Monks, Farmers and Barflies: Wisques to Amettes

We stayed at Abbaye Saint Paul for a night on either side of our Brussels trip. Père Hotellier was very warm and welcoming. He not only let me leave my bike and trailer, but also told us just to leave our stuff in our room and take the key with us to Brussels. He also seemed quite pleased with the chocolates we brought him.

From Wisques we went to Amettes staying in the fabulous Chambres d’Hotes de Madame et Monsier Gevas. The welcome was fantastic and was followed by a wonderful evening dinner. I would encourage everyone on the VF to try to stay with this wonderful couple. Mme. Gevas takes pictures of all the pilgrims that pass, and keeps them in a three ring binder for future reference. Gord and I were numbers 50 and 51 ( for this year? ). It was here also that we met number 52, Paolo from Torino, Italy.
He is the only other pilgrim we have encountered so far. Talking to him made us even more excited about returning to do the Italian portion of the VF.
I live the life of a barfly now. When the rain starts - and we are not going to discuss the weather - I head to the nearest watering hole to hang out until Gord catches up. It always starts the same- sometimes with the same locals appearing that were at the last watering hole. The people in the bar are quietly friendly until we get talking and the warmth and curiosity starts flowing. The are always blown away to hear that Gord is coming behind by foot. It's an older crowd, but I am always impressed to see just how many people are having a beer at 10 in the morning. The first beer of the day?

Whether it's from monks, farmers or barflies, the welcome is much warmer than the weather - but we are not talking about that!
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Location:Amettes, France