Walking the Camino de Santiago
The Camino runs through the edge of the city of Decazeville, and while the guidebooks tend to paint this as a giant urban blight, I disagree. While I wouldn’t exactly call it charming, it has nothing like the awful endless rows of towering apartment blocks you get in cities like Lugo or Burgos. I walked through several neighborhoods, some nicer […]
» Read more
As made the descent into Decazeville, I passed through a number of suburbs that were clearly farming villages once. Exhibit A is the photo below. Longtime readers will know that I love old, rusted farm equipment. There’s something plaintive and perhaps even nostalgic about seeing these once-necessary machines silently rusting to bits where they were abandoned. Date: 28 August 2023 […]
» Read more
The descent continued, and I caught what I think was my first view of the outskirts of Decazeville. This industrial city only dates to the 19th century, the product of merging a new factory town with several nearby villages. The presence of coal mines in the area certainly helped. I walked and talked with an Australian pilgrim, an older fellow […]
» Read more
No, I can’t explain it either. This van, with its southwest US desert motif, was parked along the Way. Date: 28 August 2023 Place: between Noailhac and Decazeville, Aveyron Département, Region of Occitanie, France Maps!
» Read more
After lunch, I was on my way again. This time wearing a jacket. The temperature dropped noticeably, and the wind had picked up as well. The Camino returned from the woods to the open ridge, and I could see a village in the valley below. I was about to begin the descent into the industrial city of Decazeville. Date: 28 […]
» Read more
Just about Noon, I arrived at this lovely picnic spot, complete with informational posters, a fountain, and an outhouse. What more could you ask for? I was just past the turnoff to Fonteilles and about 13 km into the day, slightly more than halfway to my destination. I wolfed down that sandwich I picked up in Noailhac. I was soon […]
» Read more
Just after 11 in the morning, I came to this panoramic lookout on the ridge, so I stopped and took a video. These things always seem to look more impressive in person. Date: 28 August 2023 Place: between Noailhac and Decazeville, Aveyron Département, Region of Occitanie, France Maps!
» Read more
As of this afternoon, I’m basically 200 words away from finishing my draft of a short (~50-page) book called Practical Pilgrimage. It’s based on my Camino Rules, and I’m super excited about finally finishing this and getting it out. As always, the last pages are the most challenging. Why? Because I left them for last for a reason. This is […]
» Read more
At the top of the hill, we reach the end of the Way of the Cross at this little chapel dedicated to Saint Roch. This is probably not the best angle to photograph the chapel, but it might give you an idea of the slope of the hill I was climbing. Date: 28 August 2023 Place: between Noailhac and Decazeville, […]
» Read more
Leaving Noailhac, the Camino proceeds uphill on a dirt and gravel path overshadowed by concrete crosses. Here, the locals have created a Way of the Cross. What these crosses lack in embellishment or decoration, they more than make up for in size. As the path wound its way uphill, I saw that the Way culminates in a little chapel. Date: […]
» Read more