Day 274 – EU – France [Chartres to Rambouillet]


03/01/21

38km

  From Chartres (France) to Rambouillet (France)

Europe


Foggy run in the countryside with the impromptu company of a runner for 24km

The city of Chartres was engulfed in fog as I set out this morning shortly before 8am. I could not even see the top of the Cathedral, that’s how little visibility there was. The past few days have been very flat and today was set to be the same. This region of France is known for its flatlands. It may get a bit more hilly as I head north, but for the next few days of running, I should not hit any major uphill.

At km13 as I was lost in thoughts in the fog, a car pulled in ahead of me. Alexandra and Laurent had read the local press yesterday and had decided to meet me on the road. Both are runners but it is Laurent that would run by my side all the way to Rambouillet. I heard great tales of 2010, when Laurent ran with Serge Girard (one of the 6 world runners) when he was running around Europe. It’s funny, as I am planning to meet with Serge when I reach Normandie next week. What a coincidence!

The run seemed to go by much faster than usual, a familiar feeling when I run with company. Rambouillet is a superb city with an impressive castle. That’s the most famous landmark in town, but not its only feature. I walked the streets in the afternoon and though it is very close to Paris (around 45km), it has a village-feel to it. Tomorrow I will run to the southernmost “Porte” of Paris, that of Montrouge. Paris here I come!



Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: