20 KM on foot – Thursday 17 June

After a night filled with thunderstorms, the morning of Day 2 of Road to Rome 2021 looked a tad bit on the grey side.

Roads were wet, the sky was cloudy, but our enthusiasm and optimism remained unaltered as we made our way to the Notre Dame church in Calais.

When we arrived, we could not believe our eyes: a rather numerous crowd had gathered in front of the main entrance, to witness the baptism of the official Via Francigena rose and the revelation of the Road To Rome commemorative plaque.

Many were dressed in traditional medieval clothing, making it easy for us all to imagine living in Archbishop Sigeric’s era. Some beautiful musical notes were played and songs were sang, after which at 11am we officially made our first steps towards Rome.

Today’s stage took us from Calais to Wissant for 20km in total, along the beautiful North Sea (and often literally on the beach!) The sky had cleared up and the clouds made way for a lovely summer sun accompanied by a fresh sea breeze.

Halfway of today’s stage we arrived to the stunning Cap Blanc Nez, with its white cliffs and picturesque surrounding green fields. We entered some staring contests with the grazing cattle there and let the French sun slowly add a bit of brown and red to our faces.

The last few Kms before reaching Wissant we realized that today had been quite a busy and tiring day, but the satisfaction and emotion of finally being on the road truly evens out any feeling of tiredness.

Tomorrow’s stage: from Wissant to Guînes 💪🏻