Day 15 Part 2 - On not being hungry

(Continued from Part One)

Harfleur was the principal harbour on the Seine but was overtaken by Le Havre when larger ships could no longer use its docks. The housing estates of Le Havre have now encroached so far east that they merge into Harfleur itself. I got a little lost at a complicated road junction. It turns out that the minor road on my map was now a construction site.

I'd feasted on the previous evening at a hotel whose cheapest fixed-price menu was over-elaborate and fussy (and not very cheap). My main course of lamb came with pieces of seared sweetbreads, impaled on a short a wooden skewer. I put them in the "Hmm.. interesting" rather than "Mmm.. delicious!" category.

I'd scoffed a large breakfast knowing that
my route to Le Havre didn't promise many shops. I really wasn't hungry, and didn't fancy any of the tiny cafes or bargain stores among the flats on the way in. Instead I picked up a half-baguette and a slice of quiche from a bakers.

Eventually, I got to my cheap hotel and sat down for my supper. I added jam to the bread, and poured water into the little plastic cup that was waiting in the room.

Something strange has happened to my appetite. I rarely feel peckish, unlike at home where my tummy rumbles every couple of hours. But when food is put before me, I can eat huge amounts. Strange.

It feels like a significant achievement to reach the French coast, which is about one-third of my overall distance. I prayed an even-more earnest thanksgiving when I arrived at the hotel and thought of today's walking verse, Psalm 56.13: For you have delivered my soul from death, and my feet from falling, so that I may walk before God in the light of life.

I slept for twelve hours.