a new lô

France

Given Valkyrie's stomach flu, we decided to make this a short day; even if we had wanted a doctor, none would be available in this remote region. The haul to Saint-Lô was about 50 km through rolling hills and the occasional spot of rain, but we made it by early afternoon. Given the obvious need for recuperation, we checked into a relatively inexpensive hotel in the area and promised ourselves to remain in town for another day if necessary.

The British people who had helpfully allowed us to use their stove yesterday had also given some thought to fixing the pump, which they attempted to do by supergluing the pump cup in place. It remains to be seen whether this will hold up under use; if not, we might have to purchase another stove. Lesson learned: always test your stove before a trip. If, like us, you don't have the luxury of bringing a previously-used stove with you (airport security is quite wary of anything with petrol fumes on it), buy it on arrival and cook a couple of meals!

We repaired our spirits somewhat with a meal of pizza and cider at a local pizzeria, then wandered around the town for a bit; we considered seeing a movie in the local cinema, but had to abandon this plan upon finding out that French cinemas don't screen films past 2100 or so. Oh well - perhaps tomorrow.