Paco On Tour

Week 11: Arzacq-Arraziguet - Jaca

Crossing the Pyrenees, leaving the Chemin du Puy behind, coming into Spain, seeing my family - all took place this week.
Definetly a change coming into Spain from France. The weather changed dramatically, literally on crossing the border. Spanish pilgrims, Spanish customs (eating times, social behaviour, and a load of other unexplainable details). Lots of new people this week - also closer to my age which made a difference (Sven, Ilse, Ettore and of course, Jose Luis, who is younger in spirit than his age may show...). Towards the end of the weekI really started to feel that the social elemnt of the Camino had grown enormously - and will only continue to do so. The elements with a greater link to the quiet - solitude of France (particularly before Le Puy) which encouraged a more spiritual-religious reflection have somehow taken a secondary role in this part of the Camino, although they still surface now and then.
It has been amazing to be able to share some time with my father and sisters to make them part of the experience, as well as getting all the latest news of the things that are tking place in their lives.
Oh! I must mention that from this week on, I will be writing the day-entries, as it were, in Spanish (switch fom English). I have started to write my personal diary in Spanish - also switched from English - from now on and after so many weeks essentially writing in English it is probably the turn of the Spanish-speakers for a little text in their own language :-) Just as importantly it would seem a little strange to me, to say the least, to translate into English things that happen during the day now that the dominant external language has become one of my own. French is still a foreign language for me, but the same cannot be said for Spanish. I'll try to make these "weekly introductions" a little longer as some kind of compemsation but - if all goes well - this may well be the practice until I leave Latin America at the end of the year. Back to "mostly English" when I get to New Zealand and S.E. Asia :-)
A little late in writing entries now... but I've been enjoying the family as much as I could and shoul catch up soon enough, thanks to all of you for your patience and hanging in there!

Day 71: Arzacq-Arraziguet - Lescar
After deciding to cross over to the Chemin d’Arles today - which starts of course at Arles and passes by Montpellier and Toulouse – I initially thought of going to Pau, a largish city about 34 km from Arzacq. But the Camino doesn’t pass through it, but through Lescar, an ancient village – first inhabitants around 4,000 years ago, just north of Pau.
Since my map didn’t show the country paths – too large scale – I had to do almost all of todays way on tarmac. Not my preferred surface and after the first 20 km my legs weren’t appreciating the decision so much. On the other hand the sun had decided to come out and I had a full morning of blue sky and high temperatures as I hadn’t had for quite a few days…
Arrived at Lescar around 15:30 and met two other pilgrims (surprise !) who were just making their way to the gîte, a very small affair with place for barely 5 of us. The two I met were with another two, so we were full for the night ! At 18:30 I received a call from Jose Luis, a pilgrim I had met on the Camino when I had done it two years ago. He lives in San Sebastian – only a couple of hours in car from here – and since it was Sunday he had decided to give me a big surprise and meet me almost ‘incognito’ on the Camino. Of course, since I had decided to change my route last night he was waiting at the wrong village! Where he had been waiting with his wife for about four hours in their Camper-caravan until he managed to reach me at 18:30. They came over and I had my first real Spanish dinner in the caravan, with food they had brought along – including some good jamon Serrano and cogollos… - a wonderful surprise which I really appreciated.

Day 72: Lescar – Oloron-St Marie
Un día bastante largo hoy, no llegue a comer mucho durante el día de ayer y noté bastante la falta de fuerzas hoy. Muy nublado pero al final llovió poco. Ya avisó el hospitalero ayer que la jornada de hoy era dura – “la más dura en Francia” dijo. Tampoco era para tanto, pero es verdad que las siete colinas entre Lescar y Oloron, aunque no muy altos tenían unos desniveles importantes y al ser tan numerosas hacia el final del día se sentía el cansancio de la jornada. Encima el terreno estaba increíblemente embarrado, deslizante y a ratos difícil de atravesar, en un descuido resbalé y fui al suelo, lo cual con 11-12 kg en la mochila no fue muy agradable.
Llegué a Oloron bastante cansado, la ciudad es bastante grande dada su ubicación tan cercana al Pirineo. Me quedé en una casa-albergue bastante pintoresca regida por un canadiense de Toronto casado con una portuguesa que parece dedicarse al albergue y hacer pizzas. El sitio simpático, pero él menos. Lo que si pude hacer fue lavar la ropa en la lavandería, un lujo asiático esto de no tener que hacerlo a mano :-)

Day 73: Oloron-St Marie - Bedous
Left Oloron around 8:30 saying goodbye to Sérge, George and co. We had all stayed at the same place the night before. A very picturesque path today, really entering into the heart of the Pyrenees. Very impressive with the mountains starting to rise at either side of the path which becomes quite narrow at times, looking down to the river 5-6 metres below. A good mountain walk, and fun, crossed a couple of Swiss pilgrims, one of which was carrying a guitar on top of her rucksack (!). Some people can be quite original…
Arrived at Bedous a little tired, around 15:00 – and got a bed at the local gìte just on the main town square. Met some new pilgrims. Ettore – an Italian from Trieste who had walked the Camino also a couple of years ago, and Sven and Ilse – a German couple from Hamburg. All three had started out at Oloron and had met the previous night. It was Ettore’s birthday today and we had a great dinner at the local restaurant with me trying to brush up my rather rusty Italian. Had a great conversation on the philosophy of the Camino, life paths and even Italian history. One of those “good” evenings…

Day 74: Bedous – Urdos
Last whole day in France today, getting geared up for the crossing of the Pyrenees tomorrow and entering Spain which will probably change the atmosphere of the Camino quite a bit. A pretty dreadful day weather-wise unfortunately. Some excellent views which could only be half enjoyed because of the heavy clouds, looks like the good weather won’t accompany me out of France. Next few days I have planned relatively shorter walks to be ready in case the weather turns nasty in the mountains and I’m not caught too tired. Left Bedous only around 9:00, after sharing breakfast with Sven and Ilse – no sign of Ettore funnily enough – the path essentially followed the paved road up the valley. The latter was really too narrow to hold much more than the only road and the (now disused) railway track. So on tarmac it was. Stopped at Berce (4 km from Urdos) for lunch and met a very nice friendly bar owner who told me stories of other pilgrims that had passed by. The weather was still pretty rotten outside so I took my time before walking the last hour.
Stayed in a Spanish owned hotel at Urdos and already felt I was more in Spain than France… quick transition here.

Day 75: Urdos – Canfranc Estación
Primera etapa en suelo español hoy. No dormí especialmente bien anoche – no sé muy bien porqué – y salí pronto de Urdos, después de zamparme un buen desayuno español con tostadas con aceite y sol incluidas. La subida al puerto de Somport fue bastante intensa, con algo de frío (6-7 C) pero muy bonita. El camino en sí está bastante más bajo que todas las montañas alrededor, que siguen con nieve en esta época. Un poco más de media hora antes del paso y cuando me encontré de nuevo con la carretera nacional, vi al dueño (español) del hotel en Urdos, una camera de TV (de Telecinco) y un par de periodistas. Yo estaba demasiado metido en llegar a Somport para darle demasiada importancia per me hicieron una pequeña entrevista de 5 minutos que tuvo su gracia, al parecer (me dijeron después) pasará un pequeño reportaje el sábado en las noticias… a ver si lo pillo.
El resto del trayecto bien, con un poquito de nieve en lo alto y con bastantes fotos por mi parte. Pasé al lado de la estación de esquí de Candanchú – en la que curiosamente había estado un par de veces – y descenso en el calorcito del sol que como no apareció nada más cruzar la frontera :-) hasta la Estación de Canfranc.

Day 76: Canfranc Estación - Jaca
Buena noche de sueño. El cuerpo ya bastante acostumbrado a levantarse a las 6:00 - 6:15 y a las 7:30 ya de camino. En españa el horario cambia muho y nada parece abrir antes de las 9:00... Menudo cambio con Francia donde a las 6:30 ya te ponian un croissant y un café. En fin, cambio de culturas y se nota.
Cielo azul, pero fresco - todavía estamos en montaña y tampoco es verano... Durante 4-5 km todavía estab muy metido en el Pirineo y el sol no superaba las montañas, pero en seguida salió y calentó como debe.
En Jaca ya a las 12:30. Ciudad ya importante con todo tipo de servicios - buena comida después de instalarme en mi primer albergue de "solo peregrinos" de verdad y como no podía ser de otra manera me encontré con José Luis en la calle mayor completamente de casualidad, nos fuimos a cenar - qui la comida impera - y al volver al albergue nos encontramos con todos los demás (unos 20) comiendo en una gran mesa y en plan festivo - buena manera de acabar el día.

Day 77: Jaca - Día de descanso
Por una vez me preocupé de no levantarme a las 6:00, pero entre los ruidos y la luz del sol ya estaba de pie a las 7:00. Hoy primer día de descanso desde Le Puy y la verdad es que el cuerpo me lo estaba pidiendo. Desayuno con los últimos peregrinos un poco descolgadillos - esto a las 8:30 - 9:00, el resto ya lejos... compartiendo mesa con Sven, Ilse, Ettore y un par de brasileños muy simpáticos. A las 14:00 aparecieron mis tres hermanas que habían subido de Barcelona. Una gran alegría verlas a todas - desde Navidad que no nos veíamos - y fuimos a comer al mismo restaurante en el que comí ayer - buen menú y barato. Gran acontecimiento también con la llegada de mi ropa de verano !! Gracias a Eric, Verónica y Agatha por hacer de intermediarios. Llegó todo perfectamente y al tiempo justo. A eso de las 16:00 llegó por fin mi padre y ya estabamos la familia al completo, un verdadero lujo y placer para mi. Increíble el estar todos juntos, un poco sensación de estar "de vacaciones" de "mi Camino" - un evento para recordar...

Week 10: Moissac - Arzacq-Arraziguet

Dos mitades bien diferenciadas esta semana. La primera de buen tiempo, con Jean Pierre y Michel además de otra gente conocida y descansando después del palizón de la semana pasada. Pueblos un poco menos encantadores que antes y el paisaje tampoco nada impactante.
A partir de Lectoure, y curiosamente coincidiendo con la despedida de JP y Michel el tiempo se convirtió en el factor dominante del resto de la semana. Mucha lluvia durante cuatro días seguidos que al final si que condicionan, necesariamente, el disfrute del Camino. Tengo la sensación que le ha faltado algo de alma a esta semana. Como si hubiera sido algo sosa – no sé muy bien como explicarlo, pero estoy seguro que ha sido una cosa pasajera…
Un pelín nerviosillo hacia el final de la semana viendo que el tiempo no mejoraba y el paso de los Pirineos se acercaba cada vez más. Parece claro que tendré que afrontar el Somport con bastante energía y determinación.

Day 64 : Moissac – Saint Antoine
Finally back to a relaxed and enjoyable day ! Not that they were bad before, more like they were tough and tiring. Mostly flat today, along the river Garonne and canal. Most of the walk in the company of two gentleman from Sydney (Australia, of course) who turned out to be very good company Gordon (60) and Rodney (72) set off from Le Puy and had both been teachers at Sydney Grammer School. Both very cultured and a joy to talk with. A nice sunny day overall, they were calling it a day at Auvillar about 2/3 of my route for the day. Unbelievably enough a lady who asked us to keep an eye out for her car (as we were having lunch on a bench) turned out to be from New Zealand with family in Sydney and in no time I found them discussing different locations in Sydney and recommended places here and there, all this in a little village in France, on the Camino, at least 23,000 km from the place! Natural enough for some maybe, all a little surreal for me! :)
Arrived at a lovely secluded gîte in the very small village of St. Antoine where I found JP and Michel who had arrived earlier. Great evening out in the sun enjoying a bit of good weather and an excellent home-made meal for 19 of us in the gîte in this land of foie gras and other great food!

Day 65: Saint Antoine - Lectoure
Up at the crack of dawn and on the path by 7:30 if not earlier. Catched up with JP and Michel and pretty much stayed with them for the rest of the day. A bit too much tarmac on the route for my liking today, but at least dry, not many hills and the muddy ground gradually drying up.
Michel, like JP, is in his early sixties but in top form. A marathon runner (had just run the Paris race 3 weeks ago) he used to run 4-5 major races a year and train of course... down to 2-3 now but has been running for the last 30 years - and you can tell!
Wonderful views of Lectoure from the distance, set as it is on top of a hill, but no sun so unfortuantely no pretty pictures...
Very comfortable physically now, after these last more restful days, I feel that if I don't over-exert myself (do over 35 km in a day) with a little luck I should be fine from now on (touch wood!)
Excellent dinner this evening with JP and Michel, at a restaurant - no food at the gîte - with Duck, the great specialty of the area, as main protagonist with some very good wine from Fronton, near Bordeaux apparently. All very good at an extremely reasonable price. To be repeated!

Day 66: Lectoure - Condom
A particularly early start today. Rucksack on my back and boots marching by 7:15. A grey cloudy day which could have easily been very wet but strangely enough remained completely dry. Some beautiful countryside, with rolling hills and a great mix of crops which gave some delightful coulours to the landscape. Could have been a bit better with the sun probably, but you have to enjoy what you get!
Catched up with JP & Michel about 10 km after Lectoure (they set off even earlier than me...) and walked together until 11:30 where the path I was taking diverged from theirs (they were stopping before Condom) so we bid our farewells and promised to see each other and walk a few more days together in Spain. I'll be behind them on the Camino for a while since it takes longer for me to go through Somport tahn for them to go directly via Roncesvalles.
At the gîte I shared the 10 bed room with a group of Parisians that had walked for 2 weeks. Funny thing was I found the room full of large suitcases on all beds except mine - the members of the 'package tours' that are increasingly found on the Camino and which many think, me included, go completely against the spirit of the pilgrimage...

Day 67: Condom - Eauze
Left Condom - a name which naturally provides much amusement to English speakers (only slightly less to Spanish ones...), but has no particular connotation that I know of in French, being apparently an abbreviation of the latin Condominium - around 7:45. Unfortunately missed the total eclipse of the moon last night, completely hidden by clouds...
A longish day ahead - 34 km - and whilst cloudy in the morning, it remained dry. At midday I entered Montréal as very black clouds showed up ahead. Surely enough just as I was sitting down in a secluded spot for a sandwich the heavens opened and down poured the rain. From here until Eauze there would be wave after wave (four in total) of black clouds coming forward and bucketing it down, with the sun coming out during the 20 minute intervals between the waves just to make it uncomfortable to keep the waterproof gear on. I don't think I have put on / taken off clothing as many times in a single afternoon...
I arraived at Eauze in the worst of the downpours. One of those that when you are nice and cozy inside you feel sorry for the poor sod that gets caught in full outside. Completely soaked as I entered the village, I was quite a sight but knew that I was only a couple of km from the gîte and was having a good time - I was pretty dry on the inside I must admit. I guess it looked pretty impressive from without but in fact was quite inconsequential seeing I could take it all off soon enough. Basic gîte for the night, full again but with a few known faces.

Day 68: Eauze - Nogaro
A nice short walk today, just over 20 km. Left Eauze at 8:00 and I was in the gîte by 12:30. A wet and above all muddy day today. After all the water we have had in the last few days the paths were once again flooded. Raining - at times quite hard - most of the way, the sloshy mud and stream-like path was no longer much news - most people in any case preferred to take the asphalt road so I hardly saw anybody en route except when the GR took the road itself. After my midday stop and at about 8 kmfrom Nogaro I found that the path reached the bottom of a hill where I imagine there normally is a small stream but I found a small, almost average, river and no apparent way to cross it. Turns out the concrete bridge/path that crosses the stream was submerged 15-20 cm by the river which had replaced it and there was no alternative way to cross. Hating to turn back I took the plunge (almost !) and went across, hoping my water proof boots and trousers would remain just that. I also hoped that I would avoid a false step that would send me crashing into the 80-90 cm deep river. I just managed to make it to the other side as a group of four Belgians from Liège arrived on the side I had just left with their semi-summer gear. They thought better than taking a foolish decision, such as I had just taken, and turned back to do the two km back up to the road. Meanwhile I took a couple of photos to better remember the anecdote :-)
Happy with my exploit – sometimes little is required – I arrived at Nogaro where there is little more than its X – XI century church. Basic little gîte outside the village… A longer walk awaits me to Aire sur L’Adour tomorrow.

Day 69: Nogaro – Aire-sur-l’Adour
An intense walking day. Up at 6:15 and off just after 7:30. Similar story to yesterday, with the same weather, in fact pretty much OK until midday. Visited a nice little chapel around 11:00 where a rather eccentric “pilgrim” had left CDs for sale (his own music or his own selection I am still unsure…) and a little card with some words. Left my contribution and took the lat CD… was too curious to just leave it there. Found Miriam coming up as I rejoined the path, left her behind at the first main climb up a hill – but thought of her in her trainers as the path just seemed to fill up with mud… and then at 12:00 the deluge. It rained hard, very hard. One thing is to be caught out for 3 minutes before you find a place to take cover, another is just to walk on as if nothing was happening as, what seem to be, buckets of water just keep on falling on you for 10, 20, 30 minutes without a break. Made an extra effort to arrive to Aire sur Adour as quickly as possible, quite tired and happy to have a hotel (cheap) for once. Met Oscar here who had gone to Lourdes for the day (by train) and come back to where he had left off. 2The Catholic Las Vegas” he called it – hotels, souvenirs… not taken aback with the spirituality of the place apparently. Had a great dinner with Oscar and Miriam at a Fish restaurant of all places but the fish was good, as was the wine… Incredible nights sleep, one of the best so far.

Day 70: Aire-sur-l’Adour – Arzacq-Arraziguet
The bed was so comfortable that we had a bit of a lazy start and weren’t really on the road until 8 :00ish. More of the same hard, plentiful wet weather with a lot of mud – from all the accumulated rain I suppose – to go with it.
Quite a few small churches to visit on the way today, which I always like doing when I have a chance – have a short quite moment in between all this walking is good for the soul.
At times the rain was so bad, it was just funny – you can’t really do much about it so you turn to enjoying the ‘madness’ of it all, a little bit like a kid playing in ever bigger puddles…
Decided today, after buying more detailed maps in Aire-s-A, that it would be best to cross over to the Chemin d’Arles (which I need to do to cross the Pyrenees at Somport) tomorrow rather than from Navarrenx which would be going too far West in fact. I think this might be the last real ‘communal’ evening in France. Dinner for 30 – unfortunately not very good – plus lots of people in groups, just starting now or a couple of days ago so no real feeling of Community unfortunately. Somehow looking forward to the less busy Chemin d’Arles.

Week 9 : Livinhac-le-Haut - Moissac

Una semana de muchos, muchos kilometros y de tiempo muy duro. Habre hecho una media de 35 km en toda la semana que es un poco barbaridad, especialmente dado el tiempo que me ha tocado. Un pelin tocado de salud en general, pero culpa mia por haber forzado la maquina… De cualquier manera sigo pensando que Rocamadour ha merecido el esfuerzo suplementario. Una etapa preciosa, la llegada, el pueblo y las iglesias / castillo. Al menos he probado mas de cerca los limites fisicos que impone el Camino. Desafortunadamente ha sido mas bien una semana de ‘supervivencia’ mas que de disfrute – pero de todo tiene que haber. Tambien ha servido para ensenarme lo rapido que se puede pasar de creer que uno esta en super-forma (Figeac) a estar hecho polvo (Moissac!). Contento de haber retomado el contacto con la gente que deje atras (o mas bien adelante) – Jean Pierre y compania. La semana mas dura fisicamente hablando, sin duda – la podriamos bautizar la ‘semana de Rocamadour’…

Day 57 : Livinhac-le-Haut - Figeac
Another wonderful spring day today. A very amusing dinner last night, all very communal, noisy and fun. Up at 6:00 and off by 7:30, cold in the morning but down to my T-shirt and shorts by 10:00 Thought about all the people I have been meeting and how quickly you can get to know someone – in relative terms – when you have some time and an open spirit to conversation. Jean Pierre, Oscar, Henri all with their particular life-stories, very open and honest with very illuminating stories to tell.
Cahors was really the psychological – as well as physical – mid-point of the trip. Maybe a little premature to say it now, and would really have to wait until the end to make this kind of appreciation but it is such an incredibly spiritual place. I had such a wonderful time, the village and church are so astounding that they represented a kind of door into the second half of the Camino after the ‘solitary’ and ‘discovery’ nature of the first half.
Figeac is another lovely medieval town, can really tell we are in the south of France now. At times I was particularly reminded of northern Catalonia which all this area seems to resemble quite closely.

Day 58: Figeac – Gramat
Today was one of the longest, if not THE longest, of walks yet. I am not 100% sure of the exact distance covered but most probably over 45 km. I left Figeac at 7:15 and only made it to Gramat at 19:15 or so with a short hour for lunch. A hot day with a lot of sun, I was almost exhausted during the last 10 km. I think I can more or less do comfortably 35 km after which it all becomes a bit too much of a struggle.
The problem is that today is the worst day in the week to find things open in France, no, not Sunday – Monday… everything is closed even the (admittedly small) hotels and I was not able to find any available accommodation (even calling a couple of days beforehand) prior to Gramat, only 15 km from Rocamadour.
I felt so fit in Figeac and really wanted to get to Rocamadour so I didn’t see much solution other than to o the long walk but it has certainly taken away that ‘extra’ bit of fitness I thought I had. Was lucky to get some food at Gramat around 20:30 and fell into bed shortly thereafter for a truly restful night.

Day 59: Gramat – Rocamadour
Had breakfast with the young priest who provided the accommodation yesterday – he very kindly invited me. We are pretty much of the same age, he had actually walked the Camino back in 1990 when he was 18 with his younger brother (15!) No great facilities on the way and he had practically broken his foot carrying over 20 kg in his rucksack, most of which he left behind when he reached Puente la Reina. Lots of stories to tell but all pretty much linked to his vocation to become a priest which he had already strongly felt as a child… a very outgoing and likeable guy.
Today’s walk was glorious, only 15 km and after the first five went up and down the gorge which eventually takes you to Rocamadour. Gorgeous weather, had a splash in the river and after little more than three hours arrived at the base of Rocamadour which is perched with ann almost superhuman ability along the gorge clinging to the cliffs somehow. Full of tourists coming in bus loads – apparently the second most visited site in France (they didn’t say which was the first) with over a million visitors a year. It had a pretty but extremely commercial street a little below and above it the religious buildings and above those at the very top the castle. Nobody at the museum which had quite a few interesting pieces and enjoyed some incredible views (took a few pictures of course) from the castle’s ramparts, despite the dizziness that the imposing height had on me. Stayed in another religious accommodation in an ideal position (much better than that enjoyed by any of the hotels) and was really glad I decided to take this detour off the ‘usual’ Camino.

Day 60: Rocamadour - Labastide-Murat
Once again a lesson in how everything can change in 24 hours. Wet, wet, wet today. Left Rocamadour under the rain at 8:00, glad that I had arrived in the glowing sun! and arrived at Labastide at 15:30 still under the (heavy) rain which did not stop at any point.
After about 3 hours my equipment couldn’t take all the rain and my accumulated sweat and just started to get damp. Every two km started to feel more like four, I stopped and changed into a dry set of (upper) clothing and aimed for Montfauçon, 6 km before the end for today, where I thankfully found a restaurant which provided a good hearty meal making the last strech all that much easier – especially after consuming ½ litre of wine to go with the food… - Tired after the damp and grey day and it looks like tomorrow will bring more of the same. Looking forward to joining the rest of the pilgrims at Conques now. Funny how I’ve quickly got used to the social element and don’t feel I want to be quite as alone as I was. Planning three pretty long walks to get to Moissac for the days ahead (around 35 km/day average) so better keep my strength… Still not quite over the extra effort of the Figeac-Frmat walk the day before yesterday.

Day 61: Labastide-Murat - Cahors
Another very long day today, between 40-45 km but this time with the added disadvantage of being extremely wet and muddy. The rain not quite as hard as yesterday but the ground was overflowing – literally, if such a thing is possible…
I set off around 8:15, reached an affluent of the river Lot – the Vers I believe it is called – which I would have to follow until it joined the main river. The problem was that the path followed the river bank too closely and at either side of the banks were pretty high cliffs. As I gradually descended I could see all the accumulated water on the hills flowing (or rather rushing) into the Vers. The path getting increasingly wet until there was quite literally two rivers. One along the usual river bed and the other going down the path! Forcing me to climb through the dense forest – all completely wet of course – and try to join the path at a higher level once it came out of the bottom of the valley… at least hope it did. This happened 3-4 times as I left the inundated path and rejoined it when it seemed a bit better. By the time I reached the Lot, 30 km more or less from Labastide along the paths, I was thoroughly wet through and through and quite tired. The last 12-15 km to Cahors were better, but it continued raining and unfortunately my strength wsa really reaching its limits. My feet were soaked (there is so much water a waterproof boot can take!) and as I entered Cahors around 19:30 I collapsed on the bed, washed my clothes and hoped things would be dry for tomorrow. Didn’t see the city much at all and found that I was developing a bit of a cold, not surprisingly…

Day 62: Cahors – Montcuq
Woke up rather tired and feeling a little under the weather. A little temperature rise during the night and a 30 km journey ahead. Made time to at least see a bit of Cahors – the cathedral and parts of the old city centre – and left around 11:00, which is quite late, across the famous fortified bridge. Cloudy and some rain during the day but most of all a terribly muddy path all day which is quite difficult to walk upon. Got my music out this time, which was a real morale booster in the worst moments, but was still feeling a little weak from the cold I was developing and the extra-long walks I had been doing the last few days. It would probably have been better to do less km. today but I really wanted to keep to schedule and make sure I made it in good time to Jaca to see my family, as well as catching up with some of the pilgrims I knew a little ahead.
Got into Montcuq – and yes, you do pronounce all letters to those of you who speak French… - dry and even a little sunny for the last couple of hours which certainly cheered me up, around 18:30 and stayed in a very nice chamber d’hôtes just outside the village. A good dinner and sleep made the prospect of tomorrow’s 35+ km day a little less daunting.

Day 63: Montcuq – Moissac
Last of the extra long days… Lucky today at least. Sun finally came out and had a very agreeable temperature all day. Nice breakfast and out by 8:15. Physically still felt quite tired already early on but the path led through relatively flat country and after an hour or so got back to normal more or less. I put some music on and felt particularly invigorated by it – surprising the physical impact music can have at times. Established a pretty quick pace for the first 10 km., the scenery looked a but like a ‘wild’ version of Tuscany at times. Stopped at a lovely medieval village on a hill, had a beer and a sandwich and took off around 11:30. Afterwards the ground became very muddy and going up a couple of hills was a real battle. At the top of the last one I came across a group of 10 which was just starting out – must have been 14:00 or so – doing 15-20 km to Moissac from where they had stopped six months ago. They were doing the Camino – as many people seem to do – in two week periods. Took a picture of everyone and walked with them for a while, but left them behind once my pace picked up.
Arrived at Moissac at 17:45 which unfortunately was too late to be able to see the renown cloister – so I’ll have to come back another time (by car!) to see it. Only opened at 10:00 the next morning – which was too late for me…
Found Jean Pierre and his friend Michel – who he had met at Cahors – in the gîte I was staying at. Oscar had gone ahead. A few other known people were here to. I was thankful the long walking days were over and prepared to return to a more ‘normal’ walking rate.

Week 8: Saugues - Livinhac-le-Haut

El final de la transicion de pereginaje 'solitario' al 'social' esta semana, si se puede decir asi. Me costo unos dias, sobre todo al principio, acostumbrarme al nuevo ambiente pero ya he pasado pagina al camino 'solitario'. En realidad me habia acostumbrado a ese Camino y hasta que no encontre peregrinos con los que conectar - Jean Pierre, Oscar, Jean Jacques, etc. - nop estaba del todo seguro de como iba a desarrollarse la cosa.
Tambien ha sido una semana de plena transicion en otros aspectos - rapidisima en lo que concierne el paso de invierno a primavera. Empezar con tiempo totalmente invernal en el Aubrac - lluvia, viento 10-15 cm de nieve en sitios - y pasar a la primavera mas completa - cielo azul, 20°C, verde en los arboles, campos llenos de flor - a la llegada a Conques. Acabo la semana con la decision de irme a Rocamadour y dejar atras (o adelante?) la gente que he ido conociendo estos dias. Duras etapas al principio de la semana, pero un verdadero placer la estancia en Conques - de lo mejor en el Camino hasta ahora.

Day 50: Saugues - Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole
Although had mostly bad weather today - cold(2-4 C and rainy most of the morning) it was pretty challenging so I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Up early 6:30, but communla breakfast only at 8:00 so started walking around 8:30. Shared the room with a Canadian and Rufino - the Spainiard I saw at Le Puy. Overtaking quite a few people on the path, so a little self conscious of my speed, but 7 weeks training is starting to show.... Passed a great 12th century tower, remains of a castle of much importance during the 100-year war, not much left now though...
Stopped for lunch in the forest and although I wsa fine temperature-wise before, the stop took all the heat out of me and it was quite a job warming up again. In any case, I am feeling in pretty good form physically. The day's walk now is not quite as hard as the 'mountain' phase before Le Puy. Tomorrow I'll be doing an extra-long day to that originally planned. I have deceided to go to Rocamadour which is a bit of a detour and will be combining the next 3 planned days into 2 longer walks and that way keep on schedule. It will mean leaving the current group of people behind, but I am naturally more used to walking then they are and I've already left quite a few of the original people who started with me at Le Puy.

Day 51: St Alban - Prinsuéjols
A good 30 km today. Break of day with a little snow on the ground and a bit more still falling. Finished updating week 7 on the blog this morning so only got started at 9:00. Had a good walk into Aumont-Aubrac, some 15 km from the start and was very surprised to learn it was only 11:45 (instead of 13:15 as I had expected) when I arrived. Doing 5 km/h on average now, so obviosluy speeded up my pace. Most pilgrims I started off with stopped here. Next accomodation/larger village was a little too far for them apparently. Found a lovely church in town, of which I took a few photos and had a real "menu ouvrier" as they call it here. Basically lots of food for the manual worker at a low price, four dishes plus wine for 10 euros which suited me perfectly. Left with some hail and snow and a strong (and cold) head wind but a pretty walk nonetheless with almost no villages to be seen and quite a 'wild' feeling to it.
Staying at a recommended gîte tonight with completely different people. Mostly French, mostly over 50. No room in the common dormitory so had the luxury of a room to myself. Very lively dinner, lots of chatter and fun. Met a lady from Brussels who had started out from Le Puy and it was quite amusing telling her of my first days... Alsemberg, Ittre and the rest - it seemed so far back! Great night and solid breakfast for the route in the morning.

Day 52: Prinsuéjols - Saint-Chély d'Aubrac
A tough, physical day today. Serves me right for thinking I was in tip-top condition. Going up to the highest point before the Pyrenees (1,375 m) and reputed since the middle ages for being a cold and barren land here. It has been known to snow around mid-May...
Obviosly had to have a day to go with the reputation of the place and I certainly did. It rained hard all the way, a strong cold wind blew from the north; After about 10 km - at Nasbinals - I wsa completely soaked outside and just about holding out inside. Stopped for a hot chocolate and croissants with three other pilgrims and marched on. Now the tough part began. Some people took the road to get through the Aubrac, since there were reports of quite a bit of snow on the path above. After the Parc of Morvan, I didn't believe there could be as much snow as I've already seen, and I have a general dislike for walking on tarmac, so up I went. The higher I went the worse it gt, naturally. The snow was at very variable depths (2-20 cm) in more or less the same places - hidden in holes and tracks in the ground, as well as small rivers and whatnot - but it was raining so muh that it was all very mushy and slippery. The fog set in and once again I was glad I had a compass with me. It was really something up at the top, a plateau really but the wind was blowing with ferocity and I could see that there had only been 4 or 5 people who had passed before me (I followed their footsteps most of the time, which was helpful!). Finally made it down to Aubrac where the remains of a (formerly) very large medieval pilgrim hospital can be found.
Arrived at St Chély around 15:30, very thanful for the warm shower. Staying in a relatively upmarket gîte with only two others in th room. Jean Pierre, a French Basque whoo speaks Euskera and Oscar, an Austrian who speaks English (and German of course). They've been together almost from Le Puy but cannot speak a common language which makes their communication slightly amusing and charming of course.

Day 53: St Chély d'Aubrac - Espallion
What an incredible contrast with yesterday! A bright blue sky from the beginning of the day and temperatures that would climb to 22°C by midday. Descent to the river Lot, the valley of which we will be folowing on & off for some time. Pretty much leaving the main part of the Massif Central which I entered just after Vezelay all those days ago.
Had dinner with all new people once again, including a froup of four with a very partially sighted man which seemed particularly brave given the conditions we were having weather-wise. They were walking for a week from Le Puy to Conques. Catched up with Oscar and J Pierre after a bit and found that we all had pretty much the same walking pace. Both are mountain aficionados and in pretty good form. We stopped mid-morning in the glorious spring sunshine to eat some sandwiches and enjoy the view - couldn't have been more unlike yesterday! I really enjoyed the walk today in a kind of bucolic sense. Arrived at St Comé d'Olt - a medieval village with a great centre - and stopped for a great cold beer on a terrasse in the sun with Oscar and JP. Could hardly believe that yesterday at the same time we were braving the wind & snow on the Aubrac! In the gîte at Espallion with Oscar - JP was staying with a friend in town - we visited a truly magical Romanic church just outside the town, really worth the visit.

Day 54: Espallion - le Soulié
Back to a kind of 'normal' day today. Started off with JP and Oscar but I tend to walk up hills a bit faster than them, so I left them behind after the first major climb, there are still quite a few major hills even though we have left behind the main part of the Massif Central. Slowly but surely Spring is doing its best to arrive and actually stay. Stopped at a church and saw an inscription which I really liked, it read:

Le Pelerin
A la fin de sa vie,
un homme regarda en arrière
et vit que, tout le long du chemin,
il y avait quatre empreints de pas
sur le sable, les siennes et celles
de Dieu. Mais dans les moments
difficiles, il n'y en avait plus
que duex! Très surpris, et même
peinè, il a dit a Dieu: "Je vois que
c'est justement dans les moments
difficiles que tu m'as laissè seul..."
"Mais non! lui répondit Dieu dans les
moments difficiles, il y avait seulment
les traces de mes pas à moi, parce qu'alors...
Je te portais dans mes bras!"

I'm not going to attempt to translate it but I thought it had a really comforting and revealing sense in many ways.
Later I put on my iPod and had some really good and appropriate music to suit the moment somehow - Beethoven's 3rd Symphony and a few Pasodobles to provide good 'marching' music as I like to think of it. After almost 3 hours I arrived at Estaing, on the river Lot, a marvellously preserved medieval village witha great castle perched above the river - really out of a fairy tale. Had a stop there and JP & Oscar catched up, we walked together for another hour but I left them behind at Golinhac, where they were spending the night. I had booked a little ahead and we would all meet up again in Conques tomorrow. My gîte onight was rather alternative one. Owned by a 54-year old Dutch lady who had left Holland a couple of years ago. A little place, she didn't even realise at the time she bought it that she was directly on the Camino.
My co-pilgrims for the night were a pretty loud bunch - but in a good way, particularly Jean Jacques and Henri, who will appear also later - together with the quietest pilgrim yet, Kato - a 61 year old Japanese gentleman who only spoke a little English and no French at all...
Had the best time at dinner, all together in this lost hamlet, lots of laughs and with a short day tomorrow (less than 15 km) to get to Conques all nice and easy.

Day 55: le Soulié - Conques
A short walk and wonderful day today. Relatively lazy start with a full breakfast, which is always good, and a nice spring day with a few clouds up above but also some below in the valley which made for some nice pictures I thought. Quite a social day actually, although walked pretty much alone to Conques. I got there just as the Basilica's bells were striking midday. A lady was calling out "Paco, Paco !!" as I came into the village right in front of me, after a moment I realised she was calling after her cat, "Paco" (!!) Met a foreign looking couple with day packs which turned out to be Australians on the Camino... famrers that live between Sydney and Brisbane, so all this must be quite a bit of a change for them I guess. They are mostly staying in hotels and going at a slightly slower pace than me so I will probbaly not see them again, although it was nice chatting for a while.
Conques itself is a real gem. A medieval town incredibly conserved and restored with the most amazing church at its centre. The town is a pilgrim site in its own right since it holds the relics of Saint Faith (Sainte Foy) in the form of a most astonishing statue which looks almost pagan in some respects, the head goind back to the 4th century.
I got my map to get to Rocamadour and checked in at the Bothers' Hospice which provided the warmest welcome and some great food. In the evening we also had the pleasure of enjoying a full organ concert in the great church which was truly magical. Only 10-15 of us there wondering around the church with some wonderful music (and acoustics).
In conclusion, a most satisfying day. Lovely weather, a great point of arrival - aesthetically and spiritually - much, much better with the pilgrims I have met in the last three days and all in all a most enriching experience.

Day 56: Conques - Livinhac-le-Haut
A lovely start to the day. Once again some glorious spring weather with a bright blue sky. After almost 10 days in the 'social' setting it is interesting to see how quickly we get to know each other, how small groups of people come together, on the basis of afinities but also physical condition (keeping more or less the same pace is important!) and language to a certain extent although JP and Oscar or Jean Jacques, Henri & Kato show that this is not always necessary.
A good walk, and although I left a little late I catched up with JP and Oscar relatively soon. The weather was so good that it was a real pleasure to simply enjoy the walk, the nature, the overall calmness of it all.
Quite a few new people joined the Camino at Conques. A number of others left us there. It is strange to think of the Camino as a kind of river where some water joins and other parts leav, but the river always remains... I suppose that since I've been on it for longer than others it feels like I belong to it or it belongs to me, more. But there are no owners of the Camino.
I am really enjoying every moment now, the little worries I had about the 'social' element on entering Le Puy have completely disappeared. A bit of a false start at the beginning with some of the people I met, but that has quickly changed.
Today I feel that the transition is over. Spring has arrived a month later than I thought but here it is - and I am much more comfortable with the 'new' circumstances.

Week 7: Le Brugeron - Saugues

Writing today from Le Puy en Velay, where I have finally arrived !! Not quite finished week 7 but thought it would be best to be as up to date as possible, since there is a GREAT Cyber Cafe here (Auxerre - shame on you!) where I have been able to upload all those photos I took since Reims - you will find a new section on the right column under "PHOTOS" where I have provided a link to the album on the photo site (different to this one). I haven't put the effort in to make links to the photos in the text itself (sorry, just a little too much work - maybe when I carryu out the first major overhaul...) but you should get an idea of what is what from the text itself.
A bit of a transition week this one, came down from the main Natural Parks, so less exciting scenary and events than week 6, plus had quite a surprise at Le Puy when I suddenly realised how many pilgrims are starting out/passing through here (around 40/day at the last count). I stop going straight South from now on and change to the West, which is somehow a little strange. Wondering how I will adjust to having all these pilgrims on the way. Of course it will be great, but I've got so used to being on my own, during the day and also in the evening, that I just wonder a little... I'm guessing it will all start be being a lot more like when I did the Camino in Spain a couple of years ago. Still, this time it feels quite a bit different by this stage. I'll let you know what goes on!
Coming closer to the midway of the walk - in about 10 days or so - it feels like yesterday and ages at the same time that I left Brussels a bright winter morning! Unsure how easy it will be to update from now on. Maybe a couple of times in France (4 weeks left) although shouldn't think the photos will be uploaded. Once in Spain; larger towns are much more numerous, so I expect it will be all that much easier. Thanks once again to all of you for your comments on the site. It is so good to know you can share a little of this with me. For those who have been following this from time to time and have still not tried out the comments, please do so - if only only to let me know that you are reading!! I know you are out there... :-) In any case it is easier for me to reply to e-mails than comments on the site, so if you would like an answer (at some point! Promise I will get round to them in the end...) just send me an e-mail direct. Thanks to all of you again !!!

Day 43: Le Brugeron – Ambert
A more ‘normal’ day today, started off at 8:15 and arrived at Ambert around 14:30; incredibly foggy at the start of the day, visibility down to 20-30 metres at best. Must have stayed like that for most of the day in the higher parts of the mountain, but having left the GR my way was down to the base of the valley. Initially I wanted to take the more rudimentary paths as indicated on my map, rather than the tarmac road. But with the fog and the snow which covered any off-road tracks, after a couple of false starts down some ‘lanes’ I decided it was probably best to stick to the tarmac, even though it is certainly less fun and a bit more stress on the feet (harder surface). On the other hand, better grip, no snow to climb through and much drier boots at the end of the day :-)
It is starting to feel like I have left the ‘wilderness’ of the mountain now. Going through many more hamlets and villages, dogs barking at me once again and generally being a bit of a pain. Since today is Sunday, didn’t manage to find anything open to eat and was stuck with a packet of biscuits for lunch. Not the best option, particularly since it seems I have lost a little more weight in the last couple of weeks… All this climbing and cold I guess, because I am certainly eating every time I can.
Also thought today that I might not cut my hair much/at all for the duration of this long trip. I don’t remember ever having very long hair and t least it will be one way to identify at what point in the trip a photo was taken of me :-) we’ll see, but the idea is there…
A couple of days more of this non-GR stuff, which I don’t particularly enjoy, and then last approach for Le Puy.

Day 44: Ambert – Duilloux
A relatively normal day, length wise (30 km) but which seemed just a little too long – guess it is all that tarmac, plus that I’m out of the Natural Parc but not quite close enough to Le Puy, kind of half and half… Surprisingly the area here is high in altitude but mostly on a kind of plateau, so gradients are less sharp than I would have expected. Spent the evening at a chambre d’hôte, in a little hamlet. Good food and good sleep, new to share dinner amongst many round a table :-) Also was really lucky in that they had a computer with internet connection so took the opportunity to update the blog and write up week 5…

Day 45: Douilloux - Vorey
Nice day at last… Sun coming in between the clouds at times, and fortunately was given a (rather tattered) local map for my walk today, making it possible to leave the tarmac and attempt the country and forest paths. Unfortunately, once again, I managed to get a little lost. This time because I though I was going faster that I really was and misread my position on the map… at this rate it is going to be a miracle if I actually arrive in Santiago and not Jerusalem or Rome! In any case had the pleasure of going down a deep valley and up the other side, when I did need to at all… at the end of the day made a general descent to Vorey which in fact stands at the entrance of the valleys I had crossed and come from. A relatively short day, getting into Vorey around 13:30, having left at 8:30 this morning. Thinking about the fact that tomorrow I arrive at Le Puyand finally turn West ! It seemed so very far away at the beginning of March and here I am a day away from the place. Into the 7th week now and really wondering whether I will be really finding any other pilgrims at Le Puy. After finding only two at Vezelay (including the Medieval German) I wonder how many will be there tomorrow. Haven’t booked any room in order to find the gîte where most of the pilgrims stay… see if there is any luck that way. In any case, at this point I’m starting to feel (although obviously I relaise it won’t be the case) like the whole Camino will be a solitary endeavour and in fact I’m not all that bothered about it at this point. Funnily enough, now that I have become most adapted to this ‘solitary’ situation it will change… As usual you can’t let yourself get too used to anything! :-)

Day 46: Vorey - Le Puy en Velay
Well, well, what was supposed to be a shortish walking day (23-24 km) turned out to be quite a bit longer than I expected. It was OK for the first 8-9 km or so but once I reached the Loire (again!) the GR took a turn West and required me to climb a pretty steep hill [bottom – top (same bridge in bottom left corner)]. I started off OK but ¾ of the way up I couldn’t really take it anymore and had to stop a couple of times to catch my breath. The last one in front of a rural house close to the top with four medium sized dogs barking and acting a little aggressively… The path was straight through the grounds of the house pretty much, so there wasn’t another option other than to make them get out of the way. I think I would have felt a lot more panicky at at the beginning of March than I did now… made good use of my staff to intimidate a little and was through in a breeze. At least I’m getting rid of this childhood fear of aggressive dogs…
Stopped to eat my sandwich after passing the top of the hill, feeling a little more tired than usual at this stage. Looks like my body will be grateful for the day rest at Le Puy. Another small hill to go over ahead, after which I thought I would finally see Le Puy, but it was not to be. When I got near the top it started to drizzle enough to force me to put on my rain jacket and get me in pretty bad mood. Le Puy which wouldn’t appear, me hot and stuffy with the rain coming down… Anyway, in the end it was of course after the next hill and I got into a better mood, but a little surprised to find that the city was at the bottom of the valley rather than on a hill. The Cathedral is on a hill, but a small one in the middle of a large valley as it were… I think I probably preferred the approach to Vezelay. It is true that the weather was nicer, but also because Vezelay is a small village with a large Basilica and Monastery on the top of a hill dominating all the area around, whilst Le Puy, which has a very nice medieval old town, is a large town really which I went down into rather than up. In any case, I was very glad to have made it! I was at the gîte by 15:30 but it didn’t open until 16:30 so left my rucksack and had a quick look around. Major surprise when I learnt that the gîte was almost full – with pilgrims! The Pilgrim Entry book at the Cathedral had around 40 signatures for each of the last few days, so I’ve obviously joined quite a largish stream here! This is going to change the whole nature of the Camino from now on I think… The whole social / human contact element that I had got rather used to be without is going to make quite a sudden appearance. I wonder how well I will adapt the first few days. Funnily enough I suddenly looked back at the ‘solitary’ period with a little nostalgia, whilst realizing that it had not been easy for quite a bit of time, but nonetheless I think it has been a very enriching experience… How bizarre! In any case all part of the experience of the Camino. Found a brilliant Cyber café at 20:30 and stayed in until I uploaded all my photos, will make the best to update the blog and answer e-mails tomorrow…

Day 47: Le Puy – rest day (no walk)
Day in Le Puy today. Still cloudy and cold, hope it will get better soon but forecasts are not promising. Went to the laundrette to get ALL my clothes good and clean (except the clean ones I was wearing of course… although was only left with my T-shirt and trousers on, even the socks I was wearing went in). Incredibly lucky that they also mended clothes at the place so got my rain coat fixed (finally!) Picked up a new diary (current one almost complete – thanks to Lo for the present!) and the guide for the way up to Spain sent to the post office here – thanks Eric!! Sent off all my maps and guides that I used from Vezelay to here together with a couple of extra things I no longer needed. I thought I could send my winter clothing back from here and receive my summer stuff but the weather will not hear of it, so it might all have to wait until I cross the Pyrenees, at this point I am expecting snow there too, who knows… Most of the rest of the day in the Cybercafe. Already 17:30 and no pictures of the town taken!! Oh well, at least this is all up to date now, after a three week absence…Pilgrim mass tomorrow at 7:00 as in Vezelay, but I very much doubt it will be quite as intimate and special, we’ll see. For now, ready for the next leg. Happy that I made this stop, fully in line with original planning now (despite the ups and downs on he way) and really looking forward to seeing my sisters and father at Jaca in a month!

Day 48: Le Puy en Velay - Saint-Privat-d'Allier
Menudo desastre de dia! Ayer acabé fatal de tantas cosas que tenia que hacer de todos los cambios - mas que nada estar rodeado de pronto de tanto peregrino. Tambien tenia que hacer varias cosas esta manyana antes de salir... devolver algo que habia comprado ayer y que no valia, bajar a correos a enviar una carta que habia terminado solo anoche, sacar dinero... en fin. Antes de nada levantarme a las 6:00 para llegar a la misa de peregrino a las 7:00 en la Catedral, al menos el albergue esta al lado que si llega a estar mas centrico me toca subir toda la cuesta hasta arriba - la Catedral esta cerca de la cima del monte alrededor del cual esta Le Puy. La celebracion bien, bastantes peregrinos, alrededor de 35 o asi, en su gran mayoria por encima de los 50 anyos. La misa en si me hizo pensar en la de Vezelay que fue bastante mas intima y especial, pero bueno, aqui tuvimos una bendicion comun delante de una antiguo estatua de Santiago y nos dieron a todos una medallita de la Virgen del Puy y todo :-)
Despues de misa, desayune en la compania de otros dos peregrinos, estos habian bajado ayer de Lille en tren. En un dia, y yo aqui 7 semanas andando para la misma distancia :-) Los peregrinos de la misa en su mayoria ya estaban listos para salir desde la Catedral misma. Baje al pueblo a hacer las cosas que tenia en el 'To Do', la tienda no abria hasta las 9:30 o sea que cuando acabe y subi otra vez al albergue ya eran las 10:15 justo antes de salir y poniendo las cosas a punto me di cuenta que no tenia mi tarjeta de banco (para sacar dinero) se ve que entre las prisas se me cayo, la deje, no se... en fin otra vez bajando la colina a ver si la encontraba, no hubo suerte y la tuve que cancelar, pedir al gran Eric (por internet) que me la enviara... historias, yo creia que ya no uba a salir nunca del Puy! Al final hacia las 11:30 con la mochila a cuestas y con muchas ganas de ponerme en ruta pase la Catedral y realice la antiquisima salida de Le Puy que tradicionalmente habian echo los peregrinos desde el siglo X y XI. Solo claro, porque a esas horas la mayoria ya llevaba 10-12 km de ventaja :-)
Me cruce por el camino (mas bien adelante) a una pareja que acababa de comenzar y eran de Ithaca, NY (anda que no vienen de lejos... como para salir de casa andando como servidor). Pero el camino hoy muy diferente, aunque todavia solo se veian todas las huellas de los que habian pasado delante, muchas mas indicaciones para que no te pudieras perder ni queriendo, anuncios de los albergues al lado del camino. En fin, que me iba a tener que acostumbrar a esto de que el camino no era solo mio, sino de mucha mas gente...
De cualquier manera hoy el caminar bien. Por aqui mucha tierra volcanica, con piedras como no habia visto desde que visite el Etna en Sicilia. Arenilla negra que parecia fuera de lugar, pero curioso. Al final llegue a St Privat hacia las 17:30 o asi. El albergue (y ahora si que son albergues de verdad con sus literas y demas) casi lleno. Me toco una habitacion con tres otros, entre ellos un caballero de Navarra que habia visto en la Catedral. Menuda casualidad. Hablamos un poco, cene y despues de acabar el diario - a
eso de las 21:00 fui a la habitacion. Luces apagadas y los tres durmiendo! Al poco tiempo de meterme a la cama empezo el concierto de los ronquidos! Despues de aguantar lo que pude, me puse los tapones para los oidos (menos mal que iba preparado!) y dormi lo que pude...

Day 49: St. Privat-d'Allier - Saugues
Terrible weather this morning which is a real pity. Foggy once again, raining and around 3-5°C. A lovely, small 12-13th century chapel after about an hour walk with a semi-derilict tower, with obviosuly wonderful views but nothing to be seen thanks to the fog. Nevertheless could feel the magic of the place. Sharp descent down to a gorge where the main local river goes through (very muddy and slippery going down) and then the corresponding sharp ascent on the other side. Relatively tough, but I notice more now than I am in good shape because I seem to be overtaking most people in front of me! It is strange how walking alone you lose the sense of whether you are quick, slow, or whatevre. It doesn't really matter, you go at your own pace and that is fine. Now I am a little more self-conscious when I pass people and they might make a comment here or there. Arrived at Saugues quite early - around 12:30 - it was only about a 20km day and having left just before 8:00 it wasn't particularly long. Nice wood totem at the entrance of the village sculpted by local artists about ten years ago. Took a few photos. Would find another one coming out of the village tomorrow...
Relativley cold reception from the lady in charge of the gîte. Probably caught her at lunch time. She told me to wait in the dinning room of the gîte for an hour or so, not to use the kitchen (private apparently) and wouldn't let me have a shower! - the last really annoyed me, hate staying in my sweaty day-clothes once I have stopped the day's walk... in any case had a good lunch in the village and met the other pilgrims which were slowly arriving when I got back to the gîte. Had a beer with Rufino - the Spanish pilgrim (in his late 50s I guess) that I met yesterday, surprising to meet a Spaniard so early on - and had a very communal dinner (around 20 at the table) prepared at the gîte which was good and fun really. Decided that I wouldn't do any more short days like today (less than 20 km) feel fi enough to do 25 a day, if not 30, and also would do the next three planned days in two. Gain an extra day which makes it possible to take a detour to visit Rocamadour, which apparently is very beautiful but off the 'marked' Camino de Santiago and takes an extra day... end of week 7 today and a clear impression that things have changed and will not be quite the same from now on. Feel a lot more like the Camino I did in Spain a couple of years ago. 30-40 people walking every day, mostly retirees between 50-65, generally men, route much more clearly marked and in general a loss of that 'solitary' feeling that I was the only one on the route... will take a few days to get used to it but just as good I am sure.

Week 6 : Issy-l’Evêque - Le Brugeron

Quite an epic week in a number of ways, the dominating factor has been the weather really – winter has not let spring arrive at the altitudes I was walking. Snow, snow and more snow. Tough climbs in the white stuff, long descents cushioned by it (much better than in the mud!) and very wet boots at the end of the day…
In any case stared off quite grey, crossing the Loire and entering the region of Auvergne between the Natural Parks I had to cross to get to Le Puy. Rain, clouds, wind and cold (between -2 and 5°C mostly) not the best ingredients for the best of walks but surprisingly enough enjoyed the challenge of each day. At times, when the day is tough it provides a greater sense of accomplishment at the end of it. Had some physical problems along the way this week – right calf become rather painful for a couple of days – but thankfully it all got better as soon as the harder bits came along, strange but lucky, once again.
Decided to change my itinerary, since there was no accommodation on the GR (long distance path) at the top of the mountains it lead through. This made it possible to gain 2 days on the original plan and actually recuperate the delay I was carrying and allow me to have a rest day at Le Puy.
Great views from the mountain tops, when the clouds let me get a peek! And a few nice photos when I got the chance to make them. Highest route to date (between 900 & 1,200 metres) and some good places to stay at night – although wasn’t expecting to stay in a ski hut (albeit cross-country skiing) with a nice carpet of snow outside :-)
A good follow up on week 5, just as physical – if not more – but in better shape for it!

Day 36: Issy-l’Evêque - Bourbon-Lancy
Not a very long day, cloudy and a little rainy weather wise, still quite cold. Somehow a little less enjoyable walk than other days, made use of my iPod most of the day in order to make it more enjoyable. Around mid-morning as I was going through the village of Mont I managed to catch my jacket on a sharp fence-wire and ripped straight through it making a 2x3 cm triangle hole. Initially I could only smile – unlike the other time I ripped on the other side – at the futility of the situation, but it is not great to have a large hole in your rain jacket ! Fixed it with some tape but realised I would have to do something about it before too long. This jacket is going to come back full of stitches by the end of these travels !!
Although Bourbon-Lancy looked like a rather modern town as I entered in the middle of the afternoon, it turned out to have quite a nice medieval centre which was well kept. The hotel I stayed was a little gem and although a little over budget it was a very welcome comfort after the rather grey day. A few things to do tomorrow, such as finding the guide and maps for the next few days to get me to Le Puy!

Day 37: Bourbon-Lancy – Saint Lèon
Great night, slept like a baby. Managed to find my maps to get to Le Puy, although no guide as such. A few problems with my right calf – muscle seems to be tightening a little too much – so will take care of it. Cloudy most of the day, kind of threatening rain but never really materialized in the end. Arrived at Dion (12-14 km) around 12:30 and found a popular restaurant in which to have lunch which proved to be an intelligent stop. Still about 20 km to go and unfortunately the calf became a real problem 5 km after Dion. Quite painful arriving at St Leon but decided that I have probably tightened my boots too much, will try to have them a little looser the next couple of days to see how it goes. Also decided to cut tomorrow long leg (37 km) in two to give the calf a little rest. I also decided that since I couldn’t find any accommodation in the mountain huts (not open yet or closed completely) on the route of the GR I would save a couple of days, making the option of cutting tomorrow’s section OK. In any case another Natural Park is coming up in the next few days so want to be in shape for then!

Day 38: Saint-Léon - Bert
Happy I had a shorter walk today than expected. Got up pretty late – around 8:30 – calf felt much better, had breakfast and was only on the road around 10:00. It was very cloudy and started raining pretty hard just outside St Leon as I was going up to a view point of Puy-St Ambroise. Pity because the view looked like it would be wonderful but with the cloud and rain not much chance at really distinguishing things, certainly no point in taking a photo! It continued raining quite hard for a couple of hours with a cold wind added in for good measure. It doesn’t really bother me that much I just grit my teeth and march on, at least I’ve got the equipment not to suffer under it all, but it becomes more of a physical challenge than a stroll through the fields ! :-)
The path was quite hilly but not too bad in terms of gradients. It started raining again 4 km from Bert so I was pretty wet when I got in. Certainly glad that I could stop here for the day/night and not have to do a further 25 km in this weather. Got in at 13:30 just in time for a full & proper country meal with my double helpings, wine, cheese and dessert :-) Even with these major meals I seem still to be losing weight! Gîte was top quality, with even a washing machine, which was a major luxury, not to have to wash my clothes at the end of the day is always a welcome change. Calf managed the day very well, and for its sake I’m also glad I had a shorter walk today, looks like I’ll be OK for the ‘mountain’ days ahead.
Visited the Romanesque 12th century church in the village and went to pick up my dinner at the restaurant (no shop in the village and the cook was leaving at 19:00, and was kind enough to prepare something so I could eat in the gîte). A tough 10 days coming up into the mountains, weather forecast is pretty bad with lots of snow/rain announced and temperatures at 5-10°C at best. Ah! Had the pleasure of watching the Real Madrid – Monaco football match during my dinner and couldn’t believe it when they were chucked out… some things you just can’t leave behind even on the Camino!

Day 39: Bert – Arfeuilles
Back to a normal walking day today, up early (6:15) and out of Bert by 7:30. Cold and cloudy as predicted – although little actual rain at the end of the day – calf seems to have fully recuperated, looser boots seem to have done the trick – I’ll keep it in mind for the future. Sorry that I’m missing out on what must be some beautiful scenery but the clouds are quite low and visibility is quite low. iPod on from quite early on to give me some happy background music to the day.
Arrived at Arfuilles around 15:00, got into quite a nice gîte (also today!) and booked all my following nights up to Le Puy in order to be sure I’ll have a place to sleep in these mountains and bad weather, don’t want to find the hotel “closed last year” and the next is 15 km away in the cold rain! :-)
Got some food, visited the church and more generally found that my mood was improving from an already good level really. Surprising (or not) how important general fitness is for keeping the mood up.
Wonderful fireplace in the gîte (all to myself as usual) with loads and loads of firewood outside so made one of my good really really hot fires (took a picture and all) and got all cosy and warm. A little ‘waste’ of wood, but they’ve certainly got plenty of the stuff in this part of the world…

Day 40: Arfeuilles – Lavoine
A relatively long and physical day today. Off at 8:00 but managed to take the path on the wrong side of the valley, and when I was up one side realized and had to march all the way down again and up the other side :-) How silly… Today was essentially a day to get up to the higher levels of the Massif Central. Started off cloudy with a little rain now and then, nothing terribly threatening but in keeping with the tone of the last few days. Around mid-morning, after going up for a bit, but OK, prepared for the major part. At first it was fine, pretty normal really, even the sun seemed to want to show its face through the clouds encouraging me to take off my rain-jacket: a bit too soon. After a bit, snow started to show up on the ground, dark clouds covered the sun and started to spread a fresh load of snow… All very picturesque at first, but as the snow covering got thicker I realised that walking up snow is not as easy as just on the ground. In fact it reminded me a little of going up sand dunes on the beach. Not quite as hard, but quite a bit colder :-) On top of it, I seemed to be climbing mostly the northern ridge of the mountain/hill which meant that most of the snow was on my side. Highest point at 980 m and as I started coming down came upon Roch St. Vincent , a very sharp 5 min climb from the path (thankfully had the presence to leave my rucksack at the bottom) and surprise, surprise the sun made a quick 20 min appearance just as I reached the top, remains of a 11th century fortification at the top and stunning views along the valleys below. Took the obligatory pictures and made my way down (and then up a bit) to my next gîte, this time a centre for cross-country skiing in winter and mountain biking in the summer.
To bed quite early, with the snow all around me and ready to go up some more tomorrow… glad once again for my winter sleeping bag :-)

Day 41 : Lavoine – Chabreloche
A short walk today, not even 4 hours although it did seem a little longer at times. Had a good night’s sleep at the ski hut but when the alarm went off at 6:15, seeing that I had a relatively short day, I decided to wait until the sun rose and I could see what kind of day was in store. Not a bad idea because it turned out to be a very cloudy – almost foggy day with a little snow fall for good measure. Got ready, had a tea and biscuits for breakfast and was on my way by 8:15. Ascent from the beginning, in the snow – which only got thicker the higher I went. To start with I followed the steps previously left by other walkers, together with the parallel lines that a passing cross country skier had left. Always easier to walk on slightly compressed snow than the fresh variety. As I looked around I started to realise the rather surreal situation I was in, when I left Brussels in the snow I thought that would be the last I would see of it. I certainly didn’t imagine that I would be walking up paths covered in 15-30 cm of snow (could tell by how much my staff sank in) in almost mid-April !
After a certain point the previous tracks disappeared to a side path and I was opening a new track in the virgin snow, still quite a climb to go and it got relatively tough in the fresh snow, particularly with the extra weight of my backpack which only made me sink that bit more, but took my time and made it of course… I think that precisely because of the unexpected element of the situation I was enjoying it all the more. The effort was to be expected, but the truly wintry conditions I had not expected at all – I thought this was the South of France !! :-) On the other hand I was glad that nobody had come to accompany me on the walk during these days of Easter, not because I wouldn’t have appreciated the company, but it was all quite physically demanding and a certain times the risk was not negligible, at around 1,100 m, very foggy, cold, and walking on an unstable element with not a village for quite a distance around I preferred not to run the risk of having injuries and being tired up here !
Made my way down to Chabreloche (at 600 m or so), it started to snow a bit as I arrived. The hotel, nice and clean with good food – so very grateful for that. It snowed for the best part of the afternoon so I could expect a fresh layer up in the mountains tomorrow… on the TV there was a short report on how well the ski stations were doing in the Pyrenees with a record length to the season, they will be opening for an additional week to what was expected. I wonder if the snow will have melted by the time I have to cross into Jaca in mid May!
I was starting to get used to this, but I must admit that I was wondering at times when it will finally start feeling like spring. I thought it officially started on the 21 March… In a good mood in any case, all this just makes it more of a challenge really, plus I’ve got those photos in the snow :-)

Day 42: Chabreloche – Le Brugeron
A pretty long day today. Slept well and had a good breakfast and was out of Chabreloche at 8:15 but didn’t make it to Le Brugeron until 17:00 so almost nine hours out there…
At first it looked like it would be a nice day at last – relatively high clouds and some blue patches of sky and all. By 9:30 – 10:00 the illusion was overtaken by reality, grey clouds covering the sky and not much more sun for the rest of the day. Started off with a fair climb out of Chabreloche – the village is at the bottom of the main valley of the region, with the motorway, train and main roads going through or by it – by the time I got back to 850-900 m the snow was back, what had remain from the previous days plus yesterdays dosage. Towards the end of the morning going up to the Couvent de l’Ermitage (I convent hidden in the mountains) there really was quite a bit of snow, although by midday the temperature went above freezing and the heavy wet snow stuck to the trees sarted falling with big thuds to the ground. Rain jacket and cap good accessories for the occasion :-)
Unfortunately I managed to get a little lost after leaving the Convent, which at times was a little unnerving in the deep snow and cloud above, but with the help of the life-saving compass (thanks MIKE !!!) and the map it turned out OK and found my way back to the GR. I should really try to avoid getting lost so often :-)
Today was my last day on the GR, left it 8 km from Le Brugeron. No accommodation to be had in the mountains it goes along, plus in this weather it is probably best to avoid the 1,300 – 1,400 m it goes along – maybe another time in the middle of summer :-) So I better get better at reading the maps and using my compass because there won’t be any markings on the road. On the other hand it will mean more tarmac and less ‘wild’ forest tracks… can’t win them all.
One curious experience today was suddenly stopping in the middle of the snow covered forest and hearing NOTHING. There is usually some kind of noise – wind, animals… - but this time there was absolute and deafening silence. It was quite amazing and made me realise how used we become to having some sort of background noise always, if you stop and listen there is always ‘something’ there. But this time there was really nothing at all. Quite deafening, really. Continued walking and making my own noise :-)

Week 5: Auxerre - Issy l’Evêque

An eventful week in many ways with a number of changes with respect to the previous four. First my Achilles heel finally got better by Mon/Tue, meaning that I faced what turned out to be quite a physically demanding week in a much better form (menatally and physically) than I would otherwise would of. Second, the weather really improved this week with a number of gorgeous days making the walking a lot more enjoyable and really lifting my morale which at times had been a little low. Third, entering the National Park of Morvan significantly changed the scenery for the better and gave me the feeling of being in much more ‘wild’ territory. Fourth, accommodation, in keeping with the environment, was a lot more Spartan this week somehow bringing me closer to the ‘pilgrim life’ as I remembered it. Fifth, the week really began with my arrival to Vezelay and the kind of ‘new beginning’ this represented – a kind of milestone in the trip and first accomplishment. Sixth, the spiritual/religious element of the Camino grew exponentially this week with the events in Vezelay, at Issy l’Evêque and more generally through the daily events and surroundings. Finally, this week I really came to better appreciate the ‘solitary’ component of this pilgrimage which was quite new and somewhat difficult to get accustomed to, I am now turning it into a more positive experience. So, all in all, a bit of a turning point and for the better – not that it has been negative up to now, not at all.

Day 29 : Auxerre - Arcy-sur-Curé
Not a terribly restful night, expensive hotel at Auxerre which was not worth the money, plus change in hour meant we all lost an hour… Wonderful day weather-wise today, although coldish until mid-morning. The heel is still causing problems, a little better but still quite stiff and making it just a bit harder to enjoy the weather and surroundings.
Picturesque views most of the day with views from the top of the hills of the vineyards, cherry trees and river Yonne. After much climbing up and down the hills across the different small valleys, lunch time came. Unfortunately since it was Sunday when I was in Auxerre I didn’t have the opportunity to get any food. As I came into the village of Irancy I found THE bar/restaurant in the village and thanked my luck… A largish party of people was sitting eating and when I asked the guy in charge whether he could serve me something to eat (a sandwich or whatever) he refused point blank saying he had too many people already and ignored me from then on. I couldn’t believe my ears and got angry as only I can when I am hungry… stomped out of the place and cursed the waiter and the restaurant for years to come – not very nice but it was the first time I had been denied food as a pilgrim… Anyway had the rest of my biscuits and some water and arrived in Cravant, next village on the way, which was really charming in the sun with some very ancient and well preserved monuments.
Managed to get lost a few times today, once again showing that my orientation skills still need refining a little, but to compensate today I had probably the nicest scenery to date – it seemed to slowly be getting more Mediterranean, probably the sun helping here :-) Finally got into Arcy just after 18:00 with my feet feeling they had received a good pounding today.

Day 30: Arcy-sur-Curé - Vezelay
A rather eventful day in the end, set out from Arcy only at 8:30 (although 7:30 in the “old” time). A clear blue sky overhead although pretty chilly in the morning (-2 to 3°C) following the river !cure at first above some famous Grottes which were inhabited thousands of years ago and up and over a hill with the remains of an ancient Roman fortress protecting the important Roman road at the bottom of the valley. Heel feeling better today, even though had a lot of hill/forest walk. Finally made it to Vezelay! Marvellous seeing it from a distance in the blue sky with the Basilica high up on the hill dominating the surrounding country-side for miles. Quite a steep walk to get up to it (of course the path took the quickest and steepest route!) but it was absolutely worth it with the church constituting a mixture of Romanesque and early Gothic (my two favourite architectural styles for this type of building) which is quite impressive.
Had a late lunch (Crêpes are always good….) managed to update this blog from the Tourist office and posted off my old guide (which I had used since the last days in Belgium) which in itself was a little event! Given the occasion I felt it was appropriate to go to mass – celebrated in a side chapel of the Basilica – which was a very spiritual occasion with the monks of the order of the Brothers of Jerusalem and the sisters of the monastery. Much singing and true celebration. Got a new ‘Credential’ (where I put my daily stamps to prove at the end I’ve walked it all, but more importantly as a good souvenir) and the brothers kindly invited me and the other two pilgrims that day in Vezelay to dinner. One a young Frenchman and the other a rather eccentric German chap who arrived at mass clothed in typical medieval pilgrim clothing and with a two metre staff crowned with a rather large cross at the top. I would speak more to him the next day, but at dinner there was no talking at the table of the Brothers. At the end of the dinner, one of them offered to conduct a formal blessing at morning mass (AM 7:00) which, although I do not really consider myself a Christian, I thought was a privilege and fitting somehow.

Day 31: Vezelay – Marigny-le-Eglise
Up today before 6:00 to be at the morning mass on time. A beautiful ceremony that took place just as the sun was rising. Much harmonious singing once again, but this time towards the end of the mass my name was called out and I stepped to the alter to receive my blessing together with a piece of bread and the Gospel of St Luke for me to keep – representing the nourishment and spirit necessary to complete the journey. A very touching moment for me personally, with a special feeling of fulfilment.
Once again, the Brothers invited us to a meal and this time we all spoke a little more after eating. The German guy turned out to be 24 (I thought he was my age initially!) a big fan of all things medieval and a true Christian he wanted to live the Pilgrimage as close to the Middle Ages as possible, so all clothes he had were based on what they wore back then (made by himself) – he had even made his staff himself. He had started out from the North of Hamburg in mid-Feb and was expecting to arrive by the end of May. A little eccentric maybe but a guy with a good heart. He was taking a rest for a day at Vezelay and then taking the more direct route leaving from there (unlike me – going down to Le Puy and only then crossing over to the West).
Wonderful weather today once again, the path essentially followed the river Curé although it was more a question of marching up and down the hills at either side of the river! I guess good training for the days ahead… The scenery has certainly started to change in the last couple of days. Goodbye large fields, hello pasture for sheep and cows. You can certainly start to see that I’m in the natural park (of Morvan). My heel seems to have recuperated admirably well and I’m pretty much 95% OK now. Got into Marigny around 17:30, so quite a long day in the end… Stayed at a Gîte this time, all alone as usual, but at least managed to find some food in the local store and cooked a large plate of pasta – long tough day tomorrow according to the guide so better get prepared.

Day 32: Marigny-le-Eglise - La Faye (Lac des Settons)Windy and cloudy today, although not particularly cold. Heel seems to be close to definite healing which is great news given the hard days ahead. Today the programme is to climb up into the beginning of the Massif Central – a good hard climb.
A lot more pine trees now together with kind of ‘Med’ shrubs. Started out with a fair climb up to Vieux Dun around 500 m but at 11:30 came the real thing as warned by the guide. A terrific climb up the side of the hill for at least a km if not more, a very steep grade. I usually like to pick up a steady pace going up and not stop or change until I get to the top, but it was pretty tough this time. Afterwards some more hills, but all pretty steady nothing quite as tough. Reached the Las des Settons at around 16:15, had booked in a gîte but it turned out to be 1,5 km off the path itself. Plus no food to be had anywhere (everything closed until Easter!) Thankfully the lady in charge of the gîte brought some food for me (including a soup packet with an expiry date of 08/2001! – not that it stopped me eating it :-) After dinner, a restful night and ready for the next day.

Day 33: La Faye (Lac des Settons) - Refuge de la Croisette
Up at 6 :15 – will try to make this the new ‘usual’ time – in order to make the best of the daylight. Glorious weather today and started off with a great walk along the lake, later more of the hill-walking but thankfully my Achilles heel seems to be definitely mended so I’m really enjoying getting up to a decent cruising speed and staying there.
Tonight I’m staying in a hut in the mountains – no food, or house for that matter for miles around – so I needed to get my dinner and breakfast before going up there. Arrived at Anost (last village with a shop) around 13:30 thinking I was OK for time and finding that the shop would be closed until 15:00 so made the best of it and sat down for a good full lunch in the sun. Bought the food afterwards but probably a little too much, my sack was certainly feeling much heavier (around 3 kg heavier) with around 14 km to go, not bad, but really showed that weight control is a must! Crossed a Dutch couple on the way, they were trekking around the Natural Park – which is really worth it – and chatting a little it turned out that the guy had walked from Amsterdam to Santiago 11 years ago… Crazy where you can find these ex-pilgrims! :-) Only got into the forest hut around 19:00, no heating so got the fire burning and cooked the dinner I brought with me. Grateful for my warm winter sleeping bag on occasions like this! In any case really enjoying the walking a lot more these last few days up in the hills and the forest.

Day 34: Refuge de la Croisette - Larochemillay
A physical day today. Up at 6:15 once again, and pretty cold in the hut (around 6-8°C), somehow not out walking before 8:00ish. Raining from the moment I got out and would not stop until 13:00, so a pretty wet day. The first objective of the day was to get to the highest point of the path so far (just over 900 m) and the next Mount Beuvray (over 800 m) but the path would first take me down to under 500m so the way down and up again was relatively sharp with the last climb particularly tough – wouldn’t want to have to invade this particular hill! Mt Beuvray is a famous historical site, the last (or first, depending where you are coming from) hill on the southern side of the Morvan it contains the remains of the last independent capital of the Gauls, before J Caesar conquered these lands.
The top of the Mount is quite majestic, with wonderful views over the lands towards the south, although today the weather was not particularly helpful… a few hundred metres from the remains of the main archaeological site a chapel and a cross higher on the hill with a really stunning view point. Apparently the area was considered ‘holy’ much before the arrival of the Christians and the chapel built there, so a lot of history of the place.
The descent from the Morvan was pretty exhausting and something of a killer for my knees. Took a short cut from the rather long detour that the path wished to take me through (great for the views I guess but not very useful today). I was thinking today that I’m over the period of the last long walk I did almost a couple of years ago (4 weeks it was then) and in a certain way that brings me into unchartered territory somehow…

Day 35: Larochemillay - Issy-l’Evêque
Early to sleep last night – must have been quite tired – so another early morning today. I could feel the effort of the last couple of days on my legs and although the way wasn’t particularly hard today I found myself quite tired and slow at times. A cloudy day, at times with a little rain, not terribly conducive to enjoyment really. Arived at Issy just before 16:00 and was very kindly invited for a glass of wine and some pastries by an elderly couple. Really very welcoming, when I told the gentleman I was Spanish he started telling me a few stories of the Spanish refuges which had arrived in the village just after the Spanish Civil War…
A wonderful 12th century church. I went to mass once again, it being “Palm Sunday” – ‘Domingo de Ramos’ – well it was Saturday today but the priest can’t celebrate everywhere on Sunday (!). A very inclusive ceremony with all the congregation asked to go outside the church and sing before coming all in again in a kind of procession. I accompanied André and his wife (the couple who offered a drink earlier in the day) which was nice in feeling much more integrated into the whole ceremony somehow.
For the rest, a rather non-descript hotel and a rather too modern village, but feeling good.

Interim Message

Not a real entry, but just to tell you all that unfortunately Auxerre - where I am now - has NO internet cafe at all... big big surprise, given the size of the city. Poor (and expensive!) connection right now. So, result is no fotos can be uploaded and no updating week 4 as I had hoped... sorry, sorry.

Plus I'm going into the real DEEP France after Vezelay (in two days) and reviewing the itinerary I'll be lucky to find warm food and warm water, let alone a connection (high speed or otherwise) to the internet. I'll do my best but if you don't hear from me in the next 2-3 weeks it will essentially be because I'm trying to get through the almost-uninhabited parts of France - hehe.

Thanks to ALL of you for the comments and the e-mails, it is really great to have you all on the other side of the line and be able to share the trip like this. I have a feeling it is probably going to get more 'real' from now on, but I'll keep you posted, even if it is with a bit of a delay... I will be back on line as soon as I can, promise! :-)

PS Managed to update last week in Vezelay !! :-) not more though, Ciao!

Week 4: Chavanges - Chablis

First posting in weekly format, I'll still make (sub)headings for each day but I think it will be easier to introduce more general thoughts about the week as a whole, it feels a bit better for me, because sitting down after more than a week of walking it is not always easy to give the flavour of what the walk was like ten days ago when I have more recent experiences at hand, plus the 'unkown' element (about the future) which exists in the day to day is rather lost when I know what happend after that - like this whole story with the Achilles tendon, which really worried me a week ago because I didn't knw how it would evolve but I'm a little (little...) bit more relaxed about now since it seems to be getting better.... I have to go off now - it is after 10:00 and I'm still not walking ! - but I'll try to fill in when I get to Auxerre tomorrow.

Day 21: Chavanges - Brienne-le-Château
Got up quite early but had woken up a few times during the night probably due to lack of tiredness and having slept a lot the day before. Up at 7:00 really wanting to get on the road, but still rather worried about the Achilles tendon. In the end it was a little painful before warming up but OK after. A bother but not really a strong pain…
It was a windy day with plenty of clouds and a slow continuous rain that ends by getting everything wet. Glad I had my proper gear with me (once again!) Got lost on the way, but at a certain point decided to make my own way outside the indicated path ion order to cut 5-6 km of the route, essentially for my heel’s sake. Arrived around 13:30 in Brienne-le-Chateau, so a decent if not terribly long walk.

Booked rooms for the next few days and modified itinerary to prevent long days, means I’ve lost the two rest days at Vezelay and Le Puy but it will be worth it if my swollen heel gets back in form.

Day 22: Brienne-le-Château - La Loge-aux-Chèvres
Achilles getting a little better :-) Started off behind the castle at Brienne and continued along the Aube for most of the day (crossed it about 3 times) through mostly forest but some fields. Stopped at Dienville and then Unienville to eat half a sandwich in each place and thought I would make it OK to the final destination. Through the Foret d’Orient for the last 10 km no village or field to be found. Unfortunately at km 3 a little crunch on the heel and it gave up on me becoming quite painful and forcing me to limp once again making the last km more of a pain than a pleasure and got me wondering how far I can really make it each day.
A pity that the walk is increasingly dependent on my physical condition, I have decided to push to Auxerre whatever my condition and decide there what to do. An additional difficulty is that the terrain between Vezelay and Le Puy is quite a bit harder than up to now.
Stayed in a little gite rural at Loge aux Chevres cooking my own food (which I brought with me) and going to bed very early indeed given the loneliness and little light of the place.

Day 23: La Loge-aux-Chèvres - Bar-sur-Seine
Out by 8:00 this morning, cold (0-5 degrees) and took a while to warm up, heel was quite swollen still which didn’t help to put to rest my worries. Streches of forest and fields, but more undulating hills now and gradually a more ‘wild’ feeling to the track. Starting to enjoy it more than yesterday at the end of the day at least :-) In any case much more conscious of taking good care of the heel…
Bout 6 km before Bar a sharp descent down to the river Seine (the same that goes through Paris of course) as a very large and very black cloud caught up on me and sent down a good amount of hail mixed with rain. Fortunately just got into a little village on the river bank and took refuge in a phone box (only semi-closed place at hand!) and escaped the most of it.
Many shops closed in Bar, I realised that Monday’s has become a kind of second Sunday in France since buy law (with the 35 h regulation) most shops that open on a Saturday close on a Monday !
Still unsure that I have come into the true pilgrimage spirit as yet. The solitude (lack of others on the route), the place I mostly stay to sleep in (small hotels most of the time), the areas I cross and visit lack a certain element / spirit. I think it will most probably start after Vezelay somehow… the future will tell !

Day 24: Bar-sur-Seine - Bragelogne
Physically much better, heel slowly getting on. Established a good pace, but the path was quite muddy today although it was a lovely walk through the forest which is starting to show, very slowly and in limited amounts, the first green shoots- signs that Spring is finally on its way. Much nicer scenery now, hills certainly make a difference giving better views of the surrounding countryside, although they have to be walked up and down :-)
More iPod (music) use today with Jamiroquai, Janet Jackson and others getting a smile on my face and making the walk a lot more enjoyable. Still quite careful with the heel, but more optimistic and think that if I am a little lucky it should get slowly better in the next few days.

Day 25: Bragelogne - Quincerot
Short walk today although cold and foggy from the first thing in the morning, so not regretting it one bit. A pity because today’s walk was supposed to have wonderful viws of the vineyards from the ridge of the hills, over which the path want, but couldn’t see much with the fog. In fact saw so little that I lost my way quite a few times and ended up walking quite a bit more than I should of. A lot of sticky mud on my boots and rain coming down now and again. Arrived in Quincerot ready for a good shower and got a very nice room in a chamber d’hote with a very pleasant lady. Had a great dinner and sat in front of the fire with the dog of the house. Chatted for quite a while with the lady taking care of me – which was nice, finally speaking more than a couple of phrases every day :-)
She asked quite a bit about why I started out on all this adventure and made me realise that I hadn’t really sat down to think exactly the reasons for doing all this, but many things I guess are like that, more of a gut instinct than anything terribly intellectual/reasoned. But with the Camino the element of structured routine (walk, find a place to sleep, wash clothes, visit place of arrival, write journal, talk to new/acquired acquaintances, dinner, sleep…) mixed with the completely unexpected and uncontrollable elements (weather, route, new people, own mood/reactions, general atmosphere, conditions….) is certainly very attractive. This time the solitude element has been quite remarkable, and I am learning an enourmous amount of all this area of France which I knew very little about. In fact I am getting quite used to travelling alone at this point, it might be even a little strange to learn to share and communicate little things once again :-)

Day 26: Quincerot - Tonnerre

Good pace once again, but still cold and foggy in the morning. A lot of deep forest today, but heel in much better condition. Got lost a couple of times again ! Certainly need to get better at this… Unfortunately my heel rebelled about 6 km before Tonerre which made it just that little more difficult and I arrived in the city at around 15:00 particularly tired and hungry, stopped at a large supermarket to get some food and went into town afterwards. Tonerre is a city that has seen better days, but has some pretty remarkable sights - the old hospital dating from the 13th century and originally made primarily for all the pilgrims passing by together with the natural source of water that comes up in the middle of the town are quite impressive.

Day 27: Tonnerre - Chablis

After my heel seems to be slowly healing it was time for my stomach to go boom :-) Sorry to go on about health issues but not being 100% becomes quite important when every day has such a physical element to it…. Some bad food/water left me with a very delicate stomach over night and pretty weak tonight. Managed to update the blog a little at the post office and started walking only at 10:30 No rain today thankfully but quite cloudy and cold. Although a relatively short walk today, the lack of energy was particularly evident and I was very glad to get into Chablis. A pleasant walk through some forests but mostly through the Chablis area vineyards – also crossed the Paris-Lyon TGV line – so should be in the right direction :-)
Got into Chablis around 15:00, a much more up-market village than Tonerre certainly, can tell they sell a lot of wine :-) Pretty but lacking somewhat a charm of ‘authenticity’ somehow. Very comfortable hotel here making it a little difficult to wake up the next morning…

Day 28: Chablis - Auxerre (8 day week!)

Finished the fourth Gospel of the New Testament (my chosen book to read on the walk… can write about why later maybe :-) this morning, much preferred St John’s to the other three really. A late breakfast and out of Chablis at 9:30 quite a sunny day but still surprisingly cold. Spanish music on the iPod today, with Ernest Lluch, La Cabra Mecanica, Ketama and even some Brazilian that popped in :-)
Heel doing better, probably at 80% right now, but still wondering whether it will cure 100% on day!
Met my first fellow pilgrim about 7 km from Auxerre !! A lady in her mid 70s, without a bag though. Turns out she and her husband walk for about a couple of weeks every 6 months and have their car which she slowly advances every 5 -10 km… Both Belgian, had a 10 min chat with the gentleman but made my entry into Auxerre alone.
Auxerre had quite a few sites to see – including an impressive Cathedral and lovely houses in the centre of the city. The lack of an internet café was a severe blow, especially not being able to get the photos on –line, but the most important is that at least healthwise I was stable / slightly improving :-)

Day 20: Stayed in Chavanges - no walk

Got up for breakfast but went back to bed just after and pretty much slept the whole morning. A little strange not getting up and dressed to set off on the walk, but I am sure it will be better for the tendon. On top of it I got a nasty blister on my other foot - probably becuase the pain of the right foot makes me adopt unusual positions when I walk which end up hurting other muscles / areas of the foot.
Took today as a lazy Sunday, which I realised I hadn't really had for almost a mounth, the hectic preperations for leaving - with all the stress that involved - and then the walking every day meant I had not really been given the chance to just be lazy for a bit - which I really enjoy from time to time :-)

Tomorrow I start the fourth week of the walk, hopefully regaining my health rather than struggling! But I slowly start getting used to the whole programme. It has taken a while, but routine and patience certainly have an effect over time.

For the following entries, I have decided that since it is unlikely I will get access to yhe internet 3-4 times a week (which a daily entry really requires) I'll be making rather longer 'weekly' entries rather than simply going back to my written journal to paraphrase what happened 8 or 9 days ago when I sit down to write (like now!) - in any case I hope I'll be able to make a photo update (around 60-70 photos) when I get to Auxerre on Saturday 27 March. Thanks for hanging in there!