lobaco

2011-10-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

Uhart Mixe - St. Jean Pied de Port 27 kms

Saturday, September 29th

A perfect last day. By far the most scenic since leaving Moissac. A clear, not too hot day with great views of the Pyrenees for the entire etape. Even with painful feet it was a marvellous walk. We stopped en route at a farm to buy freshly made cheese and yogurt. Tres bon...
We arrived at St Jean in the early afternoon, but for the first time without room reservations. We had been told that the city was complet in part because it was a Saturday and it is a major tourist destination. Figuring St Jacques owed me one for 10 days of painful walking we took our chances. The first two places we tried were either complet or closed. I spotted a "chambre a louer" sign on a door and decided to give it a try. An elderly woman answered our knock. Looking into the dark passageway of her home I was amused that we had entered a haunted house....Turned out the woman was a delight and best of all spoke fluent Spanish. She had a room available and took us up 4 flights of stairs to a cute little room with an amazing view of the surrounding countryside. The best part was the little balcony where the toilet and shower were located. "A Toilet With A View".
St Jean is a very pictureque, if touristy town. After the quiet of the past 12 days the number of people walking about came as a bit of a shock.
We ran into many of our walking friends - most of whom were continuing their way to Santiago: "Orange Cap" John, the young American; the two Swiss men that had already been walking for two months; Mado, the energetic French woman whose husband was meeting her on occassion on his bike; and the young french woman who was forced to stop at St Jean because her walking companion - her little dog - would go no further.
We said adieu to all these friends. The Pyrenees awaited them the next day...We were done. 320kms since Moissac. 800 kms since Le Puy. Enough for now....We will be back in the near future to meet up with St Jacques once again.

2011-10-03T07:38:00.000-07:00

Navarrenx - Uhart Mixe 29kms

Friday, September 29th

We decided to get to St Jean in two days instead of three. That meant two more long days. Hot again, with very little shade as we struggled through the rolling Basque countryside. Remote walking with no real villages to pass which meant lack of access to water...This became a problem because we actually ran out of water with about 5kms left. Very fortunately we passed an isolated home on the chemin where we spotted an elderly woman moving her car. I asked for some water and she invited us into her home where she filled our container with cold, delicious eau. Thank goodness for St. Jacque's intervention beecause I'm not sure if we could have made it to our destination.
And what a nice destination it was. A walker's gite, but it was more like a roadside Inn - the only place to stay in the tiny village. Again, our own room. But the best part was dinner. Along with 4 other walkers we had met along the Way, we were feasted like royalty. Among other things, my first Piperade - a Basque-like stew made from peppers, onion, tomatoes, and garlic topped with slices of jambon (from black pigs) and sausages. Beyond delicious. Copious amounts of unending bottles of Red and Rose wines, all overseen by an elderly male owner taking care of our every need - a perfect evening after a very difficult day....And Leslie got stinking drunk....The breakfast the next morning was just as nice with fresh squeezed orange juice and sundry goodies.

2011-10-02T12:09:00.000-07:00

Arthenz - Navarrenx 28kms

September 28th

Another hard, if rather uneventful day of walking. Pretty countryside, but lots of steep climbs, and worse, steep descents. After 7 hours of heat good to finally arrive at our Hotel....A Hotel is a bit more luxurious than a gite - sheets and towels provided, but honestly, the accomodations at the gites have been quite nice.
Navarrenx is a larger town - very pretty. A good demi-pension dinner with a lovely bottle of Jurancon white...Another day closer to St Jean.

2011-09-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

Arzack - Arthenz-les-Bearns 28 kms

September 27th

Today it reached 32 C, about 94 degrees Farenheit. Hot, but at least it was a much prettier walk through rolling hills. Fortunately, there is eau potable at the cementaries next to all the Romanasque churches we pass on route. Staying hydrated is essential in the heat.... Arrived at our gite at 3pm after seven hours of walking. An interesting place - Gite Brousse - owned by the local patisserie owner. Our own large room with en suite facilities... An odd town - essentially one kilometer long street. We were at one end of town, and the owner has bikes to ride into the center - which we used for beer and dinner.

While having our afternoon beer a walker came up wanting to show us his new haircut -not your usual greeting, but the French are diferrent. His name was Jean, and it turned out he is married to an American, lives in Paris and was quite fun to chat with. We sat with him later at dinner and will try to keep in touch.

The highlight of the day was the next morning where the 10 of us staying at the gite had breakfast at the back of the owner's patisserie. Good coffee and warm milk, perfect baguets, and he showered us with croissants and pain-au-chocolats. Fabulous. The entire cost for room and breakfast was 15E per person - unbelievable deal...

2011-09-29T09:43:00.000-07:00

Aire-sur L'Adour - Arzacq-Arraziquet 32kms

Tuesday, September 26

We arrived in the second of the three "A" towns. The few "z's" in the name indicates we are close to the Basque region. We had glimpses of the Pyrenees.In fact, on the second day out of Moissac we saw the Pyrenees far in the distance. They are still far away.

A very hot and boring walk mostly through fields of corn. Can't even eat the stuff - they use it as feed. Eight hours of actual walking -too much. Everyone complained about the long day upon the arrival at the communal gite - an enormous place...but once again we had our own room.
Arzack is a non-descript town. The best part was the delicious anchovy covered pizza we had for dinner. Absolutely perfect with the bottle of Rose. My feet are also finally toughening up a bit, which aint saying much

I must mention that Les spends must of her walking time counting to 1000. She claims it helps her pass the time during the boring or hard stretches - but I think it has more to do with the company she keeps and his lack of conversational skills. I make up for it in other ways.

2011-09-26T09:45:00.000-07:00

Nogaro - Aire sur L'Adour 22kms

Monday, September 26th

The days are blending into one another. We are meeting the same walkers either on the chemin or at the end of the day. Today seemed like a mini-reunion as many of the walkers we have met on the way are staying in this town and in our rickety little hotel. L'Adour is a pretty big town, but because it is Monday virtually evertyhing is closed. One always has to make proper arrangements for a Sunday or Monday when walking.

The walk today was uninspiring, with the exception of a short stint through vineyards. Upon arrival at our hotel I discover a new juicy blister (picture enclosed). That is not was has bothered me the most....But tommorrow will be better, even if it will be 32kms....Better yet, we found a restaurant that is open ce soir that I am sure wil have a good Red..

2011-09-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

Eauze - Nogaro 23kms

Sunday, September 25th

Another nice and warm day of walking. The right foot hurts, but carry on we do. Five and one-half hours with a brief stop for a biere. A highlight was passing the farm Les wanted to buy - foie gras for life! Our gite - L'Arbladoise - turned out to be an amazing place, especially when the owner gave us a private room with shower and toilet, with two french doors leading to the patio - tres luxurious. Best part of the walking is the end, especially if the end is in a nice place. Like other gites, the owner greets you with a choice of cold drinks and engages in conversation till its time to take you to the room. Always a pleasant way to be greeted.

Awaiting us at the gite was a note from our friend Johaness. He is one day ahead of us. It seems he pushed himself too hard and had to be driven to see a doctor because he had infected blisters. Got to keep those feet happy.

Again, another great communal meal to end the day.

2011-09-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

Seviac – Eauze 16kms

Saturday, September 24th

Another short day. Only 4 hours walking in a light constant drizzle, much of the time through forest land..…This section of the Le Puy walk has either short or long days. Our long days are ahead of us. On the route someone had changed one of the ubiquitous directional markers and a group of us took the wrong turn. No major problem, but an opportunity to take a good photo of pilgrims losing “The Way”.

We are staying at a gite communal ce soir. There are numerous sleeping options on the Chemin. “Gite communals” are communal sleeping accommodations owned by the local city...Usually four or five beds per room. Simple places with kitchen facilities. ( photo enclosed of our room in Eauze). They currently charge @ 10-12 Euros per bed… Private gites have similar configurations, but often also have private rooms and provide for demi-pension. Total cost @30-35 Euros per person. There are also small Hotels/Logis, sometimes chamber d’Hotes (B&B’s) and occasionally religious hostels. One can spend a little or spend more than a little, but never a lot. Most walkers stay in gites.

Eauze is touted as the capital of Armagnac. Sitting at a local café we were induced to partake of a small tasting. By happenstance (or some sign from St Jacques) the vintages of the three tasted were `1978, 1985 & 1988….the year of my first visit to France and the birth years of my daughters. And yes, they were delicious

2011-09-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

Condom – Seviac - 19kms

Friday, September 23rd

Our supposed short day had us arriving at our farm gite just outside of Montreal du Gers at 3pm. The cause was leaving at the unpilgrim like hour of 10am. Most walkers start their day by 8am at the latest. Despite our late start we caught up with everyone. It seems the French remain genetically predisposed to stop for their “picnick” lunch, bless their Gaulic hearts. Les and I just plod along.

Today was a good day to plod. With my very sore toes properly wrapped, we walked through pretty farmland, interspersed with the first signs of vineyards – grapes to make Armagnac. It was quite warm and is expected to reach 90 degrees in the next few days. We arrived quite tired…

Our gite, the Ferme du Soleil, welcomed 14 walkers, all of them French speaking and of a certain age. Most are headed all the way to St Jean and a few to Santiago de Compostela. The gite is very near the site of an excavated Roman Villa that still retains moissac tiled floors. Worth the visit. The gite is also the same place my brother stayed many years ago – and I so told the Madam owner.

Dinner that evening was a grand affair and lots of fun. Fortunately a couple of the walkers spoke good English, and after sharing more than a few bottles of local Rose I was virtually fluent in French. It was the kind of evening that makes the Camino memorable.

2011-09-22T12:22:00.000-07:00

Lectoure - Condom 27kms

September 23

Yes, Condom. I have other body parts where a bit of extra protection might immunize me from unfortunate consequences, but I'm not supposed to talk about my toes....
Les thought it was a beautiful walk, and I'm sure it was. However, since it is the third day of walking, the curse of St Jacques has befallen me again. Such it was that a young french couple passed me toward the end of the day, complimenting me on the "deliberate and gliding" rythm of my pace. I thanked them for their observation, mentioned something about my feet, and lamented the failure of my parents to bestow me with good toe DNA.

Fortunately Les did not have listen to my laments as she attached herself to a Danish man and walked ahead of me for a few hours. As expected, she knows his entire life story.

We said goodbye to our friend Johaness who will be walking more kilometers than us the next few days.

Condom itself is a pretty town, and most importantly is blessed with a one-star Michelin restaurant - Les Tables des Cordeliers. It should be a two-star cause the meal was exquisite, service supreme and the setting extraordinary - a coverted 14th Century chapel.

Tommorow will be a short day - only 18kms...we shall see.

2011-09-22T09:22:00.000-07:00

Saint-Antoine to Lectoure 24kms

September 21st

Flat. I was led to believe this section of the Chemin was flat. Yesterday was mostly flat. Sacramento is flat. But this Chemin is not flat, especially with 8 kilos on my back. Every little hill feels like Mt Everest. In fact, last night at our very mediocre pilgrim evening meal, a french woman claimed that the elevation change between Le Puy and St Jean de Port is 18,000 meters, or 1 and 1/2 Mt Everests. I believe her.

Nevertheless, it was a lovely walk through rolling hills. We arrived at our cute little gite extremely tired. But nothing a bottle of Rose and a bloc of foie gras would not cure. In fact Les thinks foie gras is the remedy for any ailment - but you all know that already.

A very good meal at a Michelin mentioned restaurant that evening

2011-09-21T12:47:00.000-07:00

Moissac – Sainte-Antoine – 25kms
Tuesday, September 20th

It’s good to be back on the Chemin Compostelle. Our flight from Sacramento was uneventful, if long. The highlight of the flight was viewing the movie “The Way” starring Martin Sheen – a film about the Camino in Spain. An appropriate start to our latest adventure. And quite a nice film that gives a good sense of the walk –at least in Spain. Should be released in the States in a couple of weeks.
We met up with our Swiss friend, Johaness in Moissac. We had walked a couple of days together last year and agreed to meet again to walk together a few days. He is also on his way to St Jean Pied de Port.
The walk today was easy. The first ten miles are along the Canal Lateral del Garonne – shaded by those great plane trees and very flat. Thereafter, a sharp quick steep climb into the beautiful village of Auvillar. On the way a nuclear power plant looms in the near distance. A couple of hours later we arrive at our gite. There are about 25 persons staying here, but we have our own little room. Almost all French walkers. We met the first American in 3 years of walking the Chemin – a recent graduate of Yale. We are also the first Americans he has seen in 20 days of walking. Obvioiusly, it is not a common walk for those from the US of A. We shall see if the new Martin Sheen movie changes that

2010-10-13T13:53:00.000-07:00

Lauzerte – Moissac: 25kms – Friday

Our last day on the Camino…..for now. A rather long, hot day, with many significant undulations and too much road walking. Lots of fruit orchards along the path….We left Lauzerte early knowing we needed to catch a late afternoon train from Moissac to Toulouse for our flight to London the following morning. We arrived in Moissac tired, hot and stinky, but with enough time to visit the famous monastery….Finished in 1100 and amazingly well-preserved, the monastery cloister is the principle reason to visit Moissac. It is extraordinary and well worth the visit.

We ran into our Swiss-German friend, Johaness. Moissac was also his final destination. A drink with him at a café in the square next to the Cathedral and off we went.

Nearly 175 miles on this trip. Eleven days of walking. One rest day. 1085 kilometers remain to reach Santiago de Compostella…….I’m ready.

2010-10-13T13:41:00.000-07:00

Lascabannes – Lauzerte: 21kms – Thursday, October 7th

A very picturesque walk today. Gorgeous countryside as we left the Lot and entered the Tarn-et-Garonne region. Met up with one of the French-woman walkers from the previous night’s gite and chatted in our combined broken English-French. The upshot of this observation is that I finally comprehended the aural distinction between poison et poisson – an important distinction if ordering at a restaurant…

We spent the night at a chamber d’Hote run by an ex-pat couple from England – Margaret and John. Retired, they had visited in the region for many years, before purchasing their home three years previously, just on the outskirts of Lauzerte. They recently started offering a couple of their rooms as a B&B in order to supplement their income due to the significant loss of value the British Pound has suffered to the Euro. Very hospitable hosts, and a pleasant room with a nice dinner thrown in for an additional 20E.

Lauzerte is a very quaint village, perched high on the hill. Fortunately we got a ride to the top from our hosts. A quick late afternoon tour and beer in the square with a handful of our walking friends who were all once again staying in the local gite…

2010-10-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Cahors – Lascabannes: 24 kms – Wednesday

A fairly easy day of walking – fairly flat and non-descript. Arrived at our gite by 3pm, and for the first time were placed in a shared room with two other people. When one of the guys took off his shirt and exposed his large wine induced gut, Les let out a moan of desperation….Despite that introduction to communal gite living, the gite was spotless and quite nice.

Before dinner we bought a bottle of local Rose and sat outside….with the half-drunk bottle of wine, we decided to enter the adjoining little church – I had the sense that this was quite not appropriate, but what the heck – I surmised that priests were fond of vin, so…..Before I could test my hypothesis, we realized there a service was underway for the few pilgrims so we did not enter. When I subsequently recounted this to a couple of the pilgrims they were aghast at the consequences of my ungodly behavior….No problem – St Jacques would have understood.

The gite caretaker was a fabulous cook – a lip-smacking chicken dish and a apple crumble with raspberry sauce to die for. Sitting around the table with the other 10 french-speaking walkers and occasionally chiming in with my limited French – a delightful evening. The evening was not too bad – that is until 4:00am when one of our sleeping companions decided he wanted to read and turned on his red-headlamp - which shone directly at me. He left early. I slept in.

2010-10-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Varaire – Cahors: 32 km – Monday

Woke up to thunder, lightning and heavy rain…..20 some miles in this weather, mon dieu! Fortunately by 8:30am the rain had stopped and we decided to give it a go – even though I admit I inquired about bus service to Cahors – not only because of the weather but because of my sensitive toes….But no, walking was the only realistic means of transport.

The morning turned out to be a lovely walk – down a Roman road (very straight) through forest land – quite easy walking. But by Noon, Zeus decided enough with the nice stuff, and the rain began – for the next 4 hours till our arrival in Cahors. Mile after mile of wet, quiet emptiness. Only a couple of farms and no walkers the entire day. The last kilometer was once again straight downhill – worse yet on asphalt. The weakened knees arrived us into the very cosmopolitan Cahors.

We have decided to spend 2 nights in Cahors - a well deserved rest day after four days of strenuous walking. Our walking “friends” are at the youth hostel. We are staying at a very cute little two star hotel – with a great view of a 17th Century Tower and eglise out our window (picture enclosed).

Cahors is Les’ version of ultimate ecstacy….foie gras is everywhere. It seems to ooze from all the windows, and Les is salivating at the potential gastronomic delights. She has no qualms about being a situational vegetarian when it comes to goose liver. Being Monday most restaurants were closed, but we found one wonderful exception and Les got her foie gras – and since I am big on simultaneous bliss, I ordered the same. Another great diner, and for only 15E (3E extra for the foie gras). One of our walking friends came in and we spent the evening chatting with him. He told us he had met a man on the Camino who was transporting his luggage on a wheeled container behind him, strapped to him by a harness. That was not the interesting part – the guy has started in Finland!...

Our rest day in Cahors was primarily spent eating and recuperating. On our way to dinner we ran into the Belgium couple we had met on night. They were finishing their walk and invited us for a drink. The camaraderie of this walk is probably the most enjoyable aspect… the evening dinner was at bib gourmand Michelin restaurant where once again Les indulged her addiction….

2010-10-05T13:07:00.001-07:00

Cajarc – Varaire: 26kms – Sunday

Only 26 kms today, a mere 16 miles. Crossed the Lot river to the sound of music – the wind blowing through the metal bars of the bridge spanning the river – a rendition of the Long and Winding Road…..

Passed the two French couples on route – they cheated and got a ride to the town ahead of us – as well as Mr. Vienna, struggling with the wind (his tent was a big round thing on his back – not good aerodynamics). Again, pretty empty countryside except the occasional fig and walnut tree to sustain our appetite.

We arrived early at our gite - @ 5pm. A very well appointed place – our own room (stone walls) with bathroom – kinda luxurious. A non-descript village with the gite being the central hub of activity. The pre-meal appertives were spent drinking wine and chatting with the French couples, Mr Vienna and a few other walkers staying at the gite. Very pleasant and a good sense of the communal nature of the walk. An OK dinner. Tomorrow another long day if we are to reach Cahors…

2010-10-05T06:47:00.000-07:00

Figeac – Cajarc: 33kms – Saturday

Saturday morning was market day in Figeac. We picked up lunch goodies, including Les’ favorite – dark grainy bread. A note on French bread – it does not suit Les’ bowels and she constantly reminds me not to eat it. Yeah right! I love it. …A large chunk of aged Cantal cheese, a bit of jambon for yours truly and scores of prunes for the femme as a hopeful remedy to her French affliction, and off we went on another long day.

And long it was. We went through 4 liters of water on a day with only couple of small villages en route. Fortunately eau potable was available at both.…Met up with a few other walkers – two older French couples and one young man who had started walking in Vienna. Going to Santiago. More than two months walking so far - over the Alps with more significant undulations awaiting him. Hopes to finish by mid-November. Carrying his tent and lots of weight. Quite extraordinary. Mr. Vienna we call him…

Our first vineyard is seen shortly out of Figeac. Sweet tasting berries – don’t ask this alleged connoisseur what varietal… Once again another nasty, rocky descent into Cajarc. Turned out to it was a cute, provencal looking town. Suffice to say we saw none of it because we went directly to our very nice hotel - arriving at 6pm, quite exhausted. No gite and no wandering after such a long day. Even Les had trouble walking down the stairs to our very nice dinner. Damn my toes.

2010-10-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

Decazeville – Figeac: 30 kms – Friday

The one thing about the Camino is that does not like to take a direct route…..and it is fond of straight up and straight down. Such it was again this morning. Over the hill and down again for the first 4 kms before arriving in Livinhac for our morning café crème.

Once properly nourished it was a pleasant walk through the countryside, albeit at 19 miles, a long one. Two things of note….Once Les has her morning coffee she thinks the world is right and enjoys chatting – caffeine induced euphoria…She likes to note how every little thing is just so beautiful this lovely morning, etc. etc…It’s rather amusing.

The other thing of note is that she has no sympathy for my pathetic toes. She thinks I am a woos for my constant complaining about the pain I suffer – every single step. Even showing her the enormous blisters and swollen left toe prompted only a false sympathetic nod. She reminds me that I have not birthed a child so, “shut the f..k up”..….Damn feet!

On route today we walked with a couple of Canadian sisters – one of which is planning to write a guide book on the French Camino. She promised to make a mention of my observation that there is a certain pungent smell to the Camino – and I was referencing the farms and not the walkers.

Figeac turned out to be a lovely, sophisticate small city. Very classical French town. In other words, we wanted to stay - but walk on we must – the next day would be only 33 kms. To make up for our short stay we decided to eat dinner at the best restaurant in town – good food, beautifully presented.

2010-10-02T23:41:00.000-07:00

Conques – Decazeville: 21 kms – Thursday

The climb out of Conques was strenuous, especially with @18-20 lbs on the back. Straight up for one hour….But the rest of the walk to Decazeville was pleasant enough, even though we had intermittent light rain for the whole of the day.

Decazeville is the least interesting of the towns we have visited. Non-descript, sort of industrial – in other words not particularly interesting. We bought some cheese, bread, wine and eggs and made dinner at our gite. Tomorrow is a long walk to Figeac

The sign indicates 1292 kilometers to Santiag

2010-10-01T23:20:00.000-07:00

Eysperac – Conques: 12.5kms - Wednesday

Another short day. Just three hours of walking. However, the last kilometer was a killer - straight downhill on a narrow rocky path – undoubtedly treacherous goings in wet weather. Ah, but the destination is magnifique!

Conques is one of the most beautiful towns imaginable. The 11th Century cathedral dominates the town – a town straight out of the 14th Century. Quaint has nothing on this place. We are staying at the Abbey – the gite run by the monks (numbers unknown) for the pilgrims. Camino pilgrims have been staying here for hundreds of years . We have the corner suit – our own simple room, but with a large bathroom. Tres jolie..

Since we arrived early, lunch at a Michelin mentioned restaurant was in order. OK, pauvre, starving pilgrims we are not. Superior three course lunch – the brandade de moreau starter the star of the meal. 18 E. A very good , demi-pichet of white for 6 E. Best meal by far…

Dinner was a at the Abbey’s dining hall with about 50 pilgrims. Good basic meal for 11E. Sat next to a just retired German woman who was slowly making her way to Santiago. A french Canadian woman in front of me and a man from Belgium on her right. A mix of French and English spoken, and a very pleasant dinner had. Afterwards, most head to the Cathedral where at 9:30pm one of the monks plays the organ in that imposing edifice. He ended his 30 minute concert with a rendition of “The House of the Rising Sun” – and amazing it was….

2010-10-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

Estaing – Eysperac: 23 kms – Tuesday

A lovely, sunny and cool day. Wonderful, not too strenuous walk through rolling hills and farmlands. Pictures do not do the views justice. We arrived at the Hotel de la Valle at @ 4pm – a bit tired, but not too bad for the second day. Interestingly, Les is developing her wit quickly on this walk. After a very long stretch without sight of any of her beloved apples trees we came across a treasure drove. La femme exclaims spontaneously “after a barren stretch of apples we now are apple barons”.

Eysperac is tiny with only one hotel and one gite. Everything is very quite. It seems the French have disappeared. We have seen very few people these past three days. Only four couples staying at the hotel. After the hustle and bustle of London it is quite nice….The demi-pension dinner was just OK – a bottle of the local Marcillac did hit the spot

2010-10-01T12:44:00.000-07:00

BACK ON THE CAMINO

Espalion – Estaing: 12.5 kms - Monday

Stolen apples are the sweetest. They say the Camino giveth. If so, we have taketh. Within the first two miles out of Espalion we have eaten 8 apples from different trees along the path. So the next leg of our journey begins….
It is good to be back walking. Today was a half day. Bus from Rodez to Espalion and begin at 1pm. A bit chilly and overcast, but a beautiful stroll with only one short, steep uphill stretch. Three hours. Just enough to get the walking legs accustomed to the routine.

The most unusual part of the day was when we passed farmers tending their crop picking machine – to pick leaves, it appeared. We could not devine the crop. They were collecting big leaves….For one of those heavenly French salads? Pas possible…Les mentioned tobacco, but, nah didn’t seem likely.. Later that evening one of our dinner companions mentioned if we had seen the farmers collecting the tobacco crop….Mon Dieu! I know they smoke like fiends, but did you know they also grow the stuff? They probably even have an AOC system for it.

Very few walkers appear to be on the Camino. It is late in the season. We passed 6 walkers and only about 10 or so have arrived at Estaing. Estaing is a beautiful village with a 12th Century chateau dominating the town. There is a good restaurant in the village but it is Monday and everything is closed. Dinner is at the Chambre d’ Hotes where we are staying. The madam does not normally cook for her guests (maybe just on Monday). It is obvious. The only good thing was the wine made by the proprietor – a blend of Grenache and Cabernet. Oh well…

2010-09-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

FOOD – Sunday, September 26th

England gets a bad rap. The food scene in London is second to none. We ate in some fabulous places this past week – as we have on prior trips.

However, we ate at one unusual spot on Wednesday night – Saltoun Supper Club. This is a so called “closed-door restaurant”. This place is run by Arno out of his little flat in Brixton – second floor up some rickety steps into a small room with four tables. The kitchen is tiny. But the very intense Arno cooks up a storm for 30 GBP – twice a week. Three hours and five courses (with only a couple of food mistakes {he did not peal the fiber off the snow peas)) later we left quite satisfied with our find…..It will be hard to eat here in the future. The New York Times was coming the following evening to write up a story..…Just note we found it first.

Other great meals included Bocca di Lupo (picture is me eating partridge); Terroirs (French small plates); Zucca (best new Italian find); The Anglesea Arms (gastrobpub where I ate grouse with wild mushroom in puff pastry – unbelievably good); Barrafina (Spanish tapas); and, of course snacks at the Borough market. When we left this morning Les and I realized we did not eat Indian food – a major faux pas…

Enough of London. We are in Rodez. It is cold, but who cares, tomorrow afternoon we start walking from Espalion. The bags are ready…

London

2010-09-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

LONDON – Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Cockfosters. That’s how you enter London. Hop on the Piccadilly line at Heathrow and immediately realize that even though English is spoken it’s not quite the same. Can’t imagine the Religious Right or their Tea party cousins allowing such blasphemy on the public transit system…. But I digress. This is about travel, not politics. I get enough of that at home.

I love London. Always have. The history, the culture, the humour, and lately the food. But its language may be the most interesting. Very literal and descriptive. Fascinating to listen to and incomprehensible when spoken over the Tube loud system…

It is a city sans Exit signs as I first discovered 32 years ago when I was got lost in an Underground station until I found the way out. That time I stayed on a sailboat on the Thames next to the Tower of London. This time we are in a great flat near Covent Garden with our friends David and Chris.

We have been here many times. This time doing a few new things. Today went to Hampton Court – Henry VIII’s small country home. Afterwards, a 7 mile walk along the Thames to Richmond. Not the way tourists usually return. But then again we ain't tourists we’re travelers – and walkers at that…

Already stopped in the British Museum, British Library, Tate Modern, National Gallery, and the National Portrait Gallery. They are amazing places and best of all – free. Right up my alley..…A couple of plays seen and good food eaten…..Lots more to come

Posting pictures of obvious places. Guess them all and you need read no more. At least about London

2009-10-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY : Venezia

Is there a more beautiful city in the world?...No. Step out of the train station and you are transported into another reality. Sure there are too many tourists, but there have been too many tourists for hundreds of years. Yes, everything is a bit more expensive, but so what. Around every corner and over every little bridge is another picture perfect view.

Les and I went on Thursday on our last day of fun (Friday did not count because it was spent driving 680kms from Udine to Nice to catch our flights back home on Saturday morning)....We took the train from Udine and spent 6 hours simply wandering around, getting lost and marvelling, once again, at this unique city....Of course, we also stopped for lunch - at the small out of the way Trattoria Al Ponte recommended by Harley, a Venetian native....His directions? At the last bridge just past the Campo in this part of San Polo district. I pride myself on a very good sense of direction, but I had to inquire three separate times before we stumbled onto the place....And I'm glad we did. We both wanted fish - I had sepia en su tinta negra and Les had pulpo a la Veronesa - both accompanied by white polenta (Venetians eat white instead of yellow polenta)...both dishes were superb. Accompanied by a very nice mezzo litre of vino blanco from the local Azienda Plonk.

Thereafter, gelato at the Campo Santa Margherita...I have yet to mention gelato....There are numerous reasons to visit Italia, but its gelato alone is reason to go. Nothing ranks close to Italian gelato...Les and I are addicted to Nocciola (hazelnut)...We may have missed a day without at least una bola, but if we did it was a mistake.

Next time....una settimana en Venezia..

On Wednesday we visited Cividale del Friuli - a small city 15 kms from Udine and my favorite town in Friuli. Thereafter, a visit to Claudias' 91 year old mother in Moggio - in the mountains North of Udine...La Signora Maria Teresa is my link to my travelling past. I first met her 31 years ago on my first trip to Italy This was my fourth visit to her home - her home was one of the few that survived the horrific earthquake that leveled the medieval village of Moggio in 1976

2009-10-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY (Oct 12th) Friuili

(I have posted some pictures from the trip - see below)

We are in Udine staying with our longtime friends Claudia and Harley. Udine is situated in the heart of the Friuli region, about an hour and a half northeast of Venice, close to Slovenia. A lovely city of about 100,000 people, it has all the trappings of what makes Italy different – a sense of style… Italians really know how to produce beautiful things – clothes, shoes, buildings, objets d’art, espresso makers…you name it – Italians make it look better.

Italians also dress better than anyone else in the world….Les refers to them as ”fashionistas”…. A case in point: this morning we went for a stroll through town, window shopping at all the fancy clothing stores. Les was wearing this bright-colored, flowery, spring-like skirt with a green top….The looks she got! It was clear she was wearing the wrong outfit for the time of year. The stares of disbelief were sufficient to cause her to change outfits before our afternoon adventures….I, on the other hand, am always appropriately dressed because I don’t care….

One final word on fashion – Purple… Definitely the new “in”color. You heard it here first…

The Friuli region remains an unknown area for Americans. Lovely, undiscovered small towns, great food and white wines, beautiful scenery and few tourists make it one of my favorite areas of Italy… Speaking of food today was another spectacular lunch – this time at Trattoria Blanch in the city of Mossa. A soup of pasta e fagioli, followed by a fresh porcini pasta (unbelievably good), then bacala e polenta with a side of contorni; a great house Friulano (used to be called Tokay), finishing with an espresso….near perfection. All for 25 Euros per person…. Another wasted day……Bello.

2009-10-10T12:39:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY: Tartufo Bianco de Alba

What does one do in Piemonte in October other than drink lots of fabulous wine? How about exploring for white gold…otherwise known as tartufo bianco, or white truffles…

Today we went on a truffle hunt. Organized by the Villa, we visited a well-known casa de trifulau and went tramping thru the forest south of Asti with the trifulau his well-trained dog searching for truffles (no, they do not use pigs). Quite fascinating….After a short lecture on the member of the mushroom family we went a searching…. There are 9000 licensed truffle hunters in Piemonte, 3000 in Asti alone. They are entitled to enter any open lands in search of the golden nuggets. And golden they are. A small truffle (I really mean small) will sell for about 30-50 Euros at local establishments (@3-5 Euros per gram)……The dogs are trained from youth and they are the true treasure. Our little cane went scurrying through the trees (truffles grow 4-8 inches underground near the roots of certain trees), and when she picked up the scent, buried her nose in the ground and started to dig. The truffle hunter scurries over and the two of them proceed to dig and search….Sure enough we (ie the dog) found a truffle in two separate areas….The smell is intoxicating.

After the hunt, back to the farmer’s very nice home (while truffle hunters generally hunt as a hobby – however, there are obvious financial benefits) for some local wine (from the vineyard down the hill), real truffle oil on bread, and generous shavings of the white gold over a local mild cheese. This truffle was found the day before – truffles should be eaten within a few days of being picked…Quite delicious…Wanted more and more. A fun morning.

Therafter we headed to Alba – Asti’s rival city. Smaller and quainter, the town literally smelled of truffles – the annual truffle festival was beginning the next day. Looked in all the quaint food and wine shops and wanted to buy it all….

The previous day was spent exploring the Barolo region with a tasting visit to Rivetto del 1902 winery and another fabulous lunch at Cascina Schiavenza in Serralunga D’Alba. The bottle of Arneis (a white wine from nearby) – was not my favorite. We sat outside with a great view of the surrounding landscape. The 2 ½ hour lunch was topped off when the Italian man and his wife sitting next to us bought us all an appertif of Barolo cinato – an herb induced liquor.

2009-10-08T09:52:00.001-07:00

WEDNESDAY: Barbaresco or meeting Angelo Gaja

I met the King of Piemonte – Angelo Gaja…but first a quick recap of events…

Tuesday found us driving through the Alps to arrive at Villa Sampaguita – our destination just outside Asti. No autostrada thru these mountains, so winding roads up and back down into Italy. After lunch, a quick visit to our first medieval hill top town of Saluzzo – visited in particular to find a highly recommended cheese store – and onto our Villa with various local chesses on hand for dinner.

The Villa is owned by Tim Brewer, a real character who loves to chat and is an expert on all things Piemonte. The villa has B&B rooms and two apartments. Close to Asti, but deep in the countryside. In fact, behind the Villa resides a very cute little donkey. Les and the ass have bonded… unfortunately (at least for the donkey), we found out later that he will be sausage in a few weeks…..

Today was our excursion to Barbaresco. Beautiful rolling hills covered by vineyards, mostly nebbiolo grapes. It is a small, beautiful hillside town where tourists and the wealthy like to visit. I counted numerous BMW’s and at least one Mazzerati in the handful of parking spaces. Great lunch at Trattoria Antica Torre (not cheap), and then my encounter with nobility….

The Gaja winery is located in town. A big iron gate shuts out the public. Gaja wines are renowned and very expensive. The Trattoria in town had a bottle of 1998 Barbaresco for 375 Euro…I wanted my photo taken in front of the Gaja sign, as I presume that will be the closest I’ll ever get to tasting a Gaja wine. Subito, up drives this gentleman who appears pleased we are taking a picture and tells to wait a moment while he goes inside to get us a book about the winery. Damn, I said, that looks like Senore Gaja himself! Indeed it was and a few minutes later he comes out with two books, inquires were we are from – we tell him Sacramento, he mentions Darell Corti – and I have my picture taken with him in front of the Gaja sign. I am star struck…Nebbiolo heaven. The only thing better would have been a wee taste of his Barolo, but I”ll have to settle for the photo…..

The evening meal is homemade pasta with fresh and dried porcinis bought at the market in Asti accompanied by a 2003 Francone Barbaresco purchased during our earlier visit at the winery....Not a Gaja, but not bad.

2009-10-07T00:37:00.000-07:00

MONDAY: Cruis

Sometimes one stumbles and still lands a perfect 10….The Auberge de l’ Abbaye in in the small hamlet of Cruis is close to a 10… especially after the cramp quarters of a canal boat. I booked this place on the Internet because it was about half-way to our destination in Italy; Michelin had also mentioned its restaurant. Located in the Alpes d’Haute Provence region, Cruis has about 400 inhabitants, our one hotel (9 rooms), one café and patisserie – and is picture perfect. Our room had a little balcony that overlooked the local 12th Century eglise with a view of the entire valley below….After picking up our rental car in Bezier and driving 300 kms through Provence, it was a nice stop……

A young couple run the place – husband cooks, wife manages the hotel…..And the food? Best meal so far… Plain, little dining room, but easily one-star quality food. Started with “Les noix des Saint Jacques sur une fondue de poireau au champignon”; followed by “La ballotin de magret d’ore du Sud Oest fourree de sou foie gras jus de carcasse et flan de cepe” – essentially slices of goose wrapped around its own foie gras; Ending with “L’ananas dans tous ses etats” – which didn’t sound interesting, but ranks amongst the best desserts I’ve ever eaten…pineapple four different ways, all magnificent…30 Euros.

Life is rough...

2009-10-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY: Argens-Minervois – Capestang

Only one lock today – 54kms free of voyeurs until we reach Beziers. Last night a hurricane came through – I’d say a three-club wind. All night the well-used blue fenders of the side of the boat were bumping the side of the boat – thump-thump – makes for particularly unpleasant sleeping.
Another observation…Les is more mechanically inept than I am, and that is saying a lot. Toilets on these boats are not the nice little flush things. You must crank the handle to fill the basin, thereafter turn a switch and crank again to let the waste water recede into the holding tank. Suffice to say Les had some trouble figuring it out…..
Capestang is a bigger town with all the amenities. All four of us went out for pizza at Le Provence. Strikingly good.. For 10 Euros a pizza, 8 Euros for a litre of good local Chateau Plonk – a cheap, wonderful alternative to the typical menus….
Along with the holiday self-drive boats, there are large hotel barges that ply the canal. Beautifully laid out, with gorgeous teak interiors and usually carrying 6-10 passengers, they are the five-star version of canal life. The pilots are quite adept at piloting these enormous vessels through the often-tiny bridge underpasses.
You also see a lot of bikers along the canal. A dirt path runs alongside the entire canal. Groups of bikers on organized tours will zoom along with their maps/itineraries attached to their front handlebars…One of the woman we met on our walk had biked the entire length of the canal – some 600kms according to her calculations. These dirt paths might be a bit hard on the ass, but compared to the misery of blisters, I’ll take a sore bum anytime..

SATURDAY: Capestang – Beziers
Another lazy day capped off by the seven Fonserannes locks at Beziers. These locks are only open in one direction twice a day, so one must arrange their boating plans accordingly. We opted for the afternoon time – 1pm. There were a line of boats prepared to venture into the locks, but of course the eclusier did not arrive till near 2pm. Down we proceeded with scores of voyeurs following our descent – this being the most famous of all the locks on the Canal. It took 45 minutes to maneuver the locks. We had one group of inexperienced French persons handling one of the four boats in our flotilla. There were 8 of them…all inept. My favorite of the group was the very middle-age woman wearing spandex shorts. She had this look of disgust every time the boat behind theirs crept up close. Les couldn’t avoid commenting that she was “too old for camel toe”…..
We strolled into Beziers, by far the biggest city we have visited. Found and bought – for 1 Euro - a little bicycle at the local bri-bac outdoor marche to add to my collection. Sat down at a shady café in front of the cathedral, drank pastis while Les chatted with her sister using our Skype access.
Dinner was by the Canal at an upscale restaurant called La Refiniere – a converted sulphur refinery…very nouvelle cuisine. This was the restaurant recommended to Lyle by a sommelier in Palm Springs – we stepped off the boat in search and it was 50 meters away. A great bottle of 2008 Domaine La Croix Belle – Les champs de Lys (Grenache blanc-viognier blend) accompanied a coquille st. jacques entrée followed by game hen with gnocchi.
Today is the second anniversary of Jules’ death. Just as he was always want to say on our canal boat trips - “time to get organized”…we never did and I don’t intend to start.

SUNDAY: Beziers – Port Cassafieres.
The last full day of boating. The days disappear into one another. A holiday really begins when one forgets what day it is. Getting close to that…..
Occasionally one sees boats for sale. Nice looking one today for only 50,000 Euro. I have to think it would be much more interesting than retiring to Florida…

2009-10-02T04:07:00.000-07:00

WEDNESDAY: Near Carcassonne

This is way too easy…Life at 6kms per hour…Or, if you really push yourself, 7kms per hour. We are on the Canal du Midi, meandering our way from Castelnaudary to Port Cassafieres. Interestingly, we are also travelling about 160kms, but the calorie count will be in the upward direction instead of the other way. The Canal is one of those “engineering marvels” (another name for a major works project) built in the late 17th Century, connecting the Mediterranean with the Atlantic (near Bourdeaux).
A quick update… We left Espalion by the only public means of transportation – the 8:00am bus to Rodez. Miss that bus, and it’s either wait till late aft. or hire a taxi for the 30 km ride to Rodez. From Rodez to Toulouse and on to Castelnaudary by bus and train. Arrived in Castelnaudary at 3PM, met up with our friends Mindy and Lyle and after a quick demonstration on how to use the boat we were off.
Immediately one must navigate 3 connecting locks to leave town. In other words, a catastrophy in the making. Before I recount, let me just say that the Sandford-Lobaco’s and canal boats have a long history of mishaps. This is our 5th trip in Europe on canal boats. Something interesting usually happens. Once I almost ran into a car on this same Canal – 27 years ago…..Odd to find a car in a Canal, but probably much more problematic for the person driving the car…. This time while the water was receding in our first lock, I noticed that our boat seemed to be listing to the side. Sure enough, we were about to tip over! (I exaggerate just slightly). Our rubber bumper had attached to the side of the lock…I rushed over trying to push the gazillion pound boat off the side before horrors ensued (I had a fleeting image of those mothers lifting cars to save the pinned child). Push as I might little happened until Lyle realized our predicament and put the boat in reverse. The boat plopped down into the lock…..Welcome to canal life.
Boating really is quite nice. Not all that much to do except avoid accidents, eat a lot and drink copious amounts of wine. Can’t complain about that too much. The most exciting part of the day is getting in and out of the locks. Three or four boats can be stuffed into one lock and maneuvering takes a bit of practice, especially since the newer boats are quite large. The canal wanders through vineyards and little towns where you can stop and eat some more. …This canal is very pretty, typically lined by large plane trees and wide enough for two boats to cross.
Speaking of eating...the regional specialty of this region is cassoulet. I love cassoulet. Anything with beans, sausage, duck confit and fat ranks high on my culinary scale. Next time I visit, it will be just to try the differing versions. However, I doubt any will compare with the one I had on the first evening on the canal…After boating for about three hours we stopped at 7pm (locks close at 7pm; In October locks close at 6pm). We walked on a dark road for about 1 km into the tiny village of Villepinte in search of a restaurant I had read about. We eventually found “Aux Deus Acacias”. One other couple was eating. Lyle and I ordered cassoulet, and what came from the kitchen was close to perfection. Spoiled the first time…..
Arrived in Carcassonne late afternoon on Tuesday, docked at the marina and went to McDonalds. You may inquire why I, that faux bon vivant would contemplate the inside of a McDonalds?...In need of a “Grand-Mac”?. No, just free WiFi, bien sur!. For a petite café, utilize the free service for as long as you want. Truly, “les arches d’or”….That evening, more cassoulet (not as good, but not bad) at a cute little restaurant by the canal, while Les and the others had the audacity to eat something different – delicious fresh fish and foie gras….
Wednesday morning took a stroll up the cite in Carcassone – the old walled city that was the model for Disneyland – or something like that. Cute and touristy - stayed for 10 minutes, more than enough. That evening after no further misadventures on the canal, stopped by the side of a vineyard, put our table on top of the boat and had a splendid little feast, topped off by a great 2002 L’Esprit de Pennautier from Chateau Pinnautieur (cab-syrah blend) bought from the winery from an unpleasant, pretentious little twirp…but damn good wine.

THURSDAY: Carcassonne to Argen-Minervois
An observation…there seems to be some sort of fascination among folks in watching canal boats go up and down in the locks – “les ecluse voyeurs” as I now like to refer to them. Sometimes a small gaggle of folks come to see the boaters make fools of themselves in the locks…an odd affliction, sort of like the rubber-neckers of our freeways
Another lazy day on the canal, capped by a brilliant lunch at the Auberge d’Aubossier – their patio sits right on the Canal….Mindy had the garcon take our picture, which you won’t get to see because can’t get her photos on my notebook. Suffice to tell you it was an image of two happy-looking couples enjoying their dejeuner in a gorgeous setting. Given the graying hair, probably more of a Gourmet Magazine photo-opt than Food & Wine….From there is was on to our destination and another miserable dinner on board – foie gras on toasted brioche, a pepper encrusted goat cheese bought at the tiny local market that morning, salad, and two bottles of wine (a lovely Muscat to accompany the foie gras) ….Life is slowing down to 4kms per hour…..

2009-09-29T09:39:00.000-07:00

FRIDAY: Aumont-Aubrac to Nasbisnals (26.5 Kms)
A miracle on the Camino…Whether it was the intervention of St Jacques or more likely, that lovely bottle of Corbieres Red last night, my blisters subsided sufficiently to allow me to walk. Painfully, especially the last few kilometers, but I made it to Nasbinals. Les was convinced she would be walking alone, but I showed her. And what a gorgeous walk it was. Crisp, clear day for walking across the Plateau d’Aubrac – landscape that reminds one of Connemara in Western Ireland. Empty, vast land, rolling hills strewn with rocks…few places for shelter. Pleasant walking territory, at least when the weather is fine…
We are generally staying at places that provide demi-pension – lodging, dinner & breakfast. Costs run around 100 Euro for the both of us. You can do this walk for a lot less by staying in Gites which would run around 12 Euro per person for a bed in a communal room. Can cook your own food or go out to eat. 3 or 4 course menus are about 15- 20 Euro. But since I am known as a big spender J, and we wanted to stay in nicer places – we opted for these, small, simple two-star hotels. At about $150 dollars a day for two, it ain’t bad. It would cost twice as much if you did the same walk through an agency – of which there are a lot choices on the Internet…..
The meals are always enormous and good. The house wine is always cheap – a pichet of the local Chateau Plonk at Nasbinals was 6 Euro. The hotels will amend their menus for non-meat eaters, so tonight instead of meat stuff tomatoes for entrée, they gave Les a large compost salad. Instead of beef “stew” (which was great), Les got an omellette (probably 4 eggs). Thereafter a big platter of cheese placed on the table (take all you want), and then dessert, and those calories walked off during the day are quickly replenished.
Speaking of food, the specialty of the Aubrac is aligot. It is on all the menus. Tomme fraiche, potatoes and garlic. Pureed together into this smooth, gooey paste – it is delicious, even if Les thinks it is too plain…..

SATURDAY: Nasbinals to St.Chely-Aubrac (17kms)
So much for the miracle. The right foot is very painful, but I limped my way into the next village. Hopefully, no permanent or temporary damage done. Another beautiful day, the first half finishing the Plateau while walking hills and skirting cows with horns. We have seen a lot of vaches on the walk – nice healthy looking ones. After the quaint village of Aubrac, where some noble built a hospital for the pilgrims in the 12th Century, it was an uncomfortable two hour walk downhill on very rocky paths to our destination. In by 2:30pm today….I could walk no further. One more day.
Guess I can”t complain too much. We have met folks who have dropped out because of foot problems. One young couple who we met on the second day had to stop today because the woman’s tendons were so painful. We keep bumping into a lone woman walker whose husband stopped after the second day because of blisters.. What a wooz!… We immigrants come from hardier stock!
Another lovely small hotel tonight – Hotel de la Valle. The hotels rated by the Logis folks seem the nicest. A bit more elegant dinner…..Since we did not want a full bottle of wine (well, Les didn’t) we ask for a demi. They countered with 500cl..fine by me. To the table comes the bottle of house wine, with a bit poured out (saved I’m sure) to that it is close to 500cl. You’ll never see that in the States.

SUNDAY: St. Chely-Aubrac-Espalion (22Kms).
Finished! 160 kms. Do it again in a flash. In fact it would be quite easy just to keep walking. One gets into a routine and it is quite enjoyable. Keep the feet healthy and you can walk to the ends of the Earth…or at least to Santiago de Compostela.
We left the Aubrac today and walked downhill into the Lot region. Much more lush countryside….Sundays in France are very quite. Even in a larger town like Espalion (6000 inhabitants) just about everything is closed. We will get a bite to eat later and try and find the bus tmr morning to Rodez and then on to the Canal du Midi…..The Hotel is a bit of a dump, but inexpensive – 24 Euros for a lumpy bed in dark room. But who cares…

We said good-bye to the remaining walkers who we have been sharing the occasional “my feet hurt” conversations on the walk…Among then, the French retired couple who are walking for two more weeks, and the friendly Dutch couple that loved to eat (we found out this last evening that the Dutch couple live in the same town that an old friend from Berkeley days used to live in. I have lost touch with Paul. The man said he would try to look him up for me)...The fact is that everyone stops to eat at 1PM – I actually think it is genetic with the French…We always were the last to leave our Hotel and the first to arrive at our destination, passing folks having their “picnic” on the side of the path (where they found those goodies to eat I’ll never know)….
One of the things about travelling with my partner of all these years is that she always seems to develop a sense of humor once she leaves Sacramento… Her latest observations on life are the pronounciation of the oft seen French words “poussez” and “pneus” – push and tires in Anglais. I’ll leave it at that…

PART TWO: Canal-du-Midi...upcoming

2009-09-24T12:59:00.000-07:00

Finally, wifi access.... Posting my ramblings....

SUNDAY:

It may be true that “we”ll always have Paris”, but we had it for only about 3 hours after our arrival on Sunday. Cleared customs by 7:00am, hopped on the RER and when making our underground transfer knew we had arrived by the intense, delicious aroma of butter and pastries enveloping an otherwise desolate underground station…where else but Paris. We stored our 2 bags at the Gare de Lyon and were walking the streets of Paris by 9:00am. Where to but the Sunday market that radiates North from the Place de Bastille. Great market – the amazing variety of cheeses from the numerous fromagerie sellers are enough reason to make a trip….
After sitting for a café crème near the Place des Vosges, we were back to the Gare for our trip to Le Puy. TGV to St Etienne – it waits to be seen if Ca. will really have something as fast..Then the local to Le Puy - the surprising part of this part was the beautiful scenery of the valleys that wind through the Haute-Loire river as one reaches Le Puy
Le Puy – the beginning of our walk - is a gorgeous ancient city, made more interesting by the fact that as we walked into town nearly everyone was dressed in medieval garb. Time warp? No, just part of an annual festival. A delicious three-course dinner at Restaurant Lapierre and off to bed for the big day tomorrow.

MONDAY: Le Puy to St. Privat (24kms)
First thing in the morning (7am) we attend the pilgrims Mass at the Cathedral. Not quite the church goer am I, but this simply had to be done. A Mass is given every day for the walkers/pilgrims, and well, a blessing or two can’t hurt. I was wondering how many pilgrims would attend – given the fact that we are later in the season – expecting maybe 25 or so. Probably close to 60 folks were there. After the Mass, the Bishop gathers all around the statue of Saint Jaques and inquires were all are from. We were the only ones from the USA, most coming from France with a scattering of Germans and Spanish. Mostly “mature” persons like yours truly. Nice little bonding experience…And to think that something like this has been done for close to 1000 years…We left town headed straight uphill, which appears to be the way one leaves all these towns. Up and down most of the day with beautiful views of the countryside – none of which you will get to see because my little camera stopped working shortly after a couple of pictures. Damn. Knew I should have had it blessed by the Church. So, it appears only the written word will be available to keep you all amused.
Speaking of amusing, Les almost fell asleep walking. Never quite seen that before, but having gotten virtually no sleep the previous evening and suffering from jet-lag, perhaps not such an odd occurrence…Well, after about six hours of somewhat difficult walking intermingled with occasional chats with co-walkers, we arrived at the charming little village of St.Privat… A gite this evening – communal cheap sleeping place for walkers. Fortunately, we had our own room, so I had no need to pretend to be social or hear others snore. Dinner at the only restaurant in town made up for the entertainment. For the princely price of 16 Euros a four course meal that could have fed four. Decent enough food, but stupid big portions…my main dish was pork belly (ham like) on top of local lentils – but must have been a bloody pound of lentils….Let me just say that lentils have a certain effect on me – what Les and I are now calling the Le Puy syndrome…..

TUESDAY: St Privat – Saugues (20kms)
Lots of elevation change today. Makes the 20kms a bit harder, especially since all that pre-walking training in Sacto did not encompass hills. Downhill is certainly the hardest, but uphill ain’t a piece of cake especially after a one and a half hour walk straight uphill. A cool, foggy day, great for walking. Spoke to a couple of walkers that have done the Camino and they (and others) say that the part from Le Puy to Conques is the prettiest and hardest. So far they are correct….Arrival at Saugues at the very reasonable hour of 3pm. Bigger town, with a cool 14th Century tower and lots of places to stay. We are at La Terrasse (Michelin rated hotel and restaurant). Up to now, no access to the Internet to post these ramblings, but did get to the Tourist Office which let me utilize their Internet to send a “we are alive” email to family…..For my wine friends – a glass of decent local wine at the corner café: 90 cents, and that’s with the bad exchange rate….The evening meal at La Terrasse was superb. I started with the “lentille se fait blonde, a la recontre des moules de Mouchot et des crevettes”, and Les haqd the “cepe entire cuit en ragout et son oeuf biologique poche”. We both had the “pave de saumon et panais, sauce marchand de vin”. A plate of local cheeses and “crème citron”. Not only does it sound better in French, but it was superb and only 20 Euros – way less than half for a similar meal in Sacto. Half bottle of a lovely Cote d’Auvergene (which had to be a Pinot), and a good day it was.

WEDNESDAY: St Privat – St. Alban (30Kms)
After a fabulous buffet breakfast, and a failed effort to fix my camera, we took off. Les was freaked about the distance, especially since her feet seem to belong to a 90 year old. Foggy start, but blue skies for the rest of the day. Again, beautiful countryside – verdant hills, virgin forests, etc. etc. Not as many undulations (as the Brits would say) as yesterday, but a long, tiring walk. I pretty much carried Les the last 3kms, or so it seemed to me. We chatted for a while with a youngish Frenchman who was walking carrying 15 kilos all the way to the Spanish border – a mere 500 miles. He nevertheless seemed quite rationale….Already there is a group of walkers whom we have come to know and meet up with while walking and at dinner: the two French couples who are using a car and taking turns driving and letting the others walk; the French great- grandmother and her sister who refer to us as “Les Americain”; and the friendly and attractive Swiss couple – the husband of which speaks perfect American English because his mom was American. A motley, but interesting group….We are staying at a Chambre d’Hotes (B&B). We are only the third Americans the owners have had in five years – obviously this walk/area is not common ground for us foreigners…Dinner was at a local restaurant – nothing to write home about, except that a carafe of decent red was 4 Euros – and when was the last time you had a bottle of decent Chateau Plonk at a restaurant for 6 bucks? (including tax and tip, as all meals in France do).

THURSDAY: St. Alban to Aumont-Aubrac (16kms)

A blessing on your head, mazeltov, mazeltov…oops wrong religion for this walk, but a blessing in any event as we had a short day – still walking through gorgeous countryside and petite villages. Thank goodness for a short day because I am the recipient of the walker’s curse, blisters. A couple of nasty ones on my little toe…In fact, as I write this, my foot is soaking in a bidet full of hot water. After all my complaining about Les’ foot ailments it appears I am struck with a worse problem. We shall see what transpires tomorrow – we only have 27kms to walk…ouch! Our hotel not only has wifi access, but a one-star Michelin restaurant. A fabulous dinner was had, which I am not going to detail because my toe hurts too much. One last observation for today…all along the walk there are crosses, carved statues of St Jacques and other more modern free-style wooden carvings. On these objects folks place little rocks for reasons known only to themselves. I put a stone on one in remembrance of my mom; Les did the same for her dad. It seemed and was the appropriate thing to do.

Leaving on Saturday

2009-09-16T21:13:00.000-07:00

This will be my 22nd trip to Europe. Pretty amazing... It will also be my 4th long distance walk. This one will start from the traditional French start of the Camino de Santiago - Le Puy en Velay. It's @ 1600 kms to Santiago de Compostela - we hope to do @ 160kms. The rest will have to wait for future journeys. For those of you interested about all things Camino check out www.csj.uk.co home page of the Confraternity of St James.

2009-09-10T20:50:00.000-07:00

Getting ready

2009-09-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

We are getting ready for our 4 week trip to Europe. I intend to post some of our adventures to keep friends and family up to date... We leave on the 19th, return on Oct 17th