From St. Jean Pied de Port to Sahagun (400 km), October-November, on my own
You know how I said I would be sensible and take my time? At dinner last night, of the 12 people potentially in my new “Camino family” not one intended to walk the “easier” route, let alone take two days to do it. Over dinner I found myself agreeing to join 3 others in marching…
I was driven (something less than an hour) to St. Jean Pied de Port on the French side of the Pyrenees. I could have started walking right away and made it to Valcarlos, 10 km away, but I had promised myself to start slowly so I wandered around St. Jean instead. This morning I had…
The day started with an hour of packing exercise – packing and re-arranging and re-packing my things to optimize the arrangement. It is amazing how many ways you can stuff 31 Litres of stuff into a bag and still not be satisfied. I swung it on my back, fastened the hip belt, clicked the sternum…
The tolls of pre-journey excitement, a 20-hour journey and a 9-hour time change have left me a touch incoherent. The flight to Toronto had an unhappy dog who seemed to be soiling his little travel house, judging from his whining and the aroma. Poor guy. On the flight to Munich a nice East European woman…
Leave house for husband to enjoy in solitary splendour in my absence. Catch bus to airport. Fly to Bilbao. Stay overnight. Go to Guggenheim Museum. Afternoon bus to Pamplona, overnight at Albergue Curazon Puro. Get ride to St. Jean Pied de Port. Stay at Albergue Beilari where I’ll meet other pilgrims at the communal dinner. Start…
Don’t read this unless you LOVE camino packing minutia. You’ve been warned! The time is drawing close and I’ve got everything ready. Several times over. My husband was away so I was free to indulge myself in camino preparations, with no one laughing as I wore my backpack around the house over my pyjamas. I…
The kitchen has been finished, two sets of visitors have come and gone, we’ve held a celebratory end-of-summer party, the fall weather has that crisp feel in the mornings, and I am counting the days. First, the kitchen. After only 14 months of food preparation in the laundry room, we have moved the centre of…
Seeing Clarely 