, they seem to be bilingual, moo is moo in any language.
The magnificent Baie d'Authie winds its way inland and I found this fantastic view from the Pont a Cailloux (remember le pont? the bridge). And so my run ends. About a half a km back I passed the Chateau de Colline Beaumont, I think I shall return there and see if they can put me up for the night. I suspect their wine cellar is definitely worth a visit! And I could use a nice hot shower, it was a long run today! I'm getting stronger!

Distance today: 7.2 km

Distance to date: 109.7 km

feb 18 - MILESTONE!!!

When i stopped yesterday i was so caught up in the beautiful sunset (le coucher de soleil) over La Baie d'Authie that I didn't even notice this: le phare de Berck. (and a new word! le phare is the lighthouse). I ran past le phare et le poste de secours (the aid station) and then le stationnement des camping-cars (the parking lot) onto the Chemins des Raisins. I think this means the Raisin Road. I keep looking for the raisins.

I turned east onto the Boulevard de Paris and headed out of Berck. It was a nice town and gave me lots to see. At a large roundabout I turned south back on the D940. My route took me past Enclos Bouteleux and the day finished on the outskirts of Groffliers.

Today marks a major milestone for me, I reached the 100 km mark!!! That is huge!!! So what if it tooks 6 weeks, I have now run more than 100 km!!! Being in the triple digits is a big psychological boost. It means that I'm serious about this, I can do it. 6 weeks ago it was a struggle to make 5km a day, now I'm doing a bit over 6 and it's easy. Usually I want to continue and do more but I hold off because I don't want to overdo it and be too tired the next day. My goal is to get in shape and this takes time. Everyday I remind myself that to reach a major goal (running the whole country) I must take small steps everyday.

One foot in front of the other and eyes on the finish line. I will reach it. Yippeeee!!!

Distance today: 5.3 km (and a fast one!)

Distance to date: 102.5

feb 16 - Berck

oh boy, back to the seaside today. i felt the need to see la mer (the sea) so after 2 km down the D940 I took a sharp right along the Avenue du Dr Ouellete to la plage. Berck is the north point of the Baie d'Authie and has oodles of wind and sand. There is a lovely promenade along the beach, very busy during the tourist season.

Today I learnt a new word, cerf-volant, meaning kite. Note to self, find out when the kite festivals happen here.

As I continued south along the promenade I came across many of these stone jetties that extend way out across the sand. Well, sand at low tide, underwater at high tide. I suspect many of these are to diminish the effects of wind on sand erosion. The end of my run coincided with the end of the promenade with a spectacular view of the Baie at coucher du soleil (sunset).

distance today: 6.4 km

distance to date: 97.2 km

feb 11 - Bagatelle

i left the outskirts of Stella Plage and was back on the D940 - or Rue D'Etaples. At 3km into the run I reached Merlimont and had to make a decision, to detour to see la plage de Merlimont or to continue? I opted to continue on. The beach of Merlimont (and town) is only 2.1 km south of Stella, seriously, 2 km!!! One day this will probably be just a continuous sprawl but for now there is actual green space between 2 towns that are 2 km apart. And although they are 2 separate towns, i thought, how much different can they be? This coast is beginning to feel a bit of a manufactured tourist industry. So I ran on through Le Bout d'Airon and ended up beside... (are you ready?) an amusement park! Truly! Here's the "town" of Bagatelle, which is basically a suburb for those who work at the park.

I did however learn some words:

bateau pirate: pirate ship (hey, as my alter ego Sailorgirl I already knew this one!)

chenille: this actually translates as caterpillar but it's a roller coaster, maybe there's a better word?

le parc: the park, ok, i knew this one too from high school french but now it's firmly in my vocabulary
distance today: 6.2 km

distance to date: 90.8 km

feb 8 - Stella Plage

another detour day to see another plage (beach, remember?), this one is Stella Plage. i really like the way the town is planned in a fan shape around the beach front. the buildings are all quite new, not quite the old world charm of some other seaside towns. still lots to look at.

and the dunes (dunes de sable) are spectacular!

another fantastic beach, golden sand and always waves, always wind. today i learnt more words, poste de secours, this translates literally to aid station, it's actually lifeguards, think of this as the french baywatch.

distance today: 6.2 km

distance to date: 84.6 km

feb 5 - Le Touquet-Paris-Plage

the full name of today's town is Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, Cote d'Opale, Pas de Calais and what a lovely seaside town this is. very touristy but still with oodles of charm. (and oodles of bistros! and cafes! and my first marche - market).

i ran past la plage (the beach) and stuck my toes is le sable (the sand). it seems to be a major pastime to make sculptures de sable.it was tres venteux (very windy) and i suspect this never changes. i do love the beach huts, they're like candies dotted along the beach. i ran the full length of the beach along Blvd d'Thierry Sabine and then headed out of town along the Avenue Francois Godin.

distance today: 6.2 km

distance to date: 78.4 km

feb 3 - un pont et la plage

today is a detour day as i head towards la plage (beach). i began by running through Etaples, right through the centre past the town hall.


this brasserie was mighty tempting for a lunch break but it's not time yet. i continued past and over the bridge (le pont)
tres scenic! once i was over le pont, i decided to detour towards the sea. i feel in need of a break on la plage (the beach) where i can stick my toes in the water (l'eau) and feel the sand (le sable). then i shall find another bistro and have a nice big plate of something tasty. and perhaps a wee glass of wine.

distance today: 6 km
distance to date: 72.2 km