Lost in France Home Page

I live on the edge a forest and often take my dogs for a walk there, spring is the best time to explore as in the summer you have to beat off the ticks with a stick (one summer I looked down to find about 20 of the damn things crawling up my jeans) and in the winter you run the risk of being mistaken for something edible and shot by hunters.

Today I got lost in it, yes I know I should have taken some breadcrumbs and left a trail. It's not the first time I've got lost there. The forest is very large and once under the canopy of the trees you loose all sense of direction, or maybe I just need satellite navigation!

I had taken a path that crosses a stream, normally it's small enough to hop across but after the recent rain it was a bit high so I foolishly thought I'd take my shoes & socks off and paddle across. Ouch! the water was so cold that I didn't want to repeat the crossing on the way back so I tried to find another way around but the forest is very dense and all the paths look the same. I squelched around for a while in my wet shoes getting even more lost and wondering if that tickling sensation between my toes might be some hideous blood sucking leech from the stream.

But in getting lost I discovered some new places that I didn't know existed, one was an old lead mine that you can actually go inside - though it was very dark so I wasn't brave enough but next time I'll take a torch. I also found a really pretty lake and saw a kingfisher which was nice because I can't remember the last time I saw one in England and eventually found my way home.