Didactic

”Didactic”, that’s a nice word hitherto unused here. To make up for yesterday’s feeble post today’s is didactic.

When setting out on a walk longer than one to the post box you should be properly equipped. Water, a map, a ‘phone charger and money are essential. That’s a list of the items Reggie and I left behind yesterday morning. I took a compass, a handkerchief, a ‘phone and Reggie’s lead. Nevertheless we had a blissy two hour walk to a neighbouring village through the forest. Dead box was apparent everywhere but I suppose that it will be replaced by something else eventually.

By a stroke of luck my friends in the Gers and the Tarn both have grande randonnées (long distance footpaths) at the edge of their estates – they call them domaines in France, so there’s another didactic dollop. Reggie and I took the GR 46 to Bruniquel so we managed without a map. If you are not familiar with GRs, they are marked with parallel red and white painted stripes on trees, etc. At junctions there are red and white crosses on the paths you shouldn’t take. Sometimes there are signs like this.

But take care when you go into the woods …