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Day 19: Chatelus to Pont de Dagnon Campsite.

I have to add a comment. Today, the 19th of August is the anniversary of Dieppe, which occurred August 1942. Over 900 Canadian soldiers killed and a few thousand captured. Total disaster. A typical brit f@#$up.

Decided to shorten the walk today. Instead of going to St Leonard be Noblat at 29 kilometers I decided to shorten it to 16 and stay at a campground by a river situated in this river valley, near a beautiful bridge among the lush almost tropical like vegetation. As I get further south I am told that the temperatures will remain warm and I will begin to see sub tropical like vegetation – mini palms perhaps. Also, this campsite is full of children laughing and playing and making all kinds of noise. Nice! Also, I have my own mini chalet, a shoe box really, but very clean and cool inside. It teminds me of my own youth and summers spent up at Georgian Bay. Magical memories.

Samuel cooked dinner last night – yup, PASTA again. Pasta seems to be a staple for us pilgrims or they all come from Italy. Actually, Samuel is a bit of chef and we were able to buy some ingrediants at the local Auberge, run by a middle age women in desperate need of dental work. But she was nice. The Auberge catered to the whole town. It was the town’s gathering, meeting place, especially in the summer months. And then, this woman appears out of  nowhere to entertain us. At first I thiught she was the village idiot ( I know, not kind) but she turned out to be a professional jester. We would call them buskers in Canada.

Actually, she was very jovial and entertaining. Notice the red nose.

Back to Samuel. Interesting fellow with just a few quirks. As I mentioned a few days ago he preferred to sleep away from the main dormatory and sleep by the heads (toilets). This time his place of  choice was in the kitchen by the fridge. I guesss he wanted to be close to the food for a midnight snack. He was very philosophical in his outlook on life. When I  entioned Michel and Yannick to him his response was that this  condition was  common  because this generation was not used to failures or hardship. Everyone gets the prize according to him. I could not really disagree with him. Samuel could be very intimidating but once you scratch the surface you find a very kind and thoughful human being. Samuel would not allow me to take his picture though. No problem. I always ask first.

I got underway today at 0645. Nice! Just me and the world….and the cows. Not a bad a trek as the last few days. Some hills but not too bad really. Sunshine and  cool  temperatures and lots a tree tunnels. For those of you not familiar with this term a tree tunnel is an area of road covered by a canopy of tree branches and leaves. They resemble a dark tunnel and provide the walker with a cool oasis from the heat of the sun:

Again, beautiful scenery. I arrived at the campsite at 1030. Probably the earliest stop yet. But I welcome it as it lets me recharge the batteries.

This post will be out early. Still hoping for some comments. Would love to hear from you. I will respond.

Why I hate my IPad? When I want to s@y so eth8 glime this tis is 2hT APPE@RS. SO IT takes me lo nger to cirrect th mistakes as to type th post. Translation? “ When I want to say something like this this is what appears. So it takes me longer to correct these mistakes then to actually develop and type the post.” Sucks!

That’s all she wrote.

Ramblin Man – that is what I am. The Pilgrim’s theme song.

 

Day 18: Benevent Abbaye to Chatelus de la Matevieu???

As I mentiond yesterday they were having a fete in town so I had to check out how the French liked to party. I walked the short distance into town and parked myself at the only opened bar. Across the road they had a band set up but no band. There were guitars, drums, electric piano but nobody around to play them. Some guy, who spoke pretty good English told me that the band would play later, after the bingo was over. Indeed, over half the town was under a tent playing bingo. Okay, I thought, I can wait for that. Well, at about 2200 (10 pm),I had had enough. That bingo must have been a real hoot as everyone was still there. The scene reminded me of Premery on my third day of  walking. Readers of this blog will remember:

” Oui monsieur, we have a bus. We have a bus stop, we have a bus schedule but we do not have any buses.” Reminded me of the department of silly walks.

” Oui monsieur, we have guitars, we have drums, we have pianos but we do not have anyone to play them….Sacre Blue” A virtual band.

The main drag at the height of the party.

I was staying in a pretty nice gite (jeet) run by a another English couple from England. The man had his own business installing septic systems and other human waste management technologies. We shot the shit (meerde) for about an hour. He then told me that the hike to my next destinatlion will be a difficult one. I didn,t k now whether to believe him after Duncan in La Souterraine. For all I know, given his occupation, he could have been full of shit. As it turned out he was right. The hike was a dichotomy of sorts. A very beautiful scenic hike that was uphill all the way. Clean crisp morning air, about 17 C, a light wind and scenery that was breathtaking. I find it difficult to find the words to describe the scene. Rolling hills, a tapestry of green. Fields of golden virgin hay, like a patch quilt separated by the lushest canopy of forest you will ever see. Deciduous trees. I can just imagine how beautiful that fall colour must be. And alas, you can already detect a hint of colour in the distant forests:

Mystery of life! Have you ever noticed how much cows look alike. I mean, look at this picture

:

They all have big ears, sad eyes and big snouts. So how does a mother cow know how to distinguish her baby cows? Huh? Huh? These are the sort of thoughts one has when going on a 900 kilometer walk. Crazy! You bet. Just another mystery of life brought to you by moi.

I covered off my 20 kilometers in about 4.5 hours. I found a cafe open where I parked myslf and ran into Yannick, a young Danish man from Denmark. Had a beer with him. I ran into him and Sara a few days ago. Another young man who told me he is doing the camino because he had a breakdown, or a crisis of being as I like to call it. Yannick is the second young man I have come across in the last few days who have had this  condition. Michel from Belgium has also suffered this malady. Sooo sad. Young men in the prime of their lives having a personal breakdon of confidence. What on earth is going on in this world? Hug your kids, no matter how old and tell them you love them each and every day. I tried to reassure Yannick and Michel when I walked with them, but alas, they will have to find their own path on their own time.

Then, out of the bleu Samuel appears. He is the guy at a hostel a few days ago who wanted to sleep by the heads as he is a averse to snoring. After a few hellos, how are you we decided to stay at the local git and cook dinner together. Yannick left. No Samuel is a colourful  charactet. Tall, husky, about 275,  tatoos all over his arms,  neck etc. Bald, someone you would be intimidatd by. But after getting to know him you find out he is highly educated, great sense of humour and one who speaks very good English. He is from Paris and has completed 3 caminos. The Camino virus as people relate to this. Yeah,Samuel seems to be s great guy. It just shows you that you cannot judge a person by his or her appearance. Samual is a sensitive man trapped in a Hell,s Angel,s body.

This song is for Yannick and Michel. I hope they find their way:

 

 

Day 17: La Souterraine to Benevant Abbaye

Had a wonerful day in La Souterraine. Lots of cafes and shops were open…yay! My Dutch colleague and I had a few pils before heading to our pelerin hostel at 1630 (430 pm). The lady at the hostel would not let us in early. Na pas problem.

Great evening sitting outside with another French family having dinner. This was fantastic as dinner and breakfast were included in our 35 euro tariff. But it did take a long time to be served. The place was run by an English couple from England! Duncan was the husband and he talked a great deal to us. Given the hard slog we had I asked him how tough the terrain was between La Souterraine and Benevant Abbaye. He said that it would be a breeze, flat all the way…..na pas problem!

Good dinner and good wine. My friend Berry was leaving for home in the morning. I would now be by myself for the first time in about 5 days. Na pas problem. That is Duncan the owner standing.

I left at 730 am the next morning. Today, the 17 th of aout. I said farewell to Berry and  was off. Bon chance.

It was a gloomy overcast day that threatened rain. About 21 C but the humidity was through the roof. It was not long before I was soaked from sweat.  It did drizzle a little bit but not much. The moisture in the air was reflected into the landscape which was lush. It almost seemed as if I was walking in a rain forest and not central France. It was another brutal climb.  It became so bad that I had a fantasy to return to La Souterraine and strangle Duncan. But I didn,t want to walk back 20 kilometers. “Duncan, you are a lucky man today” I thought to myself.

To put things into perspective for my Victorian friends, the brutality of the hills yesterday can be described like this. Put yourself on Dallas Road and then walk all the way to the ferry terminal at Swartz Bay and do that walk going uphill all the way. That is what we are dealing with here.

As I was walking  beside a field of cows I started humming out loud the theme from the Great Escape movie. It was loud. Well, all of those cows came running in my direction and then followed me to the end of the field. That was cool and funny. I seem to have a way with cows. Don,t know for sure though!

I am now sitting in the gite etage in Benevant Abbaye refreshed, writing this  blog. There is a ”fete” going on here this weekend so I am going to go and check it out. For the uninitiated a ”fete” is a fair.

Oh and I met three more pilgrims today. Michel from Belgium, Sara and Sophile from Paris. They are finishing in Limoges.

Love this photo . It says it all to my non French friends:

The price of pain. Pour moi? Ne pas problem!

Another good hiking tune:

Day 16: Crozant to La Souterraine:

A day in my pilgrim,s life.

As I got up and got out of bed I banged my head against the shelf above. Some books came crashing down on me. It was 0530 in the morning. Damn I thought  I screamed. Over on the other side of the dorm I thought I heard someone say “ Mon Dieu.”

“Darn”, as pilgrims are not supposed to swear. So I go up. It was pitch darkness and I did not want to wake anyone. As I was walking, no tip toeing towárd the heads (toilet), I banged my big toe against the leg of the bed.  “Damn, merde, shit” I screamed again to myself. Owee, that hurts. I then thought I heard my dear wife whisper in my ear: “ John, not only are you a slob you are also a big klutz.” Yes dear. I thought to myself.

I made it to the head only to see or feel that some guy, er pilgrim, was sleeping on the floor by the heads. Oh yeah, I remember. This guy was sensitive to snoring so he moved his mattress by the heads. Snoring or smell? Take your pick. Anyway, I tried to be a quiet as a mouse as I opened one of the doors to the stalls:  caaaw-reeek, the door needed oil. ” Mon Dieu” I heard from th other side of the dorm. I went into a stall and closed the door only to see no toilet seat. No matter. I am a male after all and this is the call of nature for numero uno. Then I tripped on something and fell down and low and behold the toilet was not secured to the floor. With a bang it fell sideways. “ Holy shit.” I said. “Mon Dieu.”I heard again and the guy on the floor beside the toilet just grunted and turned over. Finally, I got out of there, brushed myself off and tip toed back to my bed. Then again my big toe banged again on the corner leg of the bed and I tripped and fell into the bed beside me. That guy was not amused. “ Mon Dieu” I heard again. I apologized to the man in the bed, got my things together, strapped on my rucksack and made my way to the door. I then hit a table as I was opening the door. “Mon Dieu, mon dieu, mon dieu monsieur.” I heard over again and with that I started my day. As I opened the door to leave I yelled back into the darkness of the room: “ Mon Dieu to you too, adieu.” And with that I was on my way.

They are not kind to pilgims. Crozant was at the top of a big hill by the Creuse River. A beautiful site but not to  a pilgrim at the end of the day. We made it to the top, found our accommodations, unpacked, then proceeded to the cafe. I could not believe it. We had  chickenm wings and beer. And they were some of the best wings I have even had. Great. Had some red vino as well and pickd up another bottle for later in the evening. Gawd, how I love this pilgrim life. “ Mon Dieu.”

This is Netherlander Berry. Good company. Pascal from Strasbourg, also joined us. Great evening.

In the morning when I left, the trail had us go all the way back down to the river bed to start our hike. We basically covered off over 100 meters of elevation in less that 500 meters. That was brutal. We followed the river bed into a magical land of streams, woodland and moss. It was cool and very pleasant. The water cascaded over the rocks and weirs and gave it that fresh relaxing aura. It made it even more enjoyable to the senses:

It was a hard slog again today. 24.5 km in 31 degree heat. And it was all uphill. Obviously our elevation was increasing as we headed south. Coming out of the beautiful Creuse River Valley was akin to a death  march, or as I like to refer it to as the Compestello Sweat. We did come into a few villages but I am not going to bore you with that “F” word anymore but it was Thursday after all and everything was………….

But there were also some lighthearted moments:

 

“You talking to me? Are you talkimg to me? Yeah you, you. Are you talking to me, huh?, Huh? Well are you?  Okay, then how about you guys?”

 

Pascal from Strasbourg.  He is 64.

Another great tune to listen to as you are doing the Camino Sweat March!

 

 

 

 

Day 15: Gargiless to Crozant

Gargle more or Gargle less. It,s entirely up to you.

Well after my meal last night with 2 bottles of vin rouge I really needed to gargle this morning. And what a fine dinner me and my colleague had. Barry from the Netherlands, who was also with the Von Trappe family. Just he and I now as the family ended their hike in Gargle more or less. I know…..groan.

We celebrated the milestone of completing the Nevers southern variant in fine fashion:

Fine French food.

Gargleless is a bohemian village set low in a lush  valley among low lying hills and valleys. A old rustic, ancient church and castle anchors a town of local and regional artists. Pottery, sculpting, painting – well just about any type of art you can think of. Steep hilly streets with quaint houses and shops give the place a homely but affluent feel. Warm and inviting restaurants, bars and terraces complete the scene. Marvellous.

Hey, maybe I should keep my shirt on. 20 years old I am not.

Today,s hike was brutal. The worse day yet. Hill after hill after hill. Entered and came out of the Cruise River valley with a hill of about 2.2 km in length with 4 switchbacks. Massive. That was followed by another, then another. We crossed valleys. We did,nt follow them. We crossed them. Whenever we descended we cringed for we knew we had to go up again. What goes down, comes up. There were a few times where I wanted to puke…out of exhaustion. It was tough. I am so glad I trained for this. The hike was 22.2 km. Temperatures were mid 20,s. Okay. Only saving grace to all of this misery was the fantastic scenery and landscape.

A have had a few queries wondering if I was enjoying this. Perhaps my posts have sent the wrong message. Yes, there have been frustrations but I am only reporting on things I observe. Rest assured I am loving this. It has been great. I may sound upset at times but I like to see things in a humourous light. Imagine! I haven,t read the news in over a month, no tv, no anything.  Only the present – no past,no future. Just today. Wonderful.

Thanks for reading and following this blog. Love to receive more comments. Hey Georgina?

Ran into 4 more pilgrims today. Gave the secret codeword. Cannot tell you what it is as it is a secret. I think there is a secret handshake as well but I am not sure.

See ya.