JOUR 1- 22 août: Départ de Saint Jean Pied de Port, France

Cette journée est dédié à mon cher défunt Papa, Thaddée (Ted) Duguay.  Il aurait tant voulu faire ce pèlerinage, et je sais qu'il est très fier de moi, son aînée, d'autant plus que Papa était fier de tous ses enfants. I carry him in my heart, with me, on this important journey of self-reflection, discovery and renewal.

We left St. Jean Pied de Port at 8:10 am, cloudy with showers.  We climbed 900 metres and did 7.9 km in less than 3.5 hours to arrive at Orisson, our hostel for the night. This is my first time in the Pyrenees. Absolutely incredible! Indescribable beauty. I can't post pics for some reason, but I am having better success with pics in my email. This picture I put in my draft before leaving Canada.

A Liz from Seattle, Sari from Aruba and Katherine from Sweden are all in our room of six beds, and Mark from Ohio. Poor man. Stuck with six women. Weather was overcast and it rained
during the climb but nothing major. It had stopped by time we got to the Albergue. Ours bags we had sent on ahead for 8 €,  were here when we got here. It is so much easier to hike with a smaller backpack. The scenery is out of this world. We had a nap, and supper with 40 other "peregrinos" from 15 different countries!

It is interesting that although Canadians represent only 3% of "peregrinos", that 3% is all here now. A group of nine from Edmonton, (there is a Bishop in that bunch!), Normand from Montreal, and Cam and Marie from Calgary with whom we hiked.  There is an an awesome sense of "bonhomie", and camaraderie on The Camino. We sang Happy Birthday in Basque to the owner of the hostel, over our Basque cake for dessert.

I have had my adventures, but I will have to stick to facts for now and save the stories for when I have more time and better WiFi.

Signing off of Day 1 with love and gratitude for being where I am, in Orisson, France.

Bonne nuit mon Cher Papa au ciel.

Our first two nights in France. I love AIRBNB!

Our first night in Toulouse, in an apartment in this complex. 



 Where we are staying tonight in the Basque Region of France the night before we start El Camino.



About to board our flight to Toulouse via Munich

First of all, I want to wish a VERY HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY to a very special lady and world traveller - my good friend Rosie. It is fitting that I should be wishing her a very special day, as we spent many a time sitting in airports together. We even got stuck in Paris overnight, on one trip, thanks to Air Canada shutting the gate in our face. Hope today spent with your loved ones, was truly wonderful Rosie!

Nancy and I spent the day in a VIP LOUNGE at the airport in Montreal, going through all the stuff in our backpacks. Nancy is a gadget queen. You would NOT believe what that woman has in her backpack.

On a more serious and reflective note, I want to share the following thoughts ...

I must admit that it is with much trepidation that I will foot on French soil again after 11 years. You see, the first time I went to France, in 1989, Maman knew she had "something",  but chose not to tell me. She and Papa were minding Sean and Joëlle, who were 3 and 5 at the time. Isn't a mother's love so TOTALLY unselfish, no matter how old her child is?  She wanted me to have a wonderful first trip to Europe and not worry about her. Six weeks after I returned, Maman had almost half of a lung removed, because she had lung cancer. We are so fortunate to have her with us still. She is a survivor!

I returned to France in 2004 for a wonderful barge vacation on the Hivernais Canal in the "Bourgogne " region of France, followed by a week in Normandy, visiting WW2 Canadian battlefields, monuments and cemeteries. I knew Papa wasn't well, but it was in a tiny phone booth in a quaint little village in Bourgogne that I learned from my sister-in-law Pam, how really ill with cancer, my father had become. I will always remember that moment in time; it is frozen in my mind. My cher Papa died less than 10 months later.

Alors, je vais demander à St.Jacques de Compostelle de bien protéger et veiller sur les miens, ma famille et mes amis, surtout lors de mon petit séjour en pays Basque de la France, tout au point de départ pour mon pèlerinage.  Qu'il vous protège tous.  May God bless and keep you all, safe and well , especially as I am far away from you.

You CAN be too well prepared... so buy duct tape!

Two days before departure, I realize I have worn out the heels of my hiking boots! Can you imagine? I have hiked less than 40% of my upcoming 820 km trek, and I have just been told by my shoemaker that my boots will not last this hike. Furthermore, it is too late (timewise), for him to try to fix them. OMG, I press the panic button. I do that instinctively and then calm down later. It happens every time.

Many frantic messages, emails and calls back and forth to my wonderful daughter and son-in-law, have resulted in their obtaining a refund on my boots for me from a well-known outdoor store in Edmonton (MEC). That is wonderful!  It means that on my way to the airport tomorrow morning, I have to stop and buy a roll of the most expensive duct tape I can find.  When my boots really start to fall apart, I will duct tape them, find the nearest outdoor sporting goods store in whichever Spanish city I am closest to, and buy myself another pair of hiking boots. I am already overloaded in my backpack. Il n'en est pas question de charroyer une autre paire de bottines dans mon sac avant d'en avoir besoin.

ALL of which means that I will end up doing what I tried to avoid by breaking in my new boots and hiking  all over the North Shore IN THE FIRST PLACE; I WILL be breaking in a new pair of hiking boots somewhere on The Camino. Which is a no-no! So, I may be looking at blisters and aching feet after all, I guess.  Oh w-e-l-l, as we say in French; L'homme propose et Dieu dispose.  In other words, the best laid plans of mice and (wo)men... are all for naught. Hey, in the grand scheme of things... this is just the beginning of my adventures.

Un gros merci pour vos souhaits si nombreux, de "Buen Camino", "Bonne Route", "Safe Travels".

336 kilometres later - 336 kilomètres plus tard....

PLEASE NOTE/VEUILLEZ NOTER

I have temporarily changed the heading of my blog to My Camino, for the duration of my trek. :)

W--e--l--l--, I wrapped up my last training hike with a bang this morning. I hiked up the JR hill ten times (461 total metre elevation), in 20 degree heat at  8:00 in the morning, at 71% humidity. I didn't realize I had so much determination.

Did I say with a BANG? S-H-A-B-A-M!!!!  They blew up one of the smokestakes in Darlington (the former Power Plant) just as I was beginning my second climb.  Let's just say it shook my world, and was a fitting end to my training, don't you think?

I must say that I kind of feel like a bride, on her big day! When I actually set out on this adventure of hiking El Camino de Santiago, I will have something old (my clothing) something new (expensive wool socks from my mother), something borrowed (backpack, sleeping bag), and something blue (a beautiful blue ring (BLING!) given to me for good luck, by a woman at a garage sale, when she heard about my upcoming trip).  So sweet of her. No groom in sight, and that's alright!

For my last week of my training, I started packing THE backpack for my trip, so I took only my little one on my treks. What did I put in it, to give me 15 lbs on my back? A bag of flour and a bag of sugar, to start. You know, they travel well!

J'avoue que je ne me suis jamais promenée dans une pluie battante. Pourquoi faire ça au moins d'être obligé de le faire? Je me dis que je ferai face à ça sur El Camino même, si l'occasion se présente. Je n'aurai pas de choix, n'est-ce pas?

Pendant ma mise en forme, moi et Vimy, on a parcouru plus de 335 kilomètres de routes, de chemins de travers, de ruelles, de chemin de fer, et d'allées de la Côte Nord du Nouveau Brunswick. J'ai eu mes petites aventures, bien sûr!

Un matin, à Pointe Verte, un vieux bonhomme à velo m'a saluée avec un "Bonjour Monsieur!" Quoi? Je portais un pantalon de yoga Lululemon, avec un frison sur chaque jambe! Sans doute, quelqu'un qui a besoin de meilleures lunettes.

While out trekking these six weeks, I have been stared at, smiled at, tooted at, waved at, barked at, yelled at, and given the "THUMBS UP" sign by a group of bikers. Turns out the biker gang was my brother Pierre and my sister-in-law, out on an excursion with their friends. It is always wonderful to be encouraged by family, over randoms, don't you think?  :)

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, I was even catcalled! This happened back in "the colonies", so to speak.  That might explain it. I don't think they see too many women on those back roads.  Maybe someone in that group of men forgot to put their glasses on that day! Or, obviously someone was as blind as the gent who mistook ME for a man.

In all my travels, I only found 37 cents on the roads!  No jewellery, no money, no nothing of any importance or significance, other than garbage.  So I won't have a treasure in my pocket, that I can say I found while I was out hiking the North Shore of our beautiful province. Dommage!

However, memories of incredible vistas, beautiful sunshine, big fluffy cumulous clouds, winds that caressed my face, showers that cooled me off, the soothing, ever changing waters of my Belle Baie, the marvelous sights and sounds all around me of another a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y  perfect summer day, day after day... THOSE are the real treasures that I found while hiking.   

PRICELESS!

PS: Thank you for sharing my journey as I prepared for my big adventure.

NB: Merci d'avoir partagé ma préparation vers ma grande aventure. 

Joanne

HAVING HIKED 290 kilomètres - Ce que j'ai appris/what I learned.

Don't hike up a mountain wearing shorts and no belt! The incline, plus the weight of your backpack, makes your shorts slip constantly. I felt like a skateboarder, with my shorts constantly half way down my backside! Thank goodness my undies matched my shorts.

My left shoulder is lower and smaller than my right. No matter how much I tug at the straps of my backpack, the right won't hitch up any higher. So give it up!

Don't take off your 16-21 pound backpack when you stop for a snack, water or rest. You won't want to put it back on, because it will feel that much heavier all over again. Enlève-le juste si tu es au repos quelques heures! De plus, si tu es seul, tu peux t'éreinter en essayant de le remettre.

Bois de l'eau, bois de l'eau, bois de l'eau!

Sacre ton déodorisant à la poubelle! Tu vas puer, et ton sac à dos va puer.  Rien ne peut empêcher ça. Moins de poids sur le dos. :)

I learned that the marvelous app "Runkeeper" couldn't register my steps when I was climbing Mount Sugarloaf, because my pace was way too slow.  The app kept pausing me! I gave up and turned it off. I knew it took me an hour to go up a 25 degree incline with 16 pounds on my back, for 281 metres. Whew! Rough slogging.

I met a woman on my way down from Mount Sugarloaf who was obviously having a very hard time. I heard her exclaim loudly, in total frustration ..."I am NEVER, EVER doing this again!" As I was passing by, I patted her arm and offered words of encouragement.  There is a great sense of accomplishment when you push yourself to your limits, physically and mentally.  The reward was a stupendous view at the top of Sugarloaf. I hope she made it and DIDN'T give up. The view takes your breath away.

 

COUNTDOWN - COMPTE À REBOURS - 17 days-17 jours-17 días

Quelle est une journée parfaite? Une randonnée de 13 kilomètres, tôt le matin avant que le soleil ne sorte de pleine force.  Un après-midi à faire des choses sur la liste interminable de "choses à faire". Tondre le gazon pendant que le soleil se cache, et trempe en nage, aller se mettre les fesses à l'eau sur une grosse pierre dans la belle Baie, déguster une bonne bière, et regarder et écouter tout ce qui se passe autour de toi. I am blessed!


I have been brushing up on my Spanish an hour a day; fed up with Duolingo though.  Too much repetition. Oh wait! Isn't that how you learn a language?  Boring cognates as well, words that you already know what they mean, because they are so close to the French or English language. Hello? Realidad, situación, biblioteca,
piscina, comprender... Did you know you already know 50% of another latin based language because of the one language you have?


Speaking of languages, unfortunately, I will not be translating everything I write in English, into French, or vice versa. I would love to have a bilingual blog but economies of time just do not allow it. Writing my blog on my Iphone is excrutiatingly painful compared to doing it on my laptop. I may translate the odd headline but "c'est tout". So don't skip paragraphs if you are bilingual. Continuez à lire. Ça sera du neuf. Merci à tous de votre compréhension.

My impetus for doing The Camino?

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time she is a flying.
That same flower which blooms today,
Tomorrow will be dying".

 Robert Herrick.