Welcome! Today was 11 miles,  bringing our total to 362 miles. By rough calculation, we have about 170 more miles to go on this journey!

Diane’s shins are no better, no worse. Getting in to a pharmacy for remedies has been difficult, with Saturday afternoon and Sunday/ Monday closures. This afternoon (Tuesday), we should be able to get in and get some supplies.

We’ve slso encountered a minor hiccup along the way. As Diane worked to confirm our upcoming reservations, she wasn’t getting a response from one place where we have a reservation in about a week. She finally reached them yesterday, only to find out that they are closed because of a health problem! We wish the best to these owners, but we are now scrambling to find a place during this ‘high season’. No doubt, we will, but we will be scrambling until we hear the “oui”.

C’est le matin! It is the morning! The mornings here are just beautiful. As we’re approaching Fall in the higher latitudes,  the angle of the sun’s rays is steep. This adds tremendous texture to the already beautiful countryside. 

Combined with the cool crispness of these September days, the mornings are magical. 

As we progress across this region in France, we are seeing more and more of the cultivated grape. Hopefully, this shot gives some credit to the fantastic view we had. 

The signal here is not good, so we will stop the post at this point.

A bientot!

Today was 13 miles,  bringing our total to 375 miles walked.  Diane’s shins were mostly quiet for all but the last 3 miles … then they roared. Here’s her ankle wrapped for the hike:

Shortly after this photo, we spied several curious young quackers checking us out! 

While very cute, their destiny is probably in the hands of a French chef somewhere.

Given the challenge of Diane’s shin, we decided to straighten out the route a bit. Again using Google maps, we found a small backroad that was more direct than the Chemin and shaved of about 2 miles for the day.

So, who walks in France? Where in Spain, the predominant reason for a hike like this is to do a pilgrimage, here it seems the primary reason is to do a vacation. We have met many, many French who like taking their vacations by walking a week or two in the Chemin.

There really is no equivalent to this in the States. It is a bit like backpacking, but every village that you pass through (and many farms in between) have B&B’s or Hostels.  And that’s where everyone intends to stay. The are usually campsites available, but it is not like the backwoods backpackers campsite that you would find in the States.

The Chemin de St. Jacques, or GR 65, is but one of dozens of hikes you can do across France (and Europe), and all of them are all well marked, and all of them are set up for the Hostel or B&B crowds.

As we said,  there’s really nothing like this in the States.

Hope all are well.

Today was 14 miles, bringing it total to 389 miles. It was also our 30th day of walking,  so our average day’s walk is 13 miles.

Last night, we enjoyed the company of the French host and hostess, along with 14 other French hikers. We were placed in the middle and our choice was, sink or swim. We chose “swim” and try to join the French conversation. After a while, the whole group decided to sing for us! Hopefully, this video does it justice (sorry about the file size, but it’s really enjoyable!):

The big question today was: How far could Diane make? The ankle had been very painful, with the end of day yesterday being very, very rough. Could she make another day, or should we just pull the plug?

The first change we instituted was this: 

See the difference? No? Notice the lack of back pack! She had it shipped. Excellent!

We then used our “slow speed” skills that were learned on that short day into Montredon to minimize stress on her ankle.

We also tried to eliminate extra steps, by not getting lost. We came across this sign and had to spend a few minutes figuring out which way to go … a bit confusing! If you have any insight, please let us know.

By God’s grace, we indeed made it! Here’s Diane celebrating at the town entrance. 

All for now. Tomorrow, Diane will either walk, or not. Well find out tomorrow!

Today was 13 miles, bringing our total to 402 miles walked. Okay, today was 12.53 miles, but we always round to the nearest mile.

Based on our estimates, we have 90 to 95 miles left before St. Jean Pied de Port. Although our plan had been to keep going for an additional 40 miles to Pamplona, that may be a pipe dream, given Diane’s shins.

Whereas yesterday we covered about 10 feet before Diane was in pain, today we made several miles before the pain became strong, but manageable. After 13 miles (okay, 12.53), Diane was still operating in control … the pain was manageable. She is icing now. We have two shorter days, tomorrow and the next, so there is a chance for some recovery.

Within a mile of our start, we crossed the river Adour.

This river eventually flows out to the Atlantic, like the Garonne.

The village of Aire sur l’Adour (on the Adour) was quite nice, and had one of the more unique Camino signs. No scallops for them! They go for the arrows! 

While we had the opportunity to enjoy several nice water scenes, like this lake, 

and this steam, 

most of today’s journey was across open farmland. 

Okay, Pardon? Here’s the deal:  For nearly 350 miles, we heard no American accents. The only native English speakers we’ve met were Australians (the Brits don’t seem to come here, at least to hike. There are many British retirees living in the south of France).

About 4 days ago, we ran into an American couple, then another, then an American traveling with a French woman. At our Chambre d’hotes last night, the proprietor said she had 5 Americans at her place the previous night. Wow! There are Americans walking the Chemin!

So, we Yanks are here. Our reputation seems good among the French (all politics aside).  Most really just enjoy talking with an American (as we certainly enjoy talking with the French ).

Au Revoir!

9 miles today, for a total of 411, so far. The wonderful, yet very stubborn woman continues to plug along!

The sun is waking up later and later as September progresses.

Our walk started very quietly for the first half mile, as our Chambre d’hotes was a bit out of town. Within a half mile, we saw four persons walking and talking … in American English! Turns out, they are from New York and had just started the day earlier. Very nice folks! The Yanks are indeed coming.

Five miles into the walk, we saw another amazing sight,  the Pyrenees! 

If you look just above the green horizon, you can see the outlines of the Pyrenean peaks. Our terminus is on this side of those peaks, St. Jean Pied de Port. We can smell the barn!

While good to be so close, both for the accomplishment and to get Diane off her leg, it will be very difficult to give up this walk, the French countryside,  the French people, and just the joy of waking each day to a new discovery.

Well, we’re still have another week or so to be melancholy, so we’ll save that for later.

Au Revoir

8 miles today, for a total of 419 miles overall.

The connection is very poor, with no available cell network for backup. Net, this is all we can post today.

A demain!