Rain

It is raining. I am sitting in the dry tent, but I feel sorry for Gamin because he stands outside in the drizzle. A telephone conversation with his former owner confirmed that he is indeed used to this and doesn't care. I still feel sorry for him.

On our first day, the weather changed a lot. Sun, rain and clouds. In terms of the distance covered, I have reached my goal, minus 800 metres.

Some of the paths were wonderful. Romantic and mysterious. Then again we had to walk along the Départementale, a road with heavy traffic. I often had to think about Heidi. Under these circumstances she would have transformed into an intercontinental rocket.

Gamin keeps his cool. Most of the time he even ignores barking dogs.
But once there was a German shepherd dog - I could not see it in time because it was behind the corner of a house. It exploded against the fence (which, thankfully, was there) and barked like mad. It gave me such a fright! Gamin immediately trotted towards it, and he looked as if he was saying: "You seem to be too content, arsehole!". I was able to hold him back and told him that the beast is not worth causing trouble (and, ultimately, getting into trouble).

In the afternoon the rain got strong. Gamin became listless and slow, and I had to pull him along.
It was time to find a place to stay, although, according to plan, today's track would have been one or two kilometres longer. I asked at a riding stable on the roadside. At first they said, no, they had no space, and also the horses might become scared of the donkey. I insisted, pointing out that we were totally soaked and only needed ca. 20 square metres of meadow.
Finally we were allowed onto a little area with grass in front of the premises. Thus ended the first stage of the journey.