“Vaucouleurs to Chinon. That’s a bit over 560 kilometres. Nearly 350 miles. How long did it take you to ride that distance?”
“Eleven days as I recall. We set off in the late afternoon of 23 February 1429. Not a good time of year to travel, but at least the snow was gone. Just cold and wet. Robert came out to send me on my way, and he presented me with a sword as we were leaving. My hostess, Catherine le Royer, came to wave goodbye as we headed out through the Porte de France.
“I wasn’t used to horseback riding, so I had to get used to that pretty quickly. My backside was covered with calluses by the end of it. We’d had a lot of heavy rain, and all the rivers were overflowing their banks, so that made for some interesting crossings. We crossed six rivers on the way, and when the water was
