Walking from the Pyrenees to Northern England
31 Replies
I shall be walking from my current home in the Aude, to the house where I was born, in Blackpool, Lancashire. I plan to take 70 days for the walk and to arrive 70 years, to the day, after I was born. I will be walking an average of 30 kms a day, 6 days a week, for 10 weeks. If anybody wants to follow my planning, preparations, training, and eventually the walk itself (starts on May 15th 2010) my blog address is:www.vicsbigwalk.blogspot.comAny helpful suggestions will be gratefully received.Vic Heaney
Replies
| Thanks Kitten. The blog is updated several times per week. I am thinking of writing a book about this. What do you think? |
| Anybody Know Anything About Internet on the Move? I know I can get one of those little gadgets which fit into the side of a laptop to give Internet connection while on the move. I need one for updating my blog while I am doing the big walk. I have seen these for sale in France, but does anybody know whether, as in UK, there is a tarriff on which you pay only on the days you use it, rather than having to take out a contract for 12 or 24 months at so much a month. The daily tarriff would be so much better for me as I shall only be needing it for the duration of the walk. Vic |
· Reply... |
| Sorry Tanya. Just realised what you said about prepaid hours. That would be better than a monthly rate and a long term contract, but pay per day would be best, if it can be don. Regards Vic |
Vic The major isp companies all do thre prepaid top ups for the internet which charge for hours of use which will be perfect for what you need.Have a look at orange or sfr.You will need to buy the key as well about 60€ Keep us informed and good luck |
| Hello again Tanya Thanks very much for all that. I'll get onto it. Regards Vic |
Welcome to
Reading the Blog. With so many new readers, not all having the
Food. The
Transport and Accommodation. Therefore we have decided to buy a
Corporate Sponsorship. There was much discussion in
Raising money for Charity. There have been many suggestions
Route. Although France has an incredible network of long
Company. I have had many offers of company along the
Book of the Walk. I shall be writing a book about the build-up Blog address is: http://vicsbigwalk.blogspot.com |
| Now that I have sorted out a safe walking route through England (see Monday 15th June, I am turning my attention to finding the same through France. This is a much bigger proposition, if only because France is so much bigger than England. As mentioned, I received a great deal of help from the Long Distance Walkers Asssociation. Is there a similar body in France? |
Hi Vic For such a tremendous feat,it would be a shame not to match this with a little charity raising.I can however understand that you dont want to be under pressure.Im sure that any money raised would be most welcome,and it takes a very special person to raise a single penny for charity. Good luck |
| Hello again Kitten I shall probably be doing it. My first wife died of pancreatic cancer. I think I should probably try to raise money for a charity associated with that. Regards Vic |
| Walking the French section. Stage 1 of 3. Puivert to Sarlat le Canada. Ok, listen up, here it is: Day 1. Puivert to Mirepoix. 33 kms Day 2. Mirepoix to Salles sur l'Hers. 38 kms Day 3.Salees to Gardouch then to Caraman. 34 kms Day 4. Caraman to Lavaur. 24 kms Day 5. Lavaur to Rabastens. 18 kms Day 6. Rabastens to Bruniquel. 33 kms Day 7. Bruniquel to Puylaroque. 27 kms Day 8. Puylaroque St. Pierre Lafeuille. 41 kms Day 9. St Pierre Lafeuille to St Germain du Bel Air. 19 kms Day 10. St Germain to Sarlat le Canada 38 kms Total for Stage. 287 kms I believe I have selected quiet roads throughout, for walking safety. If anybody has local knowledge which contradicts that, or knowledge of DIRECT, off-road footpaths between any of the above points, I would like to hear about it. If you want to know exactly which roads I will be using, to: www.multimap.com Click on "directions", select the "walking" option, and put in the "to" and "from" towns. I apologise for inadvertently placing Caen/Ouistreham in Brittany the other day. It is of course in Normandy |
|
| Stage 3 of 3. Sarlat to Chatellerault Day 19.Chatellerault to Rilly sur Vienne. 32 kms Day 20. Rilly to Langeals. 36 kms Day 21. Langeals to Couesmes. 30 kms Day 22. Couesmes to Requeil. 33 kms. Day 23. Requeil to Preuille le Chetif. 27 kms Day 24. Preuille to Fresnay sur Sarthe. 40 kms Day 25 Fresnay to St Denis sur Sarthon. 23 kms Day 26. St Denis to Serans. 34 kms Day 27. Serans to Potigny. 31 kms Day 28 Potigny to St Martin de Fontenay. 22 kms Day 29. St Martin to Ouistreham and the ferry to Portsmouth. 23 kms Total for Stage. 331 kms Again, I believe I have selected quiet roads throughout, for walking safety. If anybody has local knowledge which contradicts that, or knowledge of direct, off-road footpaths between any of the above points, I would like to hear about it. If you want to know exactly which roads I will be using, to: http://www.multimap.com">www.multimap.com Click on "directions", select the "walking" option, and put in the "to" and "from" towns. I have listed only walking days. There will be rest days punctuating the trip. I plan to take a total of 40 days, including rest days, to reach the ferry, leaving 30 days to walk through England. Rest days will be announced on the blog at least one day before, as will my specific walking plans for the next day. |
| Raising Money For Charity There have been many suggestions to me, via comments to my blog, e-mails, various forums which carry news of the walk, that I should be using the event to raise money for a charity. I have decided that I shall do this. The charity I have chosen is Pancreatic Cancer UK. Did you know that this very nasty and, in my experience, heartlessly rapid cancer, is responsible for 5% of cancer deaths, but receives only 1% of cancer funding? We need to try to change that. This is a matter particularly close to the heart of me and my daughters Karen and Nicola. My first wife, their mother, died of this dreadful illness only a very few short weeks after diagnosis. I will set up an arrangement with Just Giving, so that sponsorship donations can be made direct from the blog. I would do that today, but there is a problem with Just Giving's new website. As soon as that problem is fixed I will post more details and a button to "press |
| I expected a quiet week of walking, as we have visitors, but have managed to get in 133 kms - much of that accompanied by my brother Septimus - bringing my total, for the year so far, to 2304 kms There has been a new entry in my blog almost every day this week, of which the latest is: http://vicsbigwalk.blogspot.com/2009/06/septimus-on-march.html |
| So far this year I have walked 2,386 kms, which with my little legs (I am not really such a big walker) equates to 2,982,500 steps! I have one pair of shoes (Columbia Trailmeister IV) which have covered 1,500 kms - 1,875,000 steps. Not a blister in sight. For more, see my blog: http://vicsbigwalk.blogspot.com |
| Some interesting news today. A major shoe manufacturer, having heard that I am giving their shoes some major punishment, is interested in: 1. Framing my shoes and exhibiting them in one of their stores, or making some other use of them. 2. Putting a link on their website to my blog, to "create some buzz". 3. Making a story to be used through their PR agency, so that even more people start talking about me and my big challenge - of course I would need to refer to their shoes, which I am happy to do because I think they are most excellent. I am very happy to do this or many other things to maximise the publicity because, now I have decided to raise money for Pancreatic Cancer UK, the publicity will help that cause. More about that very soon. I expect to have a link from my blog to the charity donation website up and running in the next few days. My blog is at: http://vicsbigwalk.blogspot.com |
Let’s Nail This Serial Killer
Pancreatic
I have a
So what can
Today I
After you
We all
Please
Here is the
http://www.justgiving.com/Vic-Heaney/ |
| One Tough Mother Those wondering what to do with their time in retirement should have a look at the book "One Tough Mother" that I recommend on my blog today. An 85-year old woman running a company with over $1 billion turnover, jetting all over the world opening stores, meeting presidents, starring in advertising campaigns! No need to put your feet up just yet. http://vicsbigwalk.blogspot.com/2009/07/one-tough-mother.html |
| The more I read about people doing long distance walks in France, the more I come across references to frequent attacks by dogs. As I shall be walking the full length of France, from almost at the Spanish border to the ferry ports to UK, I don't suppose I shall be immune. So earlier in the week, I was asking in my blog if anybody knew whether pepper spray is legal in France. I am still not sure whether this is the case. I know they are available. I believe it is legal to own one, but it may be illegal to carry one. But that the gendarmerie turn a blind eye to ladies carrying one in their purse for self-defence. What about an old man carrying one in his rucksack? Then came the news from New Zealand about a female jogger being savaged for fifteen minutes by EIGHT pig-hunting dogs. She is luck to be alive. If you haven't seen the story, just Google "Jogger New Zealand" and you will have a vast choice of news reports about it. It seems to have been covered by every newspaper in the world. The news also sharpened my own thoughts. What about tazers? I met an interesting man who had a stall at Mirepoix market the other day. He was selling a wide range of splendidly made marble Buddhas. He had a very interesting life story to tell and I would be keen to hear more of it. However, the relevant bit of our conversation concerned tazers. He had been on a market somewhere and on an adjacent stall someone was selling tazers. Probably not the full monty type as used by the police but, he said, just the sound they emitted was enough to deter a marauder, human or animal. And that's before the ultimate sanction of applying the electricity to the beast. Does anybody know anything about these, whether they are legal in France, where they can be acquired? The Buddha man is called Howard Owen and his website is: www.marbleart.fr His stuff is excellent. |
| Booking My Place Well, a week of hard work, and I have sent off the synopsis and several chapters of my book to a publisher, and also to a literary consultancy. If you would be interested in receiving details - with no obligation or commitment - of when the book will be published, please e-mail me at: vicngay@gmail.com Please put the word "Book" as the subject. I will keep all these e-mails in a separate folder and will keep you informed of progress. I will also notify you of publication date and details of how to get the book, if you so desire. This will, of course, be after the walk has finished, which will, of course, be July 23, 2010. This week I have walked 86 kms, still restrained by the heatwave. 3063 kms for the year to date. |
| I mentioned some time ago that I was rethinking the whole idea of walking through France mainly on roads. After a year of experimenting with walks on the public highways, I have definitely abandoned the idea, in the interests of my continued survival as a member of the human race. There are too many nutters out there - too much possibility that I may meet one of them on a blind corner, with no means of escape. Now I will walk from Puivert to Caen/Ouistreham on the Grandes Randonnees. It will be further, it will take me longer, but it will be more likely that my ferry ticket will not be wasted. Once in England I will, as before, walk from Portsmouth to Oxford on various long-distance tracks, then from Oxford into Lancashire on canal towpaths. Follow my blog on or donate to Pancreatic Cancer on: |
| Although I have not fully defined the route through France, it will mainly involve the GR36. I could join this at Carcassonne, and walk it all the way to Ouistreham and the ferry. But it has a huge loop to the west and I shall bypass that by using the GR46 for some of the way. Also, it may make sense for me to strike directly north from Puivert and to join the GR36 at a different start point, rather than Carcassonne. |
| An otherwise fairly accurate article about Vic's Big Walk in the English-language French newspaper Connexion, has me walking 70 kms a day for 70 days. This would give a total of 4,900 kms, which would get me to New York. I think most of that would involve swimming, not walking. And it's not the sharks that bother me, it's the fish - what would a vegetarian eat in all that time? I first crossed the atlantic by sea when I was 17 but this new way would be a novelty - there is always something to learn. |
| I said some time ago that I was reviewing my planned route through France to cut out road walking wherever possible. Today I have published the new route on my blog. In France it uses mainly the Grandes Randonnees. |
| An Evening With Big Walker? Sounds a bit over the top, doesn't it? As if I think I am a star - one of those people on the television - "An audience with ... Billy Connolly, Dame Edna, Neil Diamond, et cetera" But it is happening. It's not my idea. Chris, a donor to Pancreatic Cancer research through my JustGiving page this week, has a guesthouse in a lovely location in this lovely area. He is brimming with ideas for raising my fund raising profile. One of his ideas is the above "Evening With ...". With my approval he is going ahead with it. He is putting this up as a special offer on his guest house's website. After VBW, and as the tourist season tails off here, guests can come to stay at his place, where they will have an evening meal, with some other invited (and paying) guests from the area. I will give them a talk on my experiences during VBW - incidents and accidents, highs and lows, people encountered, anecdotes about things which I witnessed or which impacted on me along the way. The guest house will subtract only its costs, the ingredients of the meal, the cost of cleaning the rooms. All other proceeds (including cheques written on the spot) will go to Pancreatic Cancer research. It will happen in September 2010. This is an excellent idea. Futher plans are being developed for talks to other groups in the area and maybe beyond. Have talk, will travel, that's me. Stand by your wallets! |