2:00pm class: When a massive wave comes, you either go over or through it. To go through the wave, hold onto the surf board rail. Extend arms straight with body in plank position. Shift your body off the board over water. Drop into the water rolling onto your back while pulling the board up and over you. (Like a turtle lying on his shell.). Push the tail of the board up with feet while pulling the nose down with hands. You’ve now created the perfect wedge to go through the water.
Classes are staggered based on the wave conditions for the group. There is always someone greeting you Baleal Surf Camp.Tali is making easy work of suiting up in her non-complicate wetsuit. Zinc oxide type of waterproof sunscreen comes in a riot of fun colors. Now getting it off if a challenge I have not mastered. Enjoying the day by the beach after surfing. Several rounds of beer for Instructor Thomas’s birthday.
9:00am class: Green water surfing is right of passage. Accomplished surfers congregate straddling their boards in the green water. From a distance they look like bobbing seals in the water. While perched on their board, they gaze for “the” wave. We rode the waves catching them as they swelled and jumping off before they crashed. Paddling to the green water must give surfers their massive arm muscles.
Exuberant Italians. all physical therapist and quick learners. Rosie and my Australian roommate Caitlin. Our youngest Arabella surfer was part of our surfing family. Families have special classes.Mitchell the youngest is part of our surf group. his experience in Hawaii gives him an edge.
Weather: 60-65°/ overcast, windy; light rain after class
9:00am class: Practice pop ups on the beach (pushing up with “chicken arms,” bring back foot on board, bring front foot on board). I surprise myself by riding on the board a few times.
2:00pm class: Practice pop ups on beach (MODIFIED: pushing up with “chicken arms,” bring back knee on board, bring front foot on board, stand on back foot). The class went to the other side of the peninsula as there were fewer people and different wave conditions but the more threatening shore wind could easily slam the board into your body. I had a few rides. One wave with the most tremendous force lifted and propelled my board all the way to shore. Albeit I road lying flat on my stomach and never had the opportunity to stand. Could this powerful wave be the type surfers catch and amazingly ride zigzagging in the curl?
As the day was windy, overcast, and 65 degrees I felt myself get colder and my energy level falling. I stopped class early and assistant Thomas carried my board back to Baleal Surf Camp while I ran trying to generate heat. Had I wimped out or was I listening to my body say tired bodies become accident prone? Making the right decision isn’t the most compatible with the ego.
Parade of surfers heading to the other side of the peninsula. “Into the breach.” The surf board nose into the surf or the wind will slam the board into your body.Rosie from Yorkshire.
Dorien is last year’s French instructor. Though not his current student, he continues to be attentive and helpful.Bruno who began Baleal Surf School 31 years ago. He literally swept me off my feet in his welcome. Kaby is my new head instructor. I literally can tuck myself under the arms of this giant.Gustavo THE instructor.Yours truly suited up for the zebra group, beginners with experience. Look a little off? My waxy sun screen is turquoise blue.
Weather: 60-75°/ hazy until noon than blue sky with white clouds
With morning haze lifted, Rosie and I got in our wetsuits to join surfers with boogie boards. Lots of fun and a soft reintroduction to the powerful Portuguese waves. Late afternoon a group of four French housemates invited us to join them with surfboards. I leaped at the opportunity but wisely back peddled. The smarter move would be to wait for lessons. The group was thrilled when I volunteered to photograph them in the water. A win, win proposition.
Buddy system for carrying boards makes the work easier. Rosie from Yorkshire and Marie from Paris. Yes, there is a surfboard under Marie’s feet. Ambroise from Paris who shared his expertise with the guppy surfers.
Back on the Camino! I walked this route in 2016. A smaller version of Cathedral de Santiago’s Botafumeiro. A rite of passage for a pilgrim’s finish. Square du Cardinal Saliège.Couvent des Jacobins
I chastise myself for the hours spent walking the Camino listening to a book on tape when I should have been building a reservoir of silence. I’m accosted by the sounds of construction equipment, traffic, and people. My ears are ringing. Why is it I never noticed tinnitus on the Camino?
It seems as if all main pedestrian roads are being upgraded. This hasn’t deterred non-vehicle traffic. Bikes, scooters, skateboards, strollers galore. First soldier…fully packed for “going cowboy” (expression from C. J. Box’s character Joe Pickett)A cacophony of noise. Rumble of the Metro.
Francès ~ Podiensis Camino – #31 Livinhac-le-Haut / Figeac
Distance: 16 miles / Total 409.3 miles
Ascent: 1,343’ / Descent: 1,378’
Time: 7 hours 30 minutes
Weather: 60-75°/ blue sky with white clouds
Today’s the less dramatic scenery serves as a calm conclusion for my Camino.
Never enough cows at their 10:00am repose. The Camino, the Way. Less drama in the scenery. Walking through miles of wheat with a backdrop of low mountains. Returning of the Lot River to cross into Figeac. What a brilliant way to end a way. Crossing the bridge into Figeac I hear my name called. The two French students in medicine and law have shared the walk and many Gîtes with me. They too have come to the end of their Camino.
Linda Scandore 