Walking the Camino de Santiago
Our communal breakfast began at about 7:30. It was quite the spread! A welcome change from yesterday. We were ten pilgrims for breakfast. Ten! Claudine our hostess did not stamp our pilgrim passports, but instead drew individual little doodles for each of us. Daniel left early – he has a train to catch in Marsac. His Camino for this year […]
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All five of left before 7:30 AM. The morning was cold and clear. Once we were through the village, it was uphill on a hiking path. Much better than road walking! The views of the valley were just stunning. Walking along the river through idyllic woods, passing charming, almost faerie-tale houses as we talked. We discussed our faith, and loss. […]
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Today was my latest start yet. Breakfast did not begin until 8 AM, which was fine as today was meant to be a relatively short and easy day. I took advantage of the extra time this morning to contact some of the places I’d like to stay a few days out to see if I could book them. I finally […]
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Between yesterday afternoon and this morning, I basically ate through almost my entire food stash. I may need to rethink how I’m doing this. A cool, crisp, cloudless morning. I left the gîte sometime after 7:30 AM in no particular hurry. The little lake looked lovely in the morning light, and I passed several fisherman as I retraced last night’s […]
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Scattered and unfocused this morning. It took me way too long to pack up. One year ago, sometime close to midnight, after the great Easter Vigil, we took Francine to the emergency room. I knew the day would come. That doesn’t make it any easier. It’s hard to remember now, but at the time I was certain the doctors would […]
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I was up early, but we let breakfast drag on a bit too long. Wim, Judith, and I set out after 8 AM. We were further distracted by a house in the town decorated like a cake. Finally, though, we managed to find the route. Soon enough, we were roadwalking in the French countryside. And it was only at this […]
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Missing so many people and things this morning, Francine most of all. It was already after seven by the time I left my room, and I was keenly on the hunt for breakfast – not to mention the Camino route. Breakfast was café crème and a banana at the little Tabac across the street. The owner seemed genuinely pleased to […]
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Noel is the very epitome of a hospitalero. Breakfast was amazing, and at one point we spontaneously broke out singing “Ultreïa!” He apparently is a friend of Jean-Claude, who wrote the verses and music to the song. He also gifted each of us with a small wooden Camino shell which I will treasure is a symbol of true hospitality. Francine […]
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Last night, I actually slept through the night. In fact, I somewhat overslept, not leaving until almost 7:30 AM. The air was crisp, but nothing like as cold as the past few days. The skies were overcast, though there was no rain predicted. Yesterday’s socks had not quite finished drying after last night’s washing, so I had them hanging on […]
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This morning as I prayed lauds, Maas read over a letter written by a friend of his to him before he left for Camino. It is a fairytale about a man who lost everything and so went for a long walk. He said he read it again every morning, like a prayer, because it was so moving for him. He […]
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