Day 38 - Domfront to Conde sur Noireau

Today I was joined by a lovely guy by the name of Didier who walked the full distance with me from Domfront to Conde sur Noireau... Thank you Didier.

We actually met up last night totally by chance. We had parked the support car outside the accomodation we had for the evening which was about 18km from my starting point in Domfront. Didier was visiting this town and saw the car so went to find us as the hotel.

We met again in the morning at the tourist information in Domfront and set off away from this lovely little town.

We stopped for our lunch in Flers and then continued the journey in very quick time...

Once again Alison made sure we had the sunny weather instead of that horrid rain we had before she arrived... ;-)

Michelle made a whole day without grinding my gears on turning the key when already started... (at least, when we were there) .. Well done you ;-)...

Once we had reached our destination, we went for a celebration drink (coffee for me) and then parted company with Didier... It was such a pleasure to meet him and really appreciate the fact that he walked the full distance.. Thanks :)

When walking, he also came up with the thought of doing Walk Across Borders again next near as a RELAY to get more parents and families involved in more locations.. Passing a baton to the next walkers...

I think this would be a fantastic idea... It could bring together all of the separate groups of people... Mothers, fathers, grandparents, supporters, families etc etc who have one IMPORTANT common concern... the welfare of their children. One of the BIG problems with these groups is that they are too busy fighting against each other that they appear to lose sight of the most important point.... Maybe an event like this might change this and prompt positive changes to the system?

What do others think about this?

Today we completed another 23 miles (37 km) to make the TOTAl walked after day 38 to be 960.2 miles (1545 km)

Tomorrow we reach CAEN for my penultimate day in France before getting the ferry to Portsmouth... We are trying so hard to find a way to keep Michelle here for the end as she has come so far and been amazing support... Obviously understanding and appreciating her other commitments (but it would be lovely if she could stay an extra few days)... hint hint

Thank you to EVERYBODY who is supporting the Reunite International Child Abduction Centre via my JustGiving page (www.justgiving.com/walkacrossborders) xxx

Day 37 - Mayenne to Domfront

I can't believe that there is only one week left before I will be arriving at the Royal Court of Justice in London. In some ways, it will be sad for it to end. It other ways, it will be great to get to the finishing point in the hope that the objectives I set out at the beginning have at least in part, been achieved...

For those who are doing everything you can to be reunited with their children,
I totally understand that sometimes there does not appear to be any light at the end of the tunnel and it can result in depression, anxiety and absolute disillusionment and despair... It is an unbelievably difficult time for any affected parent, family and child. I just hope that this walk has helped in a positive way through the awareness of the issues that I have tried to raise...

Thank you all so much for your support...

Day 37 started bright and early. the sunshine that Alison brought with her has remained so thanks for that...

Once again, having the company made the journey feel very quick and we had some lovely scenery too in some of the towns we passed through.

Michelle was once again fantastic in the support car... I really cant state enough how supportive she has been throughout this journey and even before... She started training with me a long time ago a wanted to walk a lot more than she has done.

Unfortunately, this was not possible as she had to step in to the support car role at very short notice... Without her, this walk would have been MUCH more difficult so thank you! x

One thing she does have to learn though is that she does not have to turn the key to start the car when it is already started !! ;-)

I finished at Domfront late afternoon and then went to the hotel in Bagnoles de l'Orne... I then had a message from one of my contacts on here (Didier) who said he has seen the car outside where we are so he dropped by for a visit. he is meeting us in the morning to walk a little way with me :-)

The distance walked today was 22.6 miles which makes the total after day 37 to be 937.2 miles (1508 km)

Tomorrow we go to Conde-sur-Noireau x

Day 36 - Laval to Mayenne

We woke again to a lovely sunny day even though a little cooler again. Once again we didn't need to stay in the tent thanks to  Koutoub and airbnb. Thank you :)

Alison started the day walking with me again and has finally taken the advice about the locking loops on the trainer laces... Since she thought I was joking ;-)..

It was also fantastic that Michelle could park up the car from time to time and walk back with me. The day (and the miles) always seems to fly by when in good company..

Once again, the initial part of the walk was along the rural country roads. It's was also quite amusing seeing Michelle stop ahead in the support car every 5 minutes to look at ANY animal she sees in a field... 

Walk Across Borders has allowed me to see so many places and meet so many people that i wouldn't have met had I not done this... However, I REALLY hope that it is achieving some of the objectives I set out to achieve... Awareness is a primary objective so I would like to think that this has been successful

Thank you to everybody who is continuing to support me, sharing my posts and links, walking with me and even just reading my blogs and pages.... and of course, supporting my nominated charity Reunite International Child Abduction Centre... www.justgiving.com/walkacrossborders

We reached Mayenne earlier than we had estimated but that was positive as it has given us a little time to relax in the cottage that we are staying tonight (thank you Helen and Gary)

Thanks also to Michelle for feeding us in the evening again... It really needs to be said that she has done an amazing job in supporting everything I have been trying to do... I can't say enough how much it is appreciated. It's a real shame that she cant get to see the final stages as she needs to fly back to Spain once we reach the UK.. 

Today was just over 20 miles which makes our total to date 914.6 miles (1472 km)

Tomorrow our destination for day 37 is Domfront x

Day 35 - Chateau-Gontier to Laval

Today was actually the shortest day that I have had scheduled on the walk so far at only 19.1 miles and it really did feel like it was shorter. I know it is still a considerable distance to walk but after the last couple of days of about 30 miles, this was like a rest day.

I set off from the site and had to look for a place with wifi to update yesterday's pictures and blog... Fortunately, we passed a McDonalds on the way out of Chateau-Gontier so we had an early break.

Once again, Alison Shalaby started with me while Michelle did her usual fantastic job in the support car driving ahead 4-5 km at a time and providing refreshments when needed... and pearls of wisdom... like "what's the point of acorns?"... lol.... 

 The walk itself was pretty much one road... but it was quite pleasant with countryside views and also the Laval airfield to view... (gliders and parachute jumping)

It was lovely also that both Alison and Michelle parked up the car and walked back to complete the day with me.
 

The total distance on Walk Across Borders after day 35 is 894.1 miles (1439 km)

Thank you again for all of your messages of support.. They really mean so much...

www.justgiving.com/walkacrossborders

Day 36 takes us to Mayenne

Day 34 - Angers to Chateau-Gontier

After a good night's sleep, we woke to some beautiful blue skies. Thank you Alison for bringing the good weather with you.

We began on some lovely quiet country roads which gave a good start to the day. It was great to have the company on my walk

After the first 6-7 miles, we then hit the main roads again so Alison got to experience both the rural and the difficult heavy traffic roads too.

At the 10.5 mile point, Alison ended to walking day but it was so appreciated...

We stopped at a little cafe at Le Lion d'Angers called Bar de Hippodrome where we spoke to the owners about the walk and then carried on with the journey... 

After this it was a long, straight busy road all the way to Chateau-Gontier.

I have to say, this was one of the nicest looking towns i have seen in France so far...

Our accomodation for the evening was lovely. It was like a wagon on a mobile camp site with all the cooking facilities too so this allowed Michelle to go to town on our evening Pasta Meal.. Thanks Michelle :)

In distance, it was actually longer than google maps had estimated coving just over 30 miles which makes the total distance walked on Walk Across Borders to be 875 miles (1408 km)

Day 35 takes us to Laval x