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!