Stage 22: Aosta to Verres (42,41 km)
Yesterday, I chose a nondescript hotel well west of Aosta proper, to save some distance on this stage stage. Turns out, I have to backtrace almost 3km, due to the facts that the only "exit" of the road my hotel is on leads to the highway and ridiculous fences keep me from reaching the bike path that I will travel on most of the day.
Once I reach that though, it is smooth sailing, following the river, with no traffic most of the day. I feel like crap though. The alps appear to have taken more out of me than I had though. Rest and walking stretches come in a more and more frustrating ratio. I seriously consider cutting the stage short and forfeiting my booked hotel by midday.
I decide to take a longer rest at a beautiful picnic area, take of my shoes, get some fresh water and lye down on a picknick table to have a nap.
"Stefan", "Amigo". Who is that waking me from my doze? Antonio! Antonio, who I have met up on the Col St Bernard. A young Italian man who had quit working in the UK and the wonderful idea to walk home to Milano along the Via Francigena.
That is all the interaction I need to find new energy to continue trotting on to my original destination. I arrive - way to late - in a, small we say very basic, hostel, with the probably most worn out bed I have ever slept in. Pizza is at a nearby take-out-place-bccome-restaurant. Anyhow, I get some much needed rest.
Tomorrow will be a new day.
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