Stage 19b and 20a: Medesano to Bardone. Brooms and bales. (Part 1)

From the outskirts of Medesano, with a bracing climb away from the main road, where emergency vehicles were screaming along, up to a ridge above the river, past sleepy horses and rousing sleeping dogs, I tramped my way to Felegara, and down steeply to the riverside park, between the Taro and the A15 motorway, which heads into Tuscany far more directly than me. The path took me through scrubby woodland, the scent of bright yellow broom blossom accompanying me, and elderflower and the last few acacias adding further layers of perfume. I met only one cyclist on that 7km stretch, and a black snake wiggled swiftly across the path just as I came to these monsters lining the path.

Then the bridge across the Taro,

 

guarded by this weary pilgrim,

into Fornovo, where coffee was taken, and the Duomo, 

though open for Sunday business did not yield a stamp, and the adjacent tourist office, which certainly would (with the usual forms to fill in) was helpfully closed on Sundays.

A stiff climb up a winding hillside road followed, up to the little hamlet of Caselle, perched on a ridge and an old Roman road, looking out over glorious country, festooned with flowering broom.