Walking the Camino de Santiago
After the high that was Rocamadour, today was bound to be a bit of a letdown. Thanks to some self-inflicted problems, it was a great deal worse than it should have been. Isn’t that always the way? Last night after walking the Way of the Cross, I returned to the sanctuary of the Black Virgin to find Vespers already underway. […]
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From the sanctuary level at Rocamadour, it is possible to walk uphill even further. This is the Way of the Cross. Each station is at the corner of a switchback trail going up the side of the cliff. I walked the Way and prayed at each station. It was an incredibly moving experience, both from the stations themselves, but perhaps […]
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We sang vespers with the sisters last night in Gramat. I have prayed Vespers frequently in both English and Latin (and more usually, a combination of the two), but this is only the second time I’ve prayed them in French. This is the mother house of their order, and the sisters here were few in number and gray haired. This […]
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Today started off rough. I accidentally left my clothes on the line outside last night, and it rained. So that made packing my bag this morning a little awkward. Still, are you really a pilgrim if you haven’t walked with clothes clipped to the outside of your backpack as you walked? After breakfast with the other pilgrims, several of us […]
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Today began my diversion from the main route towards the great Marian shrine of Rocamadour, which I hope to reach on 01 September. Most of the day, I climbed up to the Causse de Gramat, a limestone plateau. Unless I indicate otherwise below, just assume that every step was part of a gentle, but inexorable, uphill walk. This morning was […]
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We had a delightful breakfast in the gîte, complete with a bit of a piano performance by Andrea, our host. I ended up not leaving until about 8 o’clock in the morning. The weather was clear and cool. The path out of town was clearly marked, and soon it was back to roadwalking by open fields. After passing through a […]
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Last night was the first time I sang “Ultreïa” on this Camino. It was in the darkened church after compline, and we processed around the interior of the church singing it before ending up before a carving of the blessed Virgin Mary. And then we sang the Salve Regina. This morning I stayed for breakfast in the refectory. I continue […]
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Today was a half day, and I got a late start, not leaving the grandma house gîte until a quarter after seven. It has been raining most of the night and into the morning. Although it wasn’t raining when I left, out of an abundance of caution I donned, for the first time on the Camino, my strawberry troll. On […]
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Today was a day of beautiful forest trails and way too much roadwalking. I left the gîte at about 6:20 this morning in search of a café for breakfast. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and I hoped to luxuriate a bit with a cup of café au lait and a pastry. It was actually chilly enough that I […]
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Today marked the beginning of my second week on Camino. During the first week, I walked 151.4 km, give or take. This second week started with a great day! Two very big climbs, but oh so worth it. After a hearty breakfast at the gîte, I left at just after 6:30. For the first time in days, there was daylight […]
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