Theresa's house looked beautiful with all the flowers in the morning sunshine. The 5km walk to Castet-Arrouy seemed to quickly pass by, with this ruin in sight amongst the crops along the way. Castet-Arrouy was a village with a very welcoming feel to it. There was a stamp for credentials in the porch, and seats outside the church, where all walkers seemed to be stopping for a break in the sunshine. A local man came by and had welcoming words and a smile for all who passed.
It was another day passing crops and flowers in this fertile part of France.
Sometimes there was welcome shade along the way,and sometimes you shared the sunshine with the growing crops. I spent time walking with the two Quebecois... here are some feet taking advantage of the sunshine at lunchtime! Lectoure was yet another interesting old town, and we passed through its old walls as we climbed up to it, yet another hill-top town with its medieval past evident. The two Quebecois spent the night in the parish gite, where they had dinner with the two local priests as well as fellow pilgrims. I used the Cathedral as a place to find welcome respite from the heat, and later from the subsequent thunderstorm. And I stayed in another great gite, l'etoile occitane, run by a lovely young woman who is a former pelerin herself. She did helpful things like book us into the only local restaurant open for dinner on this holiday evening. And it was a great meal, even if I did hear horrifying things about the vipers and ticks in the long grass. I went to bed thinking I would certainly have my Camino ended sooner rather than later by a snake in the grass, or even more likely, a dose of Lyme disease from a tick. As you can tell from this blog... neither event eventuated, but I was nervous from then on whenever I walked in long grass.....
When I was preparing to walk the route from Le-Puy-en-Velay to SJPP, I found there wasn't much info in English, and I hope this blog might fill the gap a little.... In 2008 I walked from Le Puy to Santiago. In 2012 I walked from Cluny to Conques, then spent three weeks in Spain, re-walking two sections of the Camino Frances. Please feel free to contact me if you wish.
Hunkered In
-
The sky keeps changing colors, the wind roars all night and morning.
Sometime overnight it pulled the chicken-hut door off its hinges and
smashed it to k...
Beachscape
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I haven't blogged for a while, but here is a new poem.
*Beachscape*
*Surprising that I never knew before*
*the bright curve of this bay,*
*the way the wash...
Taranaki-born, long-time Manawatu resident and primary teacher; inveterate traveler, Camino walker, occasional cyclist, lover of sea and bush walks; getting into genealogy more; collapsed catholic; lapsed musician looking forward to doing more again in retirement
from the poem "The Summer Day" by Mary Oliver.....
" I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
This quote is taken from notion900 on the Pilgrimage to Santiago forum: "Please know that although some people seem to imagine it as some appalling ordeal, the camino is a very health-giving thing - if you do simple things like healthy food, plenty of water, moisturise your feet and get plenty of sleep. Being out in nature for 5 weeks is just so life-giving: I finished the camino absolutely glowing with health and vitality. I hope you have a wonderful time."
'Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.' Goethe
"Glowing... this is the thing about pictures of people on the Camino. This light within... As if the Camino washed the soul and cleared the eyes." Claire Bangasser in a comment on Johnnie Walker's blog
Theresa's house looked beautiful with all the flowers in the morning sunshine. The 5km walk to Castet-Arrouy seemed to quickly pass by, with this ruin in sight amongst the crops along the way. 
Castet-Arrouy was a village with a very welcoming feel to it. 
There was a stamp for credentials in the porch, and seats outside the church, where all walkers seemed to be stopping for a break in the sunshine. A local man came by and had welcoming words and a smile for all who passed.
It was another day passing crops and flowers in this fertile part of France. 
Sometimes there was welcome shade along the way,
and sometimes you shared the sunshine with the growing crops.
I spent time walking with the two Quebecois... here are some feet taking advantage of the sunshine at lunchtime!
Lectoure was yet another interesting old town, and we passed through its old walls as we climbed up to it, yet another hill-top town with its medieval past evident. 
The two Quebecois spent the night in the parish gite, where they had dinner with the two local priests as well as fellow pilgrims. 
I used the Cathedral as a place to find welcome respite from the heat, and later from the subsequent thunderstorm. And I stayed in another great gite, l'etoile occitane, run by a lovely young woman who is a former pelerin herself. 
She did helpful things like book us into the only local restaurant open for dinner on this holiday evening. And it was a great meal, even if I did hear horrifying things about the vipers and ticks in the long grass. I went to bed thinking I would certainly have my Camino ended sooner rather than later by a snake in the grass, or even more likely, a dose of Lyme disease from a tick. As you can tell from this blog... neither event eventuated, but I was nervous from then on whenever I walked in long grass.....
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