Carrouges to Sées. Twenty miles through the deep green of the Forêt d'Écouves — past a rock in the woodland's quiet heart, past a Sherman tank that closed the Falaise Pocket from the other side. The body recovers. The road continues.
Yesterday was forty-seven miles. The hardest day of the entire campaign. Today is twenty. The legs are heavy, the forest is quiet, and the road to Sées runs mostly downhill. This is what recovery looks like after the big one.
The route east from Carrouges passes through Chahains and Rouperroux — open bocage, narrow lanes — before the tree line closes in at Brulon and the Forêt d'Écouves takes over. This is one of the largest forests in Normandy — 15,000 hectares of oak and pine, threaded with quiet roads and older paths. Somewhere in the deep woodland, far from any village, is Le Rocher: a rock in the trees, the kind of landmark only people on foot ever find. On a recovery day, after what came before, the forest is exactly the right place to be.
Yesterday they ran out of Falaise.
Today they find the tank that closed it.
Standing at the edge of the D908 in the Forêt d'Écouves is an M4A2 Sherman tank. Its name is Valois. It belongs to the 2ème Division Blindée — General Leclerc's Free French armoured force — which pushed north through this very forest in August 1944 to close the southern arm of the Falaise Pocket.
James and Andy left Falaise yesterday morning. They ran out of the pocket, west across the Orne, up through the gorges. Today, coming in from the other direction, they find the armour that sealed it behind them. The history of those August days is folded into the geography of these two stages in a way you could not have planned.
From the forest, the route descends gently into the Sées valley. The spires of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Sées — 13th-century Gothic, twin towers visible for miles across the plain — come into view long before the town does. It is one of the oldest bishoprics in Normandy. After a night in Sées, Paris is still five days away. But the worst is behind them.
Let's be honest about this. Day 6 is twenty miles through one of the largest forests in lower Normandy — the day after the biggest single running day of the entire campaign. We are not going anywhere this evening. Sées has a Gothic cathedral of genuine national significance, and we will have walked past it on arrival, which means we've technically seen it. The accommodation will handle the rest.
The château is magnificent. The restaurant is wonderful. We know this because we will be sitting in one of them and not moving until morning.
The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Sées is one of the finest Gothic buildings in Normandy — twin towers, flying buttresses, a nave that dates to the 13th century. We know this because we ran to it. The arrival photo exists. The cathedral has been experienced. Further exploration would require standing up from dinner and walking somewhere that isn't the accommodation, which we are not prepared to agree to. Consider it visited.
Sées is a small Norman cathedral town and wherever we're staying will have food, and that food will be good, because this is Normandy and the food is always good. We are not in a position to be discerning. We are in a position to be grateful. The menu will be read. Everything that sounds substantial will be ordered. Local cider will be involved. This is the entire evening's agenda and it is more than enough.
~237 miles covered. Seven days in. The Forêt d'Écouves behind us. Paris is no longer abstract — it's five days away, which means it is entirely possible. The body has been informed of this and is not celebrating. Bed is the recovery partner that requires no sponsorship, charges no fee, and delivers exactly what it promises. Tomorrow is France Day 7. Tonight is this.
A forest. A tank in a clearing. Twin Gothic spires rising from the plain. Day 6 is the recovery day on the road, but from the air it is one of the most visually distinct stages of the entire campaign. The canopy of the Forêt d'Écouves. The M4A2 Sherman sitting where it has stood since 1944. The approach to Sées — the spires becoming larger as the plain opens out. These are not running shots. These are landscape and history shots, with two runners in the frame.
After the drama of Day 5's gorges, Day 6 is quieter and greener — but that is exactly what makes the drone footage remarkable. Recovery looks different from the air than it does from the road. The footage tells the story of what it costs to keep going the day after the hardest day.
Forest light. A tank that changed the war. Twin Gothic spires rising from the plain.
Day 6 from the air is unlike any other day on this campaign.
The Parc Naturel Régional Normandie-Maine covers the Forêt d'Écouves and the country east toward Sées — walking trails, outdoor leisure, local producers, and a slow-tourism destination still largely undiscovered by international visitors. Hotels, activity operators and artisan businesses in this corridor are natural partners for Day 6 content: this is their forest, their plain, their cathedral, on a day when two men from Dorset are crossing it for charity and every mile is being documented.
The Sées valley is quiet agricultural Orne country — farms, local markets, small producers. A day finish in a cathedral city with overhead footage of the spires and the plain is a different kind of regional exposure. The Day 6 package includes French-language social content as standard, and the cathedral approach shot is directly usable by any Sées tourism or hospitality partner as a standalone visual asset.
* Aerial operations on France Day 6 are subject to DGAC regulations and AlphaTango pre-authorisation for all commercial drone activity in France. The Forêt d'Écouves falls partly within the Parc Naturel Régional Normandie-Maine — airspace restrictions within the park will be confirmed and all necessary authorisations filed in advance. The M4A2 Sherman "Valois" memorial at Le Bouillon is a roadside monument in open forest; no classified airspace restriction is anticipated, subject to day-of NOTAM checks. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Sées is a monument historique — DGAC authorisation via AlphaTango will be filed for the approach and arrival shot. All operations conducted by a fully licensed and insured professional drone pilot, present for every day of the campaign from Bridport to Paris.
Yesterday was forty-seven miles. The hardest day of the campaign. Today is twenty — through a cool Normandy forest, mostly downhill, with Paris still five days away.
What happens in these twenty miles — what goes into the body, what the physio does, what gets absorbed and replenished — is the difference between finishing and not finishing. This is the day a recovery and nutrition partner earns its name on this campaign.
Forty-seven miles yesterday. One hundred and forty to Paris. What you put in today decides whether they make it.
A forest. A tank. A cathedral. A recovery day between the hardest miles and the road to Paris. Your brand on a stage with a story no other day carries.
Route Note · Route confirmed via GPS and Google Maps walking mode. Carrouges → Chahains → Rouperroux → Brulon → Forêt d'Écouves (Le Rocher) → M4A2 Sherman Tank "Valois" (Le Bouillon) → Cimetière → Sées. 32.3 km / 20.1 miles. Elevation: ↑192m ↓330m.