Yesterday was wet and cold, so before I went for my walk, I put on a set of polypropylene underwear, then my short and pants and topped it all with a fleece and my rain jacket. My pack has its rain jacket on, too. I was dry and warm all the time. The problem was that, after about 20 minutes, I was too warm. It was not feasible to take off anything for about an hour, so I walked my route, feeling progressively warmer and warmer. When I had the opportunity to take off my fleece, I did so and stuffed it into my backpack. At the end of my 2-hour walk, I was feeling quite drag-ass. The tired feeling lasted into today. I shall have to remember this when I embark next April on my walk in the hills around Le Puy. Better to start off a little cool and keep the fleece for when it is really cold, which I expect to hit early on. The country around Le Puy is very hilly. It is down-hill ski country, so I can expect to hit snow, perhaps even snow storms, early on in my journey. If the weather is really rotten, I shall just hole up for a day or two.

It rained throughout the day yesterday, but today was lovely. I spent much of it in the garden, getting it ready for the inevitable winter season. It was a nice day to be out, some sun, some clouds, but quite warm with just a long-sleeved shirt on. I managed to get the magnetic pump out of the pond, although I got wet up to my elbows and beyond my knees in the process. My garden shoes, which I wore in the pond, are outside now drying out. After a short nap – always a favourite in the afternoon, I went down to the Kanata Fitness Centre and tried out the various machines for large muscles. I will be using this facility over the next six months both for trying to maintain the large muscles and also for hill climbing using the treadmills. We shall see how well this works. I will keep you posted, for good or ill.