Win, Win – June 16, 2024

  • Peniche – Baleal Surf Camp
  • 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.

Chastise – June 14, 2024

  • Toulouse – Figeac to Toulouse
  • Distance: 90 miles / walk, bus, train, taxi
  • Weather: 60-85°/ blue sky with white clouds

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.

Conclusion – June 13, 2024

  • 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.

Lakes – June 13, 2024

  • 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

The trail narrowed dividing a lake in two sections. With water on the left and right, it was like walking on water.

Lake.
Lake. Water so still.
Fisherman.
I can’t get enough of blue skies.

Wind – June 12, 2024

  • Francès ~ Podiensis Camino – #30 Conques / Livinhac-le-Haut
  • Distance: 14.9 miles / Total 393.3 miles
  • Ascent: 2,273’ / Descent: 2.567’
  • Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
  • Weather: 60-70°/ blue sky with white clouds

May the wind always be at your back…an Irish blessings.

Photographer Sakam Shiro.
Like clockwork, the cows recline at 10am.
Daisies in the wind.
Photographer Sakam Shiro.

Lines – June 12, 2024

  • Francès ~ Podiensis Camino – #30 Conques / Livinhac-le-Haut
  • Distance: 14.9 miles / Total 393.3 miles
  • Ascent: 2,273’ / Descent: 2.567’
  • Time: 8 hours 15 minutes
  • Weather: 60-70°/ blue sky with white clouds

Lines made by pilgrims.

Line of pilgrims reading same mass passage in Italian, English, French, Swiss German, and Japanese at Abbaye de Sainte-Foy.
Line of walking poles at Abbaye de Sainte-Foy.
Line of pilgrims shoes at Abbaye de Sainte-Foy.
Sitting in line with coffee and shoes off.