More Training . . .

Well time passes slowly.  More doctors appointments, more physical therapy, more hikes.  I have been hiking segments of the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail with the Mid-Atlantic Hiking Group, and once with the Silver Spring Outdoors Group.  It’s a moderate hike and  the 6 or so mile segments we have been walking have been just right.







Some of my fellow hikers had at least heard of the Camino de Santiago, so I mentioned that I was training for a portion of it that started in France.  It’s amazing to me that so many people have NOT heard of it, but I guess it’s just not on their radar. 

 I’m also trying to do some bike riding—something I haven’t done of much of in the past 30 years.  Although I did some riding around the block about 6 years ago for a few months, I stopped after I fell and broke my hip in Burkina Faso.  But recently, on an outing with the Silver Spring Outdoors group, on my fourth trip to Great Falls this year, I finally got a Senior Pass to the National Park system!  I had been hesitant to ask about it at the park entrance in the past because of the lines to get in, and because it wasn’t one of the locations listed as a distribution point on the National Parks website. 

 

As a result, I enjoyed my ride along the C & O Tow path very much that day!



I also learned indirectly from the Camino/Via Podiensis, etc. Facebook page about a book by French writer/film director Coline Serreau, Saint Jacques. . . Le Mecque, which was apparently made into a movie in 2005.  I somehow missed the film, likely because it doesn’t appear to have  ever been released in the US.  On the IMDb website I found release dates for France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Spain, Mexico and Japan, but none for the US.

I watched the trailers on YouTube in French and Spanish (entitled Peregrinos in Spanish), and it appears to be a comedy with some pretty good scenery.  French reviews seemed extremely polarized—absolutely loving it if they’ve walked the Chemin, finding it boring or irrelevant, otherwise.  I’ll check when I’m in Paris to see if it’s still playing there anywhere, or, if not, just buy the DVD.  I saw it for sale on Priceminister.com for about EUR 10.

After reading the latest entries on the APOC (American Pilgrims on the Camino) Facebook page, however, I've decided that very few of the modern-day pilgrims have any idea of the history or original significance of the Camino de Santiago. It is amazing how much ignorance there is out there.  But it is wonderful that so many people are undertaking it, and that little, by little, they come to learn, if even superficially, about the meaning of the pilgrimage route. Not to mention that many Facebook readers don't have much of an attention span, and rarely read the commentary preceding their own, before responding with hasty, often reactive, comments. Ah well. . .

And someone uploaded a link to a place on YouTube with some wonderful music for the journey:

Le Chemin de Compostelle : Musique de Paul Baraka 

And more planning. . .

Well the Michelin guide, Chemins de Compostelle : Le Puy-en-Velay Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port has now come in the mail.  It is very small and thin, but with heavy glossy paper and with pages I am not going to need, so I am going to do some double-sided photocopying of some 12 pages.  The elevation maps will come in handy, as will the road maps in case the GR65 is not clearly marked.  Although I may not need the gite information given, it could prove useful to have in an emergency, and it even gives the months of the year each is open, along with the daily opening hours.


I have also posted on various forums about what to take in terms of clothing, since the temperatures may vary widely due to the high elevation of portions of the route, whether to take a sleeping bag (or just a sleep “sack”), what type of shoes/boots to wear, and whether gaiters or rain-pants were recommended. 

Answers have varied somewhat, but having the input of those who have walked there, and the reasoning for their suggestions, is helpful.  From the responses, it appears that serious hiking boots are not necessary,  gaiters may keep the stones out of low boots, and the possibility of cold nights on the Aubrac given the high altitude, makes a summer-weight sleeping bag a serious consideration.  Rain pants have their adherents and detractors, so I suppose it depends somewhat on the weather conditions, the quality of the fabric, and the individual.   I already have a backpack cover and a lightweight rain jacket, and do not want to deal with a poncho or cape which I, personally, would consider cumbersome, so I’ve easily eliminated that option. 

I read one blog where the writer encountered abnormally cold conditions one year and that it actually snowed lightly a good portion of the time during his walk in October, so I guess need to do the 10-day extended forecast the day before I leave and pack accordingly.  I can wait until the last minute because I can leave items I don’t really need in Paris, so this is definitely a plan.
 
One of the contributors to the Facebook page :   Camino/Via Podiensis / Le Puy / Chemin St Jacques / la Voie du Puy-en-Velay saw a news clip on the French TV channel TF1 which he posted to site and I have added it below. Unfortunately you need to endure a commercial before watching it.
Click here for video clip of the Via Podiensis from TF1

And now the sleeping bag I ordered has come as well—it is made in China—no surprise—and once I took it out of its stuff sack I had enormous difficulty getting it back inside.  It weighs a little under 2 lbs, so heavier than I really wanted.  The label was apparently written by the math challenged: 860 grams or .84 lbs.  I think the grams are correct, so it should read 1.89 lbs, which is what it feels like.  Too bad—will have to think about this.  It’s also fairly large to be carried on my back for two weeks, and it would take up a huge chunk of my backpack.  But as it was on sale and quite cheap,  I’ll probably end up keeping it. . .

And then in visiting the Rockville Library yesterday, I stumbled upon another book on the pilgrimage route, in French, that I must have bought for the library system several years ago and forgotten about, Saint Jacques : Le Chemin des chemins, du Puy-en-Velay à Compostelle, by French travel photo-essayist Jean-Yves Grégoire.  The format is a little unfortunate, as the photos would benefit from being a little larger, but it is enjoyable just flipping through the pages and enjoying the photography.

I had also previously checked out another book, L'âme des maisons d'Auvergne, with its text by authors Matthieu Leclerc du Sablon and Catherine Fouquet-Doucet.  It also is lovely to look at, interpersed with photographs and sketches of the Auvergne region of France.  Although my walk through the Auvegne will only include the immediate region around Le Puy, it gives me more of a feel for the area. 

Robert Forrester, of the  Camino/Via Podiensis/Le Puy/Chemin 

St Jacques/la Voie du Puy-en-Velay Facebook-page fame, has also posted his own 2-sided single page lodging information sheet on the site, and it looks quite useful.  In his first installment he has covered just the portion I need, from Le Puy to Conques!

Download here

He says he prefers to hike unencumbered by heavy guidebooks, so he has reduced his information to a single sheet that can be easily plastic covered (water is the enemy of ink!) and slipped weightlessly into a backpack.

Biding Time

Well the time is passing.  I have spent time this spring/summer in physical therapy for my shoulder, which never quite got the therapy it needed after I broke my wrist mid-way during the previous shoulder therapy last November, and had to switch to  hand therapy.  And then there is also time spent in dog obedience training for my new little mini-dachshund, Zoé, even though my other doxie, Jacques, could benefit from some more socialization, himself.  Zoé’s six week training is still ongoing because of a delay [no class] over the 4th of July weekend, but ends the first Saturday of August.  The two have been benefiting from 1 –2 walks a week at either Lake Frank, or Lake Needwood, as well.


Lake Frank

Zoé, the escape artist

In addition, I have been doing an occasional short bike-ride myself, although my balance is not what it used to be and I have become a very cautious rider, and so far riding only in my neighborhood, or nearby. . .  I probably should be adding some balance exercises to my physical therapy routine. . .




One of my [blog] readers asked about my hiking boots.  They are Hanwag—a German brand—and pillow-soft.  I wore a pair of Teva trail shoes last year for my pilgrimage walk from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela, and decided that I needed an upgrade.  (If you recall, I hobbled into Santiago, not entirely due to the shoes, but still…) These new trail shoes are nubuck, but lined in very soft leather (deerskin?).  They are the most comfortable shoes I have ever owned.  I was looking at a copy of Backpacker magazine this morning, and noticed a couple of items of interest—socks that claimed to be anti-blister, and no-blister boots.  I can’t imagine getting a blister in these—only time will tell—but I will be quite amazed if I do.




And surprise, surprise.  Today on Facebook there was an ad from Montgomery County Public Libraries [MD] advertising the fact that one of their online subscription services, the Gale Virtual Reference Library, had some e-travel books.  I naturally had to try it out. 

Link to the research databases in the MCPL site

They were hard to find—you had to know these e-travel books existed to begin with in order to find them—but persistence paid off.  After trying “Camino de Santiago” and retrieving books on Spain, “the Way of Saint James” and “Saint Jacques de Compostelle” retrieving books on France, I then tried “Massif Central” and pulled up two useful titles.  Well maybe one useful title.  The bulk of these Virtual Reference Library titles are the Dorling Kindersley books—books with many, many tiny photos of places and objects, but not that helpful as a good overview of a subject.  One of these was a DK book.  The other was a Rough Guide on France, great for the independent traveler, downloadable in PDF, so that may be worth looking at.




I tried to add a picture of a page from that book but was unable to do so. . .   

And now I've finally bought my airline ticket, leaving from Chicago.  The price wasn't the best--actually it was terrible--but probably the best I'm going to get.  Actually more than half of the ticket price is taxes and additional fees, which have nothing to do with the actual fare at all.  I think it's around $500 for the actual ticket and over $600 in taxes and other fees!  I'm flying directly to Paris so I won't have to pay a segment charge!  You'd think I'd get a discount for NOT flying direct.  Crazy!
 
Meanwhile, there was a also a little excitement on the APOC (American Pilgrims on the Camino) and the Via Podiensis FB pages ( the latter recently renamed the Way of St James - Via Podiensis - Chemin du Puy-en-Velay site ). A young 28 year old man from Cork, Ireland was posted as missing by his uncle.  Apparently his last communication with his family had been from St Privat d’Allier, some 23k from Le Puy en Velay, and 10 days later there had been no word from him. The family panicked, notified the French police, and had messages up on the Camino FB pages.  The following day a young French woman reported that she had seen him in Conques!  I was caught up in his story, however, because by now I am somewhat familiar with the place of his last known whereabouts, and could guess where he was likely to go next given the distance he had traveled the previous day. Wanting to help out, I emailed all the gites that I myself had contemplated using, from Le Puy to Conques, informing them of his apparent disappearance and the importance of contacting his family should they see him.  I, subsequently, sent them all a follow-up email two days later,  letting them know that “the lost was found.”  Ah well, better safe than sorry, as they say.


The poor guy had no idea how much grief he had caused his family by trying to stay away from his phone and social media, but it is good to see how helpful these tools can be at times!