The day began with breakfast at the home of our landlord. He is an Englishman and was a French teacher in England. Described himself as an atheist, left wing, still wants to change the world at his 64th, is in City Council, is fundamentally childless. And yet, a nice, likeable guy. In any case cheerful. A brother of his lived in Sippenaeken, our Belgian neighboring village. Just like the German from Düren-Aachen, whom we had encountered in Combres a few days ago. Sippenaeken-Cottessen, 100 inhabitants, the heart of Western Europe.
Along the road was still sleet and some snow. The weather was no fun at all. Cold, bleak, snowy rain, but usually not on the face. Just remaining positive. Tosca was unstoppable today, incredibel energy. Probably because this morning she could empty half a can of ravioli. She sprinted after a hare, perched a buzzard a few hundred meters , ran after a piece of plastic floating on the wind in a football field and spotted two wild boars further on. But the boars scared her a little. So much the better, because these whoppers know how to handle a dog. I’ve heard from hunters, that a wild boar is able to throw away a dog many meters.
It was so cold. Again nowhere coffee, untill up to 1 hour prior to the arrival at our destination. Again the barkeeper had all the attention focussed on horse Leon, gave him something to eat and took pictures of him. We also got something from her, but apparently we were not worth a picture. A long time we walked along a canal. That is easy. Tosca falls into the water and cannot climb upon the the perpendicular side wall. Sonja pulls her out, and of course gets soaking wet herself. What a beast anyway: Dog Tosca really is the difficulty factor that I wanted to add to my enterprise. Well, Harrie, you got it, moron!
At our hotel horse Leon got a pasture with shelter and good grass and hay. Tosca was given a place under another large shed in the courtyard, on her blanket and wearing a dog’s coat. Then I searched at internet during 2-3 hours for nights shelter on our route. Extremely frustrating that we only got one adress settled in those three hours. Bri, who speaks the best French, was done by. This searching for refugees has been killing me for many months allrady. One of the most hated aspects of my trip is not finding shelter. There you go with your fun. And often at last I have to accept a more expensive place. If this keeps going on the money drops through the hole in my hand. I am more concerned with control about getting food and sleeping places than with anything else.
We had a nice little dinner in our chambres d’hotes in Escalives Saint Camille. Cozy with six other Frenchmen at the table. That makes up again for the hardships. Next we need a good night sleep. Tomorrow my cozy two companions will leave again, but in their place Jos will come for a week. The ladies got along fine: no blisters. Very well done. If the two girls take the lead, then Tosca pulls my shoulder out of its frame, trying to keep up with them. So usually the ladies lag behind. Now they can also witness how difficult and sometimes dangerous it is, especially on the road, with those animals. That’s it for today. Bonne nuit.
long along channel [/ caption] 
The place where Tosca fell into the water
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