Wednesday was the fourth consecutive 35km plus day walk; since leaving Badonviller on Sunday we have travelled 155km. Arriving late at Pont a Mousson, having to find somewhere to eat and sort our kit out, meant that our recovery time had been limited. We left exactly 12 hours after arriving feeling rather weary, and morale had taken a dip. On each of the 3 preceding days conversation had dried-up to little more than mono-syllabic grunts, as we powered relentlessly along the ‘blue’ WFW track, barely having the time to look at the scenery, let alone stop at WW1 points of interest. ‘Un-relenting standards’ had kicked in; we were going to walk every metre of the blue line, even if it meant not sleeping or enjoying the experience. The distances and terrain of the last couple of days had made the journey a bit of a ‘slog’; a 26 miler every day, which neither of us had particularly enjoyed.
After several kms, we started to talk about the issue, both agreeing that we needed to remember why we set out on this journey. It was not about fundraising or trying to set a world record from Switzerland to Belgium; it was about self-reflection, about walking home to ‘ourselves’.
The daily distances had been dictated by the availability of accommodation and the need to complete the WFW no later than 22nd April, to meet commitments back in ‘Blighty’. Over the last few days we had come to realise that we do not need to slavishly follow the app’s blue line; for example when our morning departure meant kilometres spent retracing our steps from our arrival the evening before. We are now being much smarter about route selection, giving more weight to the terrain and tracks on the IGN maps (and also the weather) as well as the blue line of the WFW. Recent heavy rain has turned some of the tracks, along featureless fields, into time and energy-sapping quagmires. So if there is a better alternative available for a stretch, which doesn’t diminish our exposure to significant WW1 features then we act smart, and take the alternative. This has allowed us to shave a few km here and there off some of the long 40 plus kilometre days, so preserving both our energy and morale.
This worked for us today; initially we walked through Pont-a-Mousson Forest where there is an abundance of evidence of the fighting that took place in 1914 and then again in 1918 when the US 2nd and 5th Divisions were assigned this sector of the Front. Trench systems and shell craters are visible, but the most poignant reminders are the road signs naming villages such as Remenauville, which were abandoned and then destroyed, never to be rebuilt After leaving this area we again slogged 14 km to Lake Madelin across farmland and along minor roads arriving at 1600. Although we wanted to visit the American Monument on the southern shore of the Lake, it would have meant a further 14km (minimum 3 hours walking). So, we decided that after 36 km, arriving the hotel in daylight and having time to rest, eat and sort our kit out was the priority. An hour later we were in the hotel, showered and happy, with morale having improved immeasurably.
The American Monument 5th Diviaion Marker Village destroyed sign
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