I said I would give a breakdown of  the trip so here goes:
Guerande - La Chapelle des Marais (Couchsurfing) : 23 km. (excluding an enforced bus ride from St Lyphard to Herbignac due to flooding);
La Chapelle - La Maziere (AirBnB): 17 km. across the Briere marshes;
La Maziere - Savenay (empty hotel): 16 km. through drizzle;
Savenay - Vigneux de Bretagne (B&B): 18 km. over flattish farmland;
Vigneux - Nantes (friends' flat): 24 km. into the city through a long wooded park;
Nantes:  day's rest;
Nantes - St Simon (friends' workshop): 25 km. out of the city in the rain;
St Simon - Ancenis (apartment) : 20 km. along the river;
Ancenis - St Julien le Vieil (chambre d'hote): 16 km. to a hilltop village;
St Julien - Ile de Chalonne (Communist hostel): 25 km. to an island;
Chalonne - Beaulieu-sur-Layon (B&B): 16 km. uphill through vineyards;
Beaulieu - Les 3 Chopines (apartment): 21 km. along the old railway line then past vineyards in a heat wave;
Les 3 Chopines - Chenehuttes (wooden house above a cave): 27 km. through forest back to the Loire;
Chenehuttes - Saumur (cheap hotel): 15 km. along the riverbank past many warehouses and caves of wine producers;
Saumur: day's rest;
Saumur - Fontevraud (chambre d'hote): 21 km. through 'troglodyte villages';
Fontevraud - Chinon (poor hotel): 16 km. from the abbey past vineyards;
Chinon - Azay-le-Rideau (B&B): 15 km. through unpopulated forest;
Azay-le-Rideau - Savonnieres (B&B): 16 km. back to the Loire again after a detour on the Vienne;
Savonnieres - Tours (friends of friends): 16 km. along the river to a big city;
Tours - Amboise (small hotel): 23 km. up and down steeply through vineyards;
Amboise: day's rest;
Amboise - Chaumont (B&B): 23 km. past an island full of breeding terns to a chateau;
Chaumont - Blois (AirBnB): 17 km. in hot weather into a strong wind;
Blois - Mer (hostel): 20 km. via a top-quality restaurant;
Mer - Meung (cheap Moroccan hotel in Orleans): 18 km. past the nuclear power station;
Meung - Orleans ("): 16 km. past a colony of swans and a series of tunnels once used for storage of grain;
Orleans: day's rest;
Orleans - St Denis ("): 16 km. along a canal then beyond the northernmost point of the river through a cloudy chill;
St Denis - St Benoit (hotel): 16 km. through drizzle past a castle in an arboretum and via a 9th century chapel;
St Benoit - Dampierre-en-Burly (hotel): 25 km. through increasingly heavy rain;
Dampierre - St Brisson (gite): 28 km. past gypsy festival and mysterious chateau in the woods;
St Brisson - Bonny-sur-Loire (cheap hotel): 15 km. across the aqueduct at Briare;
Bonny - Cosnes (hotel): 19 km. via a cobbled Roman road and an old track;
Cosnes - Pouilly-sur-Loire ("): 18 km. quickly in rain then back by train;
Cosnes: 3 days' rest;
Cosnes - La Charite (hotel): 17 km. to a town full of bookshops;
La Charite - Varennes (motorway otel): 25 km. through spa town with casino;
Varennes - Imphy (horrible hotel): 25 km. through Nevers to Uglytown, picking up a lizard on the way;
Imphy - Decize (grotty motel): 38 km. along the canal;
Decize: day's rest after gruelling day;
Decize - Roanne (apartment) by train;
Roanne - Villerest (and back) ("): 20 km.south to the lake;
Marcigny - Pouilly-sous-Charlieu ("): 23 km. on the canal;
Pouilly - Roanne : 27 km. back to town, then Roanne - Decize (grotty hotel) by train;
Decize - Cronat (farm): 36 km. getting lost in some woods;
Cronat - Bourbon Lancy (*** hotel): 16 km. along country lanes;
Bourbon Lancy - Gilly (hostel in Moulins): 19 km. "        ";
Gilly - Dugoin (hotel): 28 km. along the canal;
Dugoin: rest day;
Dugoin - Marcigny (chambre d'hote): 35 km. along another canal then beside the river;
Marcigny - Villerest (AirBnB) by bus:
Villerest - St Germain Laval (brown hotel): 36 km. through the gorges;
St Germain - Montbrison (pilgrims' resting-place):  37 km. onto the Way to Santiago de Compostela;
Montbrison - Marols (pilgrims' hostel): 30 km. through beautiful hilly country up to 1000 m.;
Marols - St George l'Agricol (hostel): 42 km. including a couple of detours;
St George - Le Cros (farm): 24 km. over hills and through forest;
Le Cros - Le Puy: 21 km. downhill back to the Loire Valley;
Le Puy: rest day;
Le Puy - Goudet (farm): 30 km. through an industrial estate then alongside the river above a wooded gorge;
Goudet - Lac d'Issigeres (hotel): 33 km. uphill to a circular lake;
Lac d'Issigeres - Les Estables (B&B): 37 km. uphill and down (and up) to a (snowless) ski station;
Les Estables - Mont Gerbier de Jonc: 15 km. to the source of the Loire!

TOTAL 1215 km. (760 miles):

66 days including 12 rest days:
2 pairs of heels on my boots;
2 umbrellas lost/broken;
nailclippers, pedometer, suncream, toothpaste lost;
smartphone flooded;
many Compeed blister plasters used.


I had a guide book to the first half of my journey along the long-distance footpath (GR3) which included helpful hints about where to stay, buy food, find water etc., although I had to read it backwards as it was Part 2 of a journey beginning at the source and following the river downhill. Part 1 was unavailable, being out of print, so I had to make up my own route for the second half from Bonny-sur-Loire, following maps where footpaths were marked or fingerposts once I was on the GR3 again or the cockle-shell sign on the pilgrims' path. The weather was mostly pretty kind although variable: there were periods of prolonged drizzle, thunderstorms, heat waves and strong winds, but the latter were largely blowing from behind (especially during that strange spell of weather in the second half of May when it was hot with a stiff north wind which may partly explain the increase in kilometers walked per day towards the end!)

I am hoping to raise as much as possible for Medecins Sans Frontieres so feel free to donate however little or large. For example 1 p per km = £12.15;
                                            5 p per mile = £38.00
or just a lump sum like 50p or £50.

The next post will contain a selection of photos from the journey. If you want anything else to be in it, let me know!

Hello dear readers Mission accomplished and well within the expected timespan! I still can't quite figure out how that happened: I had told Chas, Dan and Jannah I would be at Roanne on a certain date which turned out to be hopelessly optimistic so I had to get a train there from Decize then double back on myself with Jerome and walk back to Roanne with him and Anch, where i found myself after a few days in the wilderness on the way to Santiago de Compostela. This was in high country some distance from the river but not as far away as the official GR3 footpath, which had taken a turn up into even rougher country. Here I was mostly walking on small country roads and staying in hostels and farms which catered above all for pilgrims. The host at the first one stamped the card I still had from our journey to Rome and gave me addresses to stay at for the next 3 nights including the main reception centre for pilgrims gathering at Le Puy to set off for Santiago. The following morning I was invited to join them at the cathedral where they were blessed by the priest after a long sermon during which you could hear their boots pawing the flagstones in anticipation and impatience to get going. From Le Puy I was only a few days away from the source of the Loire, and after a much-needed rest (I had been doing a lot of kms per day recently) I embarked on the last lap with a faintly glimmering hope that it could be done in 3 days and still allow me the chance to get to Germany on the fourth day to be present at the German launch of the Soumdsphere recording of Angela's songs. It would involve walking at least 80 km and hitching a lift back down to Le Puy train station (no local buses). The 80 turned into 100 in reality but I was within a hair's breadth of making it, having been offered a lift down from the top if I met someone there, when I got lost after apparently missing a sign painted on a tree and ended up miles from my destination at the agreed time. After walking round the fabled Mont Gerbier de Jonc for several hours I found myself in a ski resort called Les Estables and had to book into a chambre d'hote with the intention of finding the mythical source of the Loire the next day. This was easily done, although not without further twists and turns, and was followed by a further rest day at Le Chalet d'Ambre at Les Estables - a marvellous place to stay which I would recommend at any time of year. And now I'm on my way home, and will write this up in some other form later. Thanks to you all for reading, to all hosts and helpers and companions!