It was an absolute pleasure to catch up with Nicole. It was strange to see her driving after only knowing her whilst walking; it's easy to forget people lead a life outside of the context of when you met.
Along with Bruno and Mathilde, we had walked together for 177km; when you spend virtually every hour together and all you have is time you share a thing or two. Nicole and I had spoken at length on our past and how it had shaped the present - where we stood and what kind of lives we wished for; I'm becoming ever more invested in an unconventional one.
I had been using an old compact camera I had purchased secondhand in 2014 which has since developed problems. Originally it was great for my purpose and granted it's been used in two-dozen countries, rattled around in my pocket going up mountains and been subject to a 60° temperature variance but the internal battery died a long time ago meaning I had to reset the date and all preferences every time I turned it on. I could live with this, but now there was dust on the sensor which I imagine is the bane of all photographers and I couldn't dismantle the body to get to it. Thankfully that was towards the end of this chapter and nearly time to retire the instrument.