Walking the Camino de Santiago
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
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 […]
» Read more
Today was largely a walk from one river valley to the next. It ended up being the hottest day yet, and by the time I arrived at my gîte, I may very well have had heat exhaustion. Once again, I started early. This time, I managed a sit-down breakfast of yogurt and pain au chocolat before leaving at just before […]
» Read more
Today I once again decided to leave early – just before 6 AM – to try to beat the afternoon heat. This time, however, I had a pain au chocolate in my hand. After a moment of panic at not being able to find an unlocked door to get out of my gîte, I finally found a door I hadn’t […]
» Read more