Day 286 – EU – France [Amiens to Grandcourt]


15/01/21

43.5km

  From Amiens (France) to Grandcourt (France)

Europe


Running against the wind, bitterly cold, the stress of a busy road and an awesome welcome in Grandcourt

It was bitterly cold as I left this morning. But I was pleased that it was not raining and the sky was almost clear. I would get to see the sunrise again, one of my favourite moments on the road. It was minus 6 Celsius, there was ice on the road and I needed two pairs of gloves to keep my fingers from getting numb.

Since I started running in France, I mostly run on “departementales” roads which are secondary roads and generally very quiet. I did not think much about launching on the D929 from Amiens this morning. It soon became apparent that the road was a primary axe of traffic, used by many trucks and cars alike. I was quite scared and resorted to park on the side of the road whenever I heard a truck coming. Stressful.

20km into the run a local police car stopped by my side as I was sitting down, considering my options to escape the main road. The policemen were incredibly helpful and helped me re-route my itinerary to very quiet country roads. It added a few kilometers to the day but it did not matter – what I gained in serenity was priceless.

I arrived in Grandcourt, a tiny little village, early afternoon. Chantal and Guy are my hosts and their house is fabulous. Horses, goats, cats and dogs, chickens, ducks and geese! They welcomed me very warmly and asked me if I didn’t mind some company. I sure did not! In no time the mayor was here, along with the vice-mayor and a journalist from the local paper! We had a little gathering , sharing stories and drinking cider whilst eating the delicious pies baked by Guy. They extended their kindness to invite local runners to join me at 8am tomorrow for a few kilometers. Lucky me!



Check my daily run GPS data on or

Here is the map of today’s run: