Yeah AMERICA!!

I'm with my peeps. The family whose names I forgot (mom, dad, late teenage son) from North Carolna, Graham the  commodities trader from Baltimore, Terry from Wisconsin, John from California, Marcia from Alaska. We are the USA Camino Class of St. Jean Pied de Port: October 6th 2013!  I talked their ears off. 

I heard that the easier route from SJPdP included 6km on the side of a busy road. I had enough of that on the Tours route so I opted for the high road regardless of the weather. As for the weather, it didn't snow but aside from that it was foggy and once we got up above 1200m it was pretty cold (below 10c). There was a momentary break in the clouds up toward the top of the route and even if I couldn't get it on camera it was a pretty spectacular sight - of SJPdP 1100m below and 22km away. You have to look close, under that little break in the clouds. 

I'm really getting a kick out of being in the same places as in May for a couple days. Since Ive got the same iphone as last time the place I'm at tonight remembers my wifi password, which makes me feel special in a weird sort of way. 

To Make Sure I Won't Ever Need A Sleeping Bag ...

I bought a sleeping bag - the cheapest one I could find. I'm lying in it now and it seems comfortable enough. 

The walk into SJPdP was partly cloudy the whole way - up until the Pilgrim's Gate was practically in sight. The sky opened up with a torrential downpour that managed to soak me to the skin within a half km. 

In May I made a post about the 'running of the lambs' in a town called Gramarth. A big herd of them marching through down the street to get their haircuts. Just as I was remembering that scene it recreated itself, only this time the had just recently been shorn. This picture was taken about 200 meters from the one in May!

Not sure why but I'm kind of nervous about doing the actual Spanish Camino. 

SJPdP reminds me of the first day at a new school in a cliquey kind of way. I probably feel that way because last time I was here I was part of the cool kid clique; the three or four of us who had walked from Le Puy. 

Since my route merged with the Le Puy route I have had a chance to socialize with some fellow walkers, all from Germany. If for no other reason I'm glad to have walked the Tours route because I can say with utter surety and conviction that it sucks compared to the Le Puy route!  I'm glad for other reasons as well though. The Tours route has such a wealth of important history. I've been in at least three towns that claim to host John the Baptist's head. The Germanicus / Tiberius arch in Saints is the kind of thing you won't find on the Le Puy route. 

I had always thought that Leonardo Davinci lived in Florence, or somewhere in Italy but as it turns out, he lived and died in a town just outside of Tours. It was really great being an American up around Tours. Patton liberated that part of the country from the Nazis. So, while the Le Puy route has gorgeous scenery and is pretty much unchanged from how it was a thousand years ago, the Tours route is a completely different experience.

 

Still Burning Those Haagen Das Bars

I've been walking for almost four weeks now and I still don't think I've burned off those four ice cream bars I ate, one after the other back in July.  Although it was obviously Dave's fault for falling asleep without eating his two, I'm not one to cast blame. 

In staying at the same place I stayed last time, in a town called Larceveau. It's halfway between St. Palais and St. Jean Pied de Port. I probably could have walked straight through but I think the weather is going to improve enough by Sunday to make it worth doing the 1300m climb up the Napoleonic route. 

There were 16 straight hours of thunderstorms last night and this am so I came reasonably close to staying put in St Palais today. I left at around 10:30 this morning and made it here by 3pm - without getting a drop of rain on me. 

I'm still using the same non-store-bought walking stick I found in the woods south of Tours almost four weeks ago. It's still hanging in there so the plan is to take it the rest of the way. 

Yesterday I mentioned a a specific spot where the three French pilgrimage routes converge. In pretty sure this is it.

 

Church Bell Overkill

I guess there's a certain charm to marking the time of day with church bells. Most towns ring them from eight am to eight pm but that village I was in last night (the one with no food) takes bell ringing to a whole new level. They ring theirs 24 hours a day. Just in case you miss the count, they repeat the ringing two minutes after the hour, so youll know its midnight when you hear the friggin bell ring 24 times. It almost seems as if the bell ringers union has a master chief negotiator. This is the view from the town hall studio I crashed in. The bell tower is pointed right at me!

Basquing in St. Palais!

About 6km from here is where the Tours Route meets the Le Puy route. It's a specific spot marked by a Basque monument that has been "the spot" for more than 1000 years.  

I'm in the town of St. Palais. It's technically on the Tours route, but I came here in the spring because its only a few km off of the Route that I took (Le Puy). 

It's great to be back!  There is wifi everywhere and women all have these cute short haircuts. In fact it's a little better than last time because the main square was all torn up, and now the construction is finished. 

The laundry stars aligned today. I thought I remembered a laundromat in the main square from last time and sure enough I was right. So I'll be starting the actual Camino all squeaky clean. 

Basque houses are really nice. 

Next Career?

There was a big street fair in Peyrehorade this morning. Just about everything you'd ever want could be found there. The most impressive vendor to me though was the Chausseres Carricart. An 18 wheeler sized mobile shoe store. 

First Chapel!

It's hard to believe but it took over three weeks to see my first chapel. I was about to take a picture of it when a guy behind me said "you can go in if you'd like" (first in French, then once he saw my blank expression, in English). He and his wife are Dutch and live across the street from it. They bought an old house a few years back and the chapel was on their property so they restored it. I'm really glad the guy encouraged me to check it out because they really did a nice job with it!