Walking the Camino de Santiago
By this point, my feet were aching from all the roadwalking, and it was 2:30 in the afternoon and approaching the hottest part of the day, which admittedly wasn’t so bad today. And for some reason, the Camino just kept going uphill. The houses got farther and farther apart, and also larger and larger, until they finally stopped altogether. And […]
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After walking through the city of Decazeville, it was up a stupendously steep street and into one last quasi-rural neighborhood. The view from here over the city below was something. I had to pause a moment to catch my breath. Date: 28 August 2023 Place: leaving Decazeville, Aveyron Département, Region of Occitanie, France Maps!
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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!
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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!
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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 […]
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