The day started with a climb, then a beautiful forest. It was a very nice place to be walking through, nice views and a lot of green, but it was also crawling with ticks. After every stretch of grass on the path (and there were a lot) I had to stop to flick a few of them off my feet and legs. Though this was effective, it was also annoying and slowed me down. So I was actually glad to get out of the forest for a while when I got to the next village.
After that, more forest and a climbing path, that had fewer ticks, but there were ants all over it. I must have killed some, it was impossible not to step on any. Not the best place to stand still, but I did anyway, to watch a squirrel. No ant bites, so that's a win.
After the next small village, with a small ruined castle, I crossed a tgv track (never realized how noisy those trains are, especially in the valley it was almost as bad as an aeroplane), then back into the forest. With more ticks. That made it a lot harder to enjoy the forest. I started mistrusting every speck of sand, and the number of times I tried to flick off the few small birthmarks I have on my feet...
I was getting really hungry, but didn't want to sit down on the forest floor with so many ticks. So when I finally came to a crossing of roads, I just sat down on the road to make lunch. Next to a sign warning about tick bites and how to prevent them, which by this time seemed rather ironic.
I realized at some point that if you have dark skin, ticks would be much harder to find. They stand out against my light skin. Another way in which white-skinned people are privileged, I guess.
After lunch, there was a bit more forest, but when I had to walk through a lot of high grass I remembered I have an anti-insect spray with me (the ironic sign also mentioned repellants; I have one based on natural ingredients, no DEET), and decided to try it. And it may have worked; I got through that stretch completely tick-free. And then I emerged onto a road. Usually I'm unhappy with roads and happy with forest paths, but today it was the other was around. So, road through forests and pasts fields, and then I got to Vilcey-sur-Trey. I had my water bottles refilled (a few children asked me if I wasn't tired, having walked from Onville; and no, not yet. I was tempted to say 'it's less than 20 km!' but resisted showing off too much) and left the village at 15.00, feeling pretty optimistic about the next 10 km.
First, there was a climb, and I wanted to take a break when I'd reached the top. But then my luck with the weather ran out. It started to rain before I got to the top. And it didn't stop. Moreover, a thunderstorm joined the rain, which was a bit scary out in the forest; but I didn't come too close to it, and after a while, it stopped. They rain didn't though. And I'm a hopelessly lazy good-weather hiker; as soon as it rains more than 15 minutes, I don't enjoy it anymore. Rain takes away most of what I like about hiking. So, no break, no sitting still (I was cold enough already; and the new cheap lightweight rain coat that had promised to work for two hours didn't last 10 minutes), and just walking on through the rain. Until I got to Montauville, where I'd hoped to find a place to sleep (again, asking around, as there were no campsites), but by then I had pretty much decided I wanted to sleep indoors and not walk on Tuesday (it would keep raining at least that night and the next day). So I walked to the train station of Pont-a-Mousson (some 30 minutes), and after a lot of pointless back-and-forth and even considering going home, I am now back in Metz, in a hotel (both hostels were full), and I'm definitely not going walking tomorrow. And after that, it depends on weather and stuff.

Geschreven door Jewaontheroad