Day 26 Walking October 10 Saint Loup sur Aujon

Wow, did we need this stop. Everything was top notch. Tonight we stay with the nuns so there will not be a tray of cold beers arriving when we do. With the open window in darkness this morning we hear water running outside in a cool foggy atmosphere. We will be walking through a forest park first thing that closes in a few weeks time for hunters to pursue deer. We are taking along newspapers from here to stuff in our boots tonight to soak up the moisture.
It is real tough to leave this hotel atmosphere but once going we are okay. Blisters have been drained and bandaged, socks washed and dried on the radiators and bodies rested. We left with high hopes of a reasonable walking distance of 24kms(were we wrong). A misty light rain again and we just learned from Steve at the hotel that the rutting season is on and the route through the forest is closed. Okay we have the other route, no problem. After we passed the equestrian centre it is four Kms through the forest to Maison Forestiere. We have no way of knowing when we have reached four Kms other than we know our usual walking gate is five Kms in an hour. After four Kms nothing, keep going do not take any unmarked trails off, there must be something to identify where we are. After two hours we agreed that unless we see something by 11am we will turn around and go all the way back. Within 15 minutes we come across a secondary paved road. I flagged down a car to ask what road it was to get our location. It turned out it was a car full of Danes from Denmark and we had no trouble conversing. We then were able to follow that road and pick up a town in our guide. Back on track but a few more Kms than we planned. We arrived at the Convent Les Filles de la Sagesse about 2 pm. We are both having leg issues and are glad to be somewhere. Sister Mary Jo welcomed us in and asked if we had de jeune and when we said no, she sat us down and brought us heated leftovers that were delicious. She showed us to our
chambre and indicated washroom etc. They do not have any heat on in the room but we heaped blankets on the bed and slept for an hour. She came and got us at 7pm for dinner.(she came singing down the hall). There was 10 of us for dinner included a retired male priest and head sister. These people are all VERY elderly. Some have teeth, some don't. I brought down the iPad with the translator and answered their questions using it. Because it has a speaker when it talks French, they all listen and comment after. What turned out to be a real hit was when I started showing them pictures of the grand children, children and scenes in Nepal,
Etc. To me you can't get these experiences in a hotel. This is a monstrous facility that only has eight people in it. It was built in 1850 as a girls school and was run as one for many years. It was explained to us that Cholera had led to it being stopped a s a school.