Author: Linda

Walk or Drive? ~ May 28, 2016

  • Saturday, May 28, 2016
  • Day 28 (Day 25 Camino)
  • Auch
  • Distance: 17 miles (35% tarmac) 363 1/2 total miles
  • Ascent 1,870 feet and descent 2,024 feet
  • Time: 9 1/2 hours
  • Weather: 60-75 degrees, blue skies becoming overcast…75% humidity

The seven French women reserve a week each year to walk a segment of the Camino. Five ladies walk with guidebooks in hand and daypacks on their back. While two ladies take the mini-bus carrying suitcases and shop for the daily picnic which mysteriously arrive mid-day on The Way.

These ladies fill the day with laughter and make me feel most welcomed. It really doesn’t matter we don’t speak the same language.

  1. Towards Auch
  2. Towards Auch
  3. Towards Auch

Yoga a’la Gîte ~ May 28, 2016

  1. Saturday, May 28, 2016
  2. Auch
  3. Distance: 17 miles (35% tarmac) 363 1/2 total miles
  4. Ascent 1,870 feet and descent 2,024 feet
  5. Time: 9 1/2 hours
  6. Weather: 60-75 degrees, blue skies becoming overcast…75% humidity

Supreme Gîte. The host did the cement work and the hostess the tile mosaics.  It has a separate building designated for yoga. Yes, I did my Mysore practice to the astonishment of others.

  1. Leaving l’Isle-Arné – Gîte de Lamothe
  2. Leaving l’Isle-Arné – Gîte de Lamothe
  3. Leaving l’Isle-Arné – Gîte de Lamothe

Abort ~ May 27, 2016

  • Friday, May 27, 2016
  • Day 27 (Day 24 Camino)
  • L’Isle-Arne
  • Distance: 12 miles (40% tarmac) 346 1/2 total miles
  • Ascent 1,081 feet and descent 1,156 feet
  • Time: 6 1/2 hours
  • Weather: 50-75 degrees, overcast becoming blue sky with white clouds…humid

Desiring to savor my moments on the Camino, I’ve decided to abort my agenda in favor of a slower pace, less mileage, and more relaxation. Rather than be driven by a destination, I’ll make the most of the day.

Looks like I’ve become the company of eight French nurses who hike a week’s segment of the Camino each year (I haven’t done the math to figure out how many years that will take) and two German women who travel with a Canadian man

  1. Towards L’Isle-Arne
  2. Towards L’Isle-Arne – Joining the nurses for a picnic
  3. Towards L’Isle-Arne – A German and Canadian who have mastered the art of walking the Camino. By the time I’d arrive, they had found a spot in the sun with a Heiniken close at hand.

Reminence ~ May 27, 2016

  • Friday, May 27, 2016
  • Day 27 (Day 24 Camino)
  • L’Isle-Arne
  • Distance: 12 miles (40% tarmac) 346 1/2 total miles
  • Ascent 1,081 feet and descent 1,156 feet
  • Time: 6 1/2 hours
  • Weather: 50-75 degrees, overcast becoming blue sky with white clouds…humid

This French couple reminds me of my Aunt Frankie and Uncle Wade. Where as my aunt and uncle sends me off with butter beans, this French couple sends me off with a bag of just-picked cherries.

  1. Towards L’Isle-Arne
  2. Towards L’Isle-Arne
  3. Towards L’Isle-Arne

World Leaders & Gîtes ~ May 26, 2016

  • Thursday, May 26, 2016
  • Day 26 (Day 23 Camino)
  • Giscaro
  • Distance: 19 miles (20% tarmac) 334 1/2 total miles
  • Ascent 1,768 feet and descent 1,717 feet
  • Time: 9 hours
  • Weather: 50-75 degrees, overcast

Pilgrims have commonality. We all walk to a destination with no more then we can carry on our back. In the evening we come together at gîtes sharing our walk and a bit of ourselves. Respect for privacy, possessions, dining, sleeping habits, and comfort are common qualities shared at the gîtes.

Would the world’s leaders learn more of peace and harmony by walking with no more they can carry on theirs back and sharing bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens with people from different countries?

  1. Léguevin – Accueil pèlerins Gîte communal Maison Saint-Jacques
  2. Towards Giscaro – Gîte du Grangé
  3. Towards Giscaro – Locals

A First ~ May 25, 2016

  • Wednesday, May 25, 2016
  • Day 25 (Day 22 Camino)
  • Lèguedoc
  • Distance: 14 1/2 miles (80% tarmac) 315 1/2 total miles
  • Ascent 840 feet and descent 674 feet
  • Time: 7 hours
  • Weather: 50-75 degrees, blue skies with clouds

Today is the first day I have walked totally alone. Exiting the metropolis of Toulouse was an added challenge to the walk. No wrong turns on an inconsistently marked Way.  Super!

Two French locals unsolicited offered to give me a ride to the next towns…how kind.

  1. Towards Lèguedoc – Windmill
  2. Towards Lèguedoc – At last off the Canal du Mini and out of urban Toulouse
  3. Towards Lèguedoc – flowering tree.

Bocce? ~ May 25, 2016 

  • Wednesday, May 25, 2016
  • Day 25 (Day 22 Camino)
  • Lèguedoc
  • Distance: 14 1/2 miles (80% tarmac) 315 1/2 total miles
  • Ascent 840 feet and descent 674 feet
  • Time: 7 hours
  • Weather: 50-75 degrees, blue skies with clouds

Bocce?  No.

Similar to bocce, pètanque is played with a small metal handball thrown as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a cochonnet (“piglet”). The steel ball can easily be picked up by a suspended magnet.

  1. Towards Lèguedoc
  2. Towards Lèguedoc
  3. Towards Lèguedoc