Across a watershed

From the sign of the green lion in Putanges we moved in a shortish day to the sign of the golden lion in Écouché (where we were equally comfortable). And in doing so left, reluctantly, the Suisse Normande. Écouché was heavily bombed on D-day (motive, the railway line?) and a large part of the village was destroyed. But the big church escaped serious damage. 

From Écouché the way is to the south, across a wide shallow valley of the Orne and its tributaries before a steady pull up through the immense forest which we are in for several hours - le Foret d'Écouves. Here there is a significant watershed. The rivers will now run to the Atlantic rather than the Channel. Oak, beech, birch and pine with the constant sound of Cuckoos and Wood Warblers. 

The tiny chapel of St Jean des Bois in the middle of the woods, its inside covered in plaques of pilgrims' thanks to the saint.