"The key is not to prioritize what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities", Stephen Covey.
- Introduction
- The statistics and metrics of the day
- The most memorable occurrences, moments and thoughts
- Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 29, from Brienne le Château to Dolancourt
- Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 30, from Dolancourt to Bar-sur-Aube.
- Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 31, from Bar-sur-Aube to Clairvaux
- Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 32, from Clairvaux to Châteauvillain
- Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 33 (1/2), from Châteauvillain to Arc-en-Barrois (Mormant)
- Pictures of the day.
- Pictures of the Guest Book pages in the pilgrims hostel of Brienne le Château.
This post complements the post I published on the 22nd of September 2016 in which I described the experiences I had on the 4th of August 2016 while riding between Brienne-le-Château and Arc-en-Barrois, in France. I am not going to repeat the content of that post in this one again, but I will try to add a few highlights for each one of the stages below. I encourage you to read the previous post before continuing on this one.
Statistics and metrics of the day
- Date: Saturday, 6th of August 2016
- Route: From Brienne-le-Château to Arc-en-Barrois, in France
- Distance: 80.52 Km
- Departure time from Brienne-le-Château: Around 10:30h.
- Arrival at Arc-en-Barrois: Around 17:30h
- Duration of day’s Journey: 7h 44min
- Expenses this day: Total = € 26.36
- €23.00 for dinner.
- €3.30 – Accommodation (Camping Municipal Le Vieux Moulin, Arc-en-Barrois)
- Overnight Location: Camping Municipal Le Vieux Moulin, Tel: +33325025133
- Type of Accommodation: Camping
- Lightfoot Guide Stages:
- 29: Brienne-le-Château to Dolancourt
- 30: Dolancourt to Bar-sur-Aube
- 31: Bar-sur-Aube to Clairvaux
- 32: Clairvaux to Châteauvillain
- 33 (1/2): Châteauvillain to Arc-en-Barrois (stage 33 is between Châteauvillain and Mormant)
- Physical and Body Stats: Link to the Garmin Connect Page for this ride
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- Duration: 7h 25min
- Moving time: 5h 22min
- Average Speed: 10.9 Km/h
- Average Moving Speed: 17.7 Km/h
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- Max. Speed: 56.5 Km/h
- Total Elevation Gain: 449 m
- Average Heart Rate: 115 bpm
- Max. Heart Rate: 161 bpm
- Calories: 2,224 CAL
- Number of Pedal Strokes (Cadence sensor): 14,944
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Most memorable occurrences, moments and thoughts:
This was another long day in the pilgrimage, despite leaving Brienne-le-Château a bit later than I wanted to. I had opened the house in the morning to let some fresh air in and prepared my breakfast, so prior to leaving I had to make sure everything was the way I found it and then ride back to the tourism information office in town to return the key.
This day was a bit atypical in relation to the entire journey as I did not complete (or finished) a stage of the Lightfoot guide. That stage was stage 33, that according to the guide is between Châteauvillain and Mormant. Reason being when I arrived in Châteauvillain, around 4:30pm, I had to take the decision to stop there or continue to the next village in the guide (Mormant). I knew Mormant was a tiny village and looking at the list of accommodations, I also knew there would not be a lot of options of places to sleep. If I couldn’t find a place to sleep in Mormant, I would either have to wild-camp (not really my cup of tea) or ride another 30 Km to Langres, which would mean I would get there quite late in the evening. So I decided to take the safe route of riding to Arc-en-Barrois and, if upon getting there I couldn’t find or didn’t like any of the places to sleep I would then decide if I wanted to continue or not. I believe it was the right decision.
As I already wrote about the experiences of this day in the post I published on the 22nd of September 2016, I don’t think it would be productive to write the same thing here again. Some of the highlights of that post were the theme park in Dolancourt, the beautiful Clairvaux Abbey, the fact that the stamp for Châteauvillain in my pilgrim’s credentials was obtained from a news agent in town (the only business I could find open), the ride to Arc-en-Barrois through a beautiful forest and the arrival there (getting lost and riding 6 Km more than needed again) as well as setting up my tent, which is all captured in the videos below too.
So, before continuing on this post, I invite you to take a look at the post mentioned above (opens in a new tab) and come back to this post when done.
Oh, before I end this section of the post, when I arrived in Arc-en-Barrois, thankfully the Tourism Information Office was still open (which is quite unusual in France, considering it was a Saturday) and I was able to get my pilgrim’s credential stamped there. Right across the road from the office there is a very cosy hotel called Hotel du Parc, which I decided not to stay, as the rate there was above €60 for the night (against the €3 I was told I would have to pay in the camping site), but I end up going back for dinner that night as I could not find anything else open and I was starving. The meal and the beer were fantastic and the price was reasonable (€23).
Just as an unrelated footnote on this section, I have already published all the photos of this day’s ride in a Flickr album (link in the post mentioned above), but the pictures in that album are in a lower resolution because the computer I had with me during the pilgrimage struggled to process the watermark and get them uploaded. At the time I thought I would just upload them again when I came back in full resolution, but Flickr is no longer free now, so I have created an album in the EyeCycled Facebook page with the pictures (Facebook pictures and not high res either, but it is still free) and that is the picture gallery you will find down below.
You will also find below the pictures for every page in the Visitors’ book of the Pilgrims Hostel in Brienne-le-Château. I enjoyed reading the messages previous pilgrims left in the books and I thought so would you.
I hope you enjoy the videos and the photos.
Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 29, from Brienne le Château to Dolancourt
Video Length: 3 min 50 sec
Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 30, from Dolancourt to Bar-sur-Aube.
Video Length: 3 min 59 sec
Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 31, from Bar-sur-Aube to Clairvaux
Video Length: 3 min 20 sec
Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 32, from Clairvaux to Châteauvillain
Video Length: 4 min 20 sec
Video of Lightfoot Guide Stage 33 (1/2), from Châteauvillain to Arc-en-Barrois (Mormant)
Video Length: 5 min 49 sec
Pictures of the day.
Click on any picture for full detail
Pictures of the Guest Book pages in the pilgrims hostel of Brienne le Château
If you did the Via Francigena and been to this hostel, will you find your note in them? (August 2016)
Click on any picture for full detail
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