I loved my rest day in SJPP. I did a bit of laundry, spent a bit of time lazing on my bed reading a mystery novel, and wandered the streets.... One of the great things about wandering was the number of people I 'banged into' on the streets of SJPP who were also having a rest. I enjoyed seeing Liliane and Robert again... and Les DD's appeared around a corner with their exuberant greeting. This street left no illusions about the direction for the morrow, and the climb ahead loomed! I enjoyed spending time in SJPP, wandering the narrow streets, looking at the buildings, the bridges and the Basque linen fabrics. (I wished I had bought some: they were superb!) A young Swiss man I had seen walking the previous day called me over for a hot chocolate. He left the cafe before I did, and when I went to pay I discovered he already had. (Who said chivalry is dead?!) I joined Lyne and Denis for lunch by the St Jacques gate. We were all in a state of euphoria celebrating how far we had come, but we also knew anxiety, concerned about the climb that loomed ahead...... We played around a little, distracting ourselves from the reality of the climb ahead.... And that evening I enjoyed another shared meal in L'Esprit du Chemin... conviviality that gave strength for the day ahead...
Today by chance I began reading your wonderful blog! What a pleasure it is. I am glad that you enjoyed "la belle France" and look forward to your further descriptions on the Camino in Spain.
Thanks Margaret, I have just read your blog and am sorry you had to finish all too soon. Yes, I did enjoy France, and have thoughts of more French walking in my mind, possibly Cluny to say Figeac, then maybe down to St Lizier nearer the Pyrenees, through Lourdes and onto the Camino Aragones to Estella. But time will tell. First I need to save some money to get myself there!
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
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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
and Les DD's appeared around a corner with their exuberant greeting. 
This street left no illusions about the direction for the morrow, 
and the climb ahead loomed!
I enjoyed spending time in SJPP, wandering the narrow streets, looking at the buildings, the bridges and the Basque linen fabrics. (I wished I had bought some: they were superb!)
A young Swiss man I had seen walking the previous day called me over for a hot chocolate. 
He left the cafe before I did, and when I went to pay I discovered he already had. (Who said chivalry is dead?!)
I joined Lyne and Denis for lunch by the St Jacques gate. We were all in a state of euphoria celebrating how far we had come, but we also knew anxiety, concerned about the climb that loomed ahead......
We played around a little, distracting ourselves from the reality of the climb ahead.... And that evening I enjoyed another shared meal in L'Esprit du Chemin... conviviality that gave strength for the day ahead...
Dear Margaret,
ReplyDeleteToday by chance I began reading your wonderful blog! What a pleasure it is. I am glad that you enjoyed "la belle France" and look forward to your further descriptions on the Camino in Spain.
Ultreia!
Margaret Meredith
MSCamino.blogspot.com
Thanks Margaret,
ReplyDeleteI have just read your blog and am sorry you had to finish all too soon.
Yes, I did enjoy France, and have thoughts of more French walking in my mind, possibly Cluny to say Figeac, then maybe down to St Lizier nearer the Pyrenees, through Lourdes and onto the Camino Aragones to Estella. But time will tell. First I need to save some money to get myself there!