Well, as I said in my last post, my plans will have to change - and change they have!
I decided, as the day approached, that I did not want to spend my 60th birthday so far away from family and loved ones, so I found my way home from Toulouse, and arrived unnannounced to give Diane one of the biggest surprises of her life, which was the present I wanted.
So after nearly 8 weeks and 1348 kms, my pilgrimage ends, but as always, the journey continues. The challenge for me now, is to try to maintain the same degree of present awareness as I return to my day to day routine.
I want to thank everyone who has supported me in this amazing undertaking. That support has been manifested in many different ways: many gave generously to the Leukaemia Foundation; others offered support and good wishes; some offered advice and suggestions; many stopped me along the path to wish me well; and some asked me to carry their prayers to Santiago.
Although I was unable to do this in Santiago, I did seek out the Chapel of St James in the Basilica of St. Sernin at Toulouse and offer the prayers there.
Perhaps I will return to complete the walk at some time in the future, but at the moment I am happy to be home, and look forward to catching up with many of you soon.
Thanks again.
Ultreya and suseya!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Toulouse - the half-way mark!
Today I'm in Toulouse, having covered 1348 kms so far, which is just over half way to Santiago. However, I am more than half way through the days available, so plans will have to change.
I had been looking forward to walking the Canal du Midi, but as with a lot of expectations, the reality turned out to be very different. Based on hearsay, I had fantasies of wine, women and song - well at least I was hoping for the odd bar along the way. However, for the 4 days of Canal walking, I passed only one bar. Okay, I didn't walk straight past it, I did stop for lunch and a beer. Okay, maybe 2 beers. But it was a very long way between drinks.
In many places, the canal was quite beautiful, with huge plane trees arching across the canal, and creating a 'natural' cathedral a hundred feet high. It is amazing to think that it was built in the late 1600's, with a workforce of over 12,000 people, including over 1000 women, who contributed a lot of knowledge because they were the ones involved in the construction and maintenance of the water supplies to their home villages and towns.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the best with rain threatening all the time, the odd shower or two, and a fierce westerly wind, which didn't encourage taking time out to smell the roses. I tended to just put my head down and slog on until I reached my destination for the night. As it was downhill with good surfaces underfoot, I could easily manage 5 kms an hour, so the days weren't too long.
I now have the Pyrenees in sight to the south, and will parallel them west for a week, before starting the 3 day climb to the Somport Pass.
I had been looking forward to walking the Canal du Midi, but as with a lot of expectations, the reality turned out to be very different. Based on hearsay, I had fantasies of wine, women and song - well at least I was hoping for the odd bar along the way. However, for the 4 days of Canal walking, I passed only one bar. Okay, I didn't walk straight past it, I did stop for lunch and a beer. Okay, maybe 2 beers. But it was a very long way between drinks.
In many places, the canal was quite beautiful, with huge plane trees arching across the canal, and creating a 'natural' cathedral a hundred feet high. It is amazing to think that it was built in the late 1600's, with a workforce of over 12,000 people, including over 1000 women, who contributed a lot of knowledge because they were the ones involved in the construction and maintenance of the water supplies to their home villages and towns.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't the best with rain threatening all the time, the odd shower or two, and a fierce westerly wind, which didn't encourage taking time out to smell the roses. I tended to just put my head down and slog on until I reached my destination for the night. As it was downhill with good surfaces underfoot, I could easily manage 5 kms an hour, so the days weren't too long.
I now have the Pyrenees in sight to the south, and will parallel them west for a week, before starting the 3 day climb to the Somport Pass.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Saturday in the South of France
Saturday morning in Revel is market day - the lovely big covered market in the main square which was empty yesterday, is a hive of activity, as is each square and roadway nearby, and lots of people out early. Very colorful!
After a couple of kms walking across Revel, I reached 'le Rigole' which is an artificial feeder canal to take water from these mountains, down to the highest point on the Canal du Midi, where it crosses the divide between the Mediterranean and Atlantic watersheds. I will walk for 2 days along the Rigole before reaching the Canal, then 2 days from there along the canal into Toulouse - so all downhill for the next few days - can't say I'm complaining.
The countryside around here is very pretty, some of the nicest scenery I have seen in France, and the day was topped off by the village of St Lauragais, where I spent the night. It is a little village up on a ridge, about 3kms from the Rigole, so I did do some climbing. It's a quaint little village, with a large Church, huge Chateau, and pretty houses with the timber framing showing through - a little Tudor-style, but very different.
If you think I've walked a long way - now over a thousand kilometres, today I met Mike and Petra, who have walked East from California, across the US, then to Portugal, and are now heading east on to Jerusalem - they have been on the road for 15 months! We had a good chat for 20 minutes before each taking our separate paths - I'm heading west! Their website is WalkingEast.com.
As I get closer to Toulouse, the pilgrim traffic seems to have thinned, but it's probably that I am now stopping in larger towns rather than the small villages, where the one bar is the centre of local (and pilgrim) activity.
I wonder what surprises today will bring?
After a couple of kms walking across Revel, I reached 'le Rigole' which is an artificial feeder canal to take water from these mountains, down to the highest point on the Canal du Midi, where it crosses the divide between the Mediterranean and Atlantic watersheds. I will walk for 2 days along the Rigole before reaching the Canal, then 2 days from there along the canal into Toulouse - so all downhill for the next few days - can't say I'm complaining.
The countryside around here is very pretty, some of the nicest scenery I have seen in France, and the day was topped off by the village of St Lauragais, where I spent the night. It is a little village up on a ridge, about 3kms from the Rigole, so I did do some climbing. It's a quaint little village, with a large Church, huge Chateau, and pretty houses with the timber framing showing through - a little Tudor-style, but very different.
If you think I've walked a long way - now over a thousand kilometres, today I met Mike and Petra, who have walked East from California, across the US, then to Portugal, and are now heading east on to Jerusalem - they have been on the road for 15 months! We had a good chat for 20 minutes before each taking our separate paths - I'm heading west! Their website is WalkingEast.com.
As I get closer to Toulouse, the pilgrim traffic seems to have thinned, but it's probably that I am now stopping in larger towns rather than the small villages, where the one bar is the centre of local (and pilgrim) activity.
I wonder what surprises today will bring?
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Out of the mountains
The last week since my last post has mainly been spent in the mountains of the Haut Languedoc, where mobile phone service is unreliable, and WiFi almost unheard of.
Fortunately the weather had been fantastic, fine and sunny eacch day tending to getting hot in the afternoon.
This section has been by far the most difficult of my pilgrimage to date, but I have been rewarded by the most fantastic views from on high, and each day has presented a different aspect of these mountains, as you cross the ridges from one river system to another.
It's a bit similar to walking the Cinque Terre, but each days climb is in the thousands of feet, not the hundreds. Ed, an English walker, has a SatMap unit that shows a profile at the end of each day, as well as altitude climbed. One day was 28 kms covered, with altitude gained of 4900 feet, so no wonder it took us nearly 10 hours to walk and boy, were we knackered at the end.
We have now descended down into more open, agricultural areas, and as I head towards Toulouse we are in much easier country, including 2 days along the Canal du Midi into Toulouse.
The walk has started to have a much more pilgrim feel to it, as more walkers join in for different sections, and you start to get to know the pilgrims that are keeping pace with you. Have had some wonderful meals, with multi-lingual discussions, and much good food and wine consumed. It's a lot harder to lose weight walking through Italy and France than it was in Spain, but we're only here once, and I don't intend to miss out on those experiences.
Fortunately the weather had been fantastic, fine and sunny eacch day tending to getting hot in the afternoon.
This section has been by far the most difficult of my pilgrimage to date, but I have been rewarded by the most fantastic views from on high, and each day has presented a different aspect of these mountains, as you cross the ridges from one river system to another.
It's a bit similar to walking the Cinque Terre, but each days climb is in the thousands of feet, not the hundreds. Ed, an English walker, has a SatMap unit that shows a profile at the end of each day, as well as altitude climbed. One day was 28 kms covered, with altitude gained of 4900 feet, so no wonder it took us nearly 10 hours to walk and boy, were we knackered at the end.
We have now descended down into more open, agricultural areas, and as I head towards Toulouse we are in much easier country, including 2 days along the Canal du Midi into Toulouse.
The walk has started to have a much more pilgrim feel to it, as more walkers join in for different sections, and you start to get to know the pilgrims that are keeping pace with you. Have had some wonderful meals, with multi-lingual discussions, and much good food and wine consumed. It's a lot harder to lose weight walking through Italy and France than it was in Spain, but we're only here once, and I don't intend to miss out on those experiences.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Pride cometh before a ......
Leaving Montpellier the other day, I happily took their tram to get a few Kms of suburbs behind me. What a fabulous system - cheap, easy to use, ticket machines on every stop (with instructions in English), easy ticket validation and so new and clean. They are what we'd call light rail, and they have obviously chosen to give up road space to have dedicated tram lines. They also have priority at all intersections, and just sail through most of the time.
Can we tell them about myki?
My plan was to walk down to the river that I would follow to the next town, and duly found the river and set off happily, thinking "I haven't seen any waymarks, but when you're following a river you don't need waymarks". After 15 minutes the path started to deteriorate, and I decided to check the notes for this route that I'd copied from the net.
Right river, right place, but wrong direction - "upstream". Stupid! I think subconsciously I'd rather walk down stream, so I went that way.
Yesterday was one of the most enjoyable on my journey - about 22kms to St Guilhelm-le-Desert, a little town at the foot of a cirque, above the Gorges of Herault. The walk up the gorge and over the bridges was not kind to my vertigo, but I arrived at this beautiful little village, had a late lunch in the square, filled with tables under the shade of a huge plane tree.
St.G reminds me a lot of Assisi, although much smaller. I think it's the small streets and alleys, stone houses, and lots of colourful flowers and greenery.
Sometimes, the number of tourists put me off, but here they really seemed to add a vibrancy which I liked - so different to many of the towns that you enter around siesta time, which are mostly closed up and appear deserted. However, I have noticed that there is a direct relationship between the number of different languages you hear in a town, and the cost of consumables, especially food, and to a lesser degree of drinks. Even so, I am finding that except for the large towns, the prices are still lower than back home. But I am glad to be walking, not driving - unleaded is about 1.5 Euros per litre - about AUD$2.15.
I had read about the cirque behind St G, but thought it seems a bit over-rated for what I could see from the village, but I walked up the valley after lunch, and you turn a corner and it's WOW! Very spectacular. It's a town I'd happily come back to! ( Yes Dad, I know I finished with a preposition!)
A great day!
Can we tell them about myki?
My plan was to walk down to the river that I would follow to the next town, and duly found the river and set off happily, thinking "I haven't seen any waymarks, but when you're following a river you don't need waymarks". After 15 minutes the path started to deteriorate, and I decided to check the notes for this route that I'd copied from the net.
Right river, right place, but wrong direction - "upstream". Stupid! I think subconsciously I'd rather walk down stream, so I went that way.
Yesterday was one of the most enjoyable on my journey - about 22kms to St Guilhelm-le-Desert, a little town at the foot of a cirque, above the Gorges of Herault. The walk up the gorge and over the bridges was not kind to my vertigo, but I arrived at this beautiful little village, had a late lunch in the square, filled with tables under the shade of a huge plane tree.
St.G reminds me a lot of Assisi, although much smaller. I think it's the small streets and alleys, stone houses, and lots of colourful flowers and greenery.
Sometimes, the number of tourists put me off, but here they really seemed to add a vibrancy which I liked - so different to many of the towns that you enter around siesta time, which are mostly closed up and appear deserted. However, I have noticed that there is a direct relationship between the number of different languages you hear in a town, and the cost of consumables, especially food, and to a lesser degree of drinks. Even so, I am finding that except for the large towns, the prices are still lower than back home. But I am glad to be walking, not driving - unleaded is about 1.5 Euros per litre - about AUD$2.15.
I had read about the cirque behind St G, but thought it seems a bit over-rated for what I could see from the village, but I walked up the valley after lunch, and you turn a corner and it's WOW! Very spectacular. It's a town I'd happily come back to! ( Yes Dad, I know I finished with a preposition!)
A great day!
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A day in Arles
Arrived in Arles late yesterday and had a "shopping" day today.
I've managed to wear out my socks (not unexpected) but also one shirt - the synthethic content must be high and it has crinkled up and fused where my backpack sits on my back - looks and feels revolting.
Googled a sports store in Arles, which didn't look too far away, but felt like almost a half-days walk to get there, not helped by the pouring rain. It was a large 'Anaconda' style outlet on the outskirts of Arles, but it was what I needed.
I got the largest size of hiking socks, but don't know European sizing, and they look a bit small to me. Time will tell!
I also needed to get a new credential - the pilgrim's passport, which you get stamped along the way to 'prove' you have made the journey. It provides an entree to the religious accommodations along the way, and some other lodgings also have a reduced rate for pilgrims. The one I started with is almost full. I am staying in Arles at the home of Paul and Babette, who write guides to different pilgrim paths, although they are on the road at the moment doing the legwork for a new guide. Hugh, their house-sitter, kindly offered to come with me to find the Parish office where they issue the credential, and I was glad of the company because he speaks good French, and mine is limited to a few key words and phrases. Arrived at the Parish Office to find a notice saying it closed at 12 on Wednesday, and it was about 12.30. Rang the bell anyway and a lovely and most obliging lady opened up and issued a new credential, and a most impressive looking credential it is - much more so than the one I had already. Hugh's French came in very handy as she had quite a few questions.
Hugh showed me some of the sights of Arles and then we sat in a bar and people-watched for a while.
They say Melbourne has 4 seasons in a day, but let me tell you - Arles gives it a run for its money - pouring rain, sunshine, then thunderstorms and more rain - never a dull moment.
Hugh cooked me a lovely dinner over a bottle of the local vin rouge, and it was nice to have some English conversation for a while. He is a retired architect turned painter, and showed me some work in progress and some of his portfolio. I loved his French characters - you can get a glimpse of some at hughsart.co.uk
Hit the trail again tomorrow in my new gear - think I will cut a neat figure.
I've managed to wear out my socks (not unexpected) but also one shirt - the synthethic content must be high and it has crinkled up and fused where my backpack sits on my back - looks and feels revolting.
Googled a sports store in Arles, which didn't look too far away, but felt like almost a half-days walk to get there, not helped by the pouring rain. It was a large 'Anaconda' style outlet on the outskirts of Arles, but it was what I needed.
I got the largest size of hiking socks, but don't know European sizing, and they look a bit small to me. Time will tell!
I also needed to get a new credential - the pilgrim's passport, which you get stamped along the way to 'prove' you have made the journey. It provides an entree to the religious accommodations along the way, and some other lodgings also have a reduced rate for pilgrims. The one I started with is almost full. I am staying in Arles at the home of Paul and Babette, who write guides to different pilgrim paths, although they are on the road at the moment doing the legwork for a new guide. Hugh, their house-sitter, kindly offered to come with me to find the Parish office where they issue the credential, and I was glad of the company because he speaks good French, and mine is limited to a few key words and phrases. Arrived at the Parish Office to find a notice saying it closed at 12 on Wednesday, and it was about 12.30. Rang the bell anyway and a lovely and most obliging lady opened up and issued a new credential, and a most impressive looking credential it is - much more so than the one I had already. Hugh's French came in very handy as she had quite a few questions.
Hugh showed me some of the sights of Arles and then we sat in a bar and people-watched for a while.
They say Melbourne has 4 seasons in a day, but let me tell you - Arles gives it a run for its money - pouring rain, sunshine, then thunderstorms and more rain - never a dull moment.
Hugh cooked me a lovely dinner over a bottle of the local vin rouge, and it was nice to have some English conversation for a while. He is a retired architect turned painter, and showed me some work in progress and some of his portfolio. I loved his French characters - you can get a glimpse of some at hughsart.co.uk
Hit the trail again tomorrow in my new gear - think I will cut a neat figure.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Just when I needed it most!
Two days ago, i was at my lowest ebb since starting this walk, as a result of a number of factors, and thoughts of pulling the plug were even going through my mind, but I decided I would just focus on getting to Arles in 2 days, and once there I was planning a catch-up and clothes shop day, and I could re-assess then.
Woke up to another rainy morning which didn't help my mood as I had a long day ahead, but at least the rain stopped before I headed off.
I was about 90 minutes into the walk when I came to a corner and was checking out the options and just setting off down the right road when along come a couple of cyclists. I asked where they were from, and he said Canada and America. I said "are you Doug" and he said "Yes, are you Alan".
We had emailed a few times and Doug had sent me some maps, and we knew we'd be there at roughly the same time, but he was meant to be going through ahead of me. However, I was ahead of my schedule because I'd trained ahead, and he'd been delayed a week by the volcanic ash fallout, e voila. He was as delighted to see me as I was to see them, and I was the first pilgrim they had encountered on the road. We chatted for about 20 minutes and then they rode off into the distance, but I could see their tracks in the wet soil and mud all day so that maintained the connection.
I was staggered by the timing - it couldn't have come at a better time for me and I took it as a sign that I'm meant to continue this undertaking. They are riding to Toulouse, then hiring a car back to Nice, so we swapped numbers and may catch up again in a couple of weeks when they pass me going the other way.
I'm not religious, but it was another one of those times when I think - there has to be more to it than co-incidence. What do you think?
Woke up to another rainy morning which didn't help my mood as I had a long day ahead, but at least the rain stopped before I headed off.
I was about 90 minutes into the walk when I came to a corner and was checking out the options and just setting off down the right road when along come a couple of cyclists. I asked where they were from, and he said Canada and America. I said "are you Doug" and he said "Yes, are you Alan".
We had emailed a few times and Doug had sent me some maps, and we knew we'd be there at roughly the same time, but he was meant to be going through ahead of me. However, I was ahead of my schedule because I'd trained ahead, and he'd been delayed a week by the volcanic ash fallout, e voila. He was as delighted to see me as I was to see them, and I was the first pilgrim they had encountered on the road. We chatted for about 20 minutes and then they rode off into the distance, but I could see their tracks in the wet soil and mud all day so that maintained the connection.
I was staggered by the timing - it couldn't have come at a better time for me and I took it as a sign that I'm meant to continue this undertaking. They are riding to Toulouse, then hiring a car back to Nice, so we swapped numbers and may catch up again in a couple of weeks when they pass me going the other way.
I'm not religious, but it was another one of those times when I think - there has to be more to it than co-incidence. What do you think?
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