GR5: Days 22–28 from Langsur to Attillioncourt| Hiking from Holland to Nice

Nov 2

5 min read

By the fourth week, Sarah is deep into the rhythm of long-distance hiking. There are big days on the trail, heat warnings, difficult water resupplies, and the occasional hotel room when camping is not practical. She also reaches France and keeps adapting to the changing terrain, one day at a time.

Day 22 🥾GR5 - 2,200km from Holland 🇳🇱 to Nice 🇫🇷

ℹ️Stats: Weather: hot 🔥 & sunny 29 degrees

From: few miles out of Langsur

Start time: 7.34am

To: Ehen

End time: 8.27pm

Accommodation: Hotel - The white Swan

Terrain: concrete, forest tracks, concrete

Cicerone guidebook stages: 34 + 1st half of 35

🥾Km: 36.73

🥾Miles: 23

🦶Steps: 49,247

Ascent: 1,052m

Descent: 1,173m

Total Distance 672/2,200 km

30.5% Done ✅

💰Costs: €23 food shop Aldi

€2.40 cold drink

€6 juice drinks

€8 ibuprofen

€103 hotel

Subjective feeling out of 10 on:

Enjoyment: 8/10

Fatigue: 2/10

Ease of terrain: 3/10

⭐️Highlights: amazing stop for lunch (honesty bar, toilet, charging, water). I think it was for cyclists ( location - Manternash)

🏔️Challenges: struggled to find water at Ahn. It was like a deserted town. I found a guy doing some building work and asked him. It got to past 8pm & looking at google it was going to be impossible to find any camping - so I managed to book a hotel about 1.5 miles away.

💭Thoughts: a really solid day today - pleased with distances especially in the heat.

Day 23 🥾GR5 - 2,200km from Holland 🇳🇱 to Nice 🇫🇷

ℹ️Stats: Weather: hot 🔥 31 degrees - weather warning in place

From: Ehen - The White Swan

Start time: 10.44am

To: just before Montenach

End time: 8.35pm

Accommodation: camped - asked a farmer

Terrain: concrete - all day - apart from the final 3k

Cicerone guidebook stages: 36

🥾Km: 31.71

🥾Miles: 20

🦶Steps: 43,384

Ascent: 839m

Descent: 786m

Total Distance 708/2,200 km

32% Done ✅

💰Costs: €5.56 vitamin water, water, snickers. Icecream.

€4.48 2x drinks (electrolytes)

Subjective feeling out of 10 on:

Enjoyment: 7/10

Fatigue: 3/10 - motivation had gone

Ease of terrain: 3/10

⭐️Highlights: stunning views of the river and the vineyards. Good camping place. No stress as I ok’d it with the farmer. Now in France 🇫🇷!

🏔️Challenges: split my shorts on the bum! (Caught a nail on a bench). Finding water / is/was a struggle - having to ask people as i go through small villages. Sometimes there are no people!!

💭Thoughts: it was such a struggle to leave the hotel this morning. I don’t even know how I managed to get walking again. I was not feeling it but glad I showed up and got some miles done.

Day 24 🥾GR5 - 2,200km from Holland 🇳🇱 to Nice 🇫🇷

ℹ️Stats: Weather: hot & sunny (weather warning in place)

From: just before Montenach

Start time: 8.47am

To: Just before Vigy

End time: 8.02pm

Accommodation: wild camped 🏕️

Terrain: roads, gravel tracks, forest trails

Cicerone guidebook stages: 37

🥾Km: 36.24

🥾Miles: 22.65

🦶Steps: 47,102

Ascent: 607m

Descent: 565m

Total Distance 744/2,200 km

33.8% Done ✅

💰Costs: €13.90 apple juice & ice cream Sunday

Subjective feeling out of 10 on:

Enjoyment: 8/10

Fatigue: 2/10

Ease of terrain: 2/10

⭐️Highlights: getting water from 2 lovely French ladies, finding a place to get an icecream.

🏔️Challenges: the heat & the concrete during the middle of the day. there was no shade! But I’m bored of saying what a challenge it is / it’s just what it is - it’s not a challenge.. challenge - just something that has to be managed.

💭Thoughts: all sorted for tomorrow- 21 miles to walk. Room booked - past Metz.

Day 25 🥾GR5 - 2,200km from Holland 🇳🇱 to Nice 🇫🇷

ℹ️Stats: Weather: so HOt 🥵 32 degrees

From: Just before Vigy

Start time: 7.52am

To: Ars Sur Moselle

End time: 5.51pm

Accommodation: Room - bed 🛌

Terrain: concrete- urban

Cicerone guidebook stages: 38

🥾Km: 34.14

🥾Miles: 21.3

🦶Steps: 43,869

Ascent: 493m

Descent: 542m

Total Distance 782/2,200 km

35% Done ✅

💰Costs:

€6.48 > sweets, water

€5.20 > Fanta & icecream

€7.50 > apple juice, pineapple juice & water

€9.90 > compeed

€4.70 > drinks & ice cream

€75 Room

Subjective feeling out of 10 on:

Enjoyment: 6/10

Fatigue: 3/10 - I’m not tired but it’s so tough

Ease of terrain: 2/10 - in normal weather this would be a dream

⭐️Highlights: honestly - just making it to the end of the day.

🏔️Challenges: the heat - it’s not even funny. How is anything even surviving out here. A few detours to get water, cross railway tracks, road closures etc. the Esso garage i though was going to be a place for resupply - was just petrol - no store (gutted)

💭Thoughts: I’m off all food. I’ve got no interest in eating at all. Maybe the heat - or I’m just too full of fluids!

Day 26 🥾GR5 - 2,200km from Holland 🇳🇱 to Nice 🇫🇷

ℹ️Stats: Weather: HOT 🥵 33 degrees (weather warning in place)

From: Ars Sur Moselle

Start time: 11.58am

To: past Preny

End time: 9.03pm

Accommodation: wild camped 🏕️

Terrain: long forest section, with little villages

Cicerone guidebook stages: end of 39 & 40

🥾Km: 28.39km

🥾Miles: 17.7

🦶Steps: 38,277

Ascent: 861m

Descent: 727m

Total Distance 808/2,200 km

36.7% Done ✅

Total Distance miles 505

💰Costs: €8 2x cans, 1.5lt cold water

€12 chicken salad

Subjective feeling out of 10 on:

Enjoyment: 8/10

Fatigue: 3/10

Ease of terrain: 3/10

⭐️Highlights: Roman aqueduct randomly on the way. walking for most of the day through forests and in the shade. An open pizza shop which sold cold drinks - a life saver. Passing 500 miles (whoop whoop!)

🏔️Challenges: trying to keep my body 🆒. My camping is not exactly flat! I’m defo on a slight slope. But made it work as best I could. It only got cool around 1am.

💭Thoughts: when it gets hot these days it’s not just hot between 12 and 3 pm and then it starts to cool down. It gets hot from 12 pm and then hotter at 3 pm and stays hot until nine or 10 o’clock at night. The heat is just lingering.