I AM PURGED OF MY SINS!! I droped a rock on a pile of other rocks at the base of a cross and suddenly I am without sin. ROCK ON!! So much to talk about that my brain will explode. So much awesomeness. So much homesickness. I want a spinach salad from the Tequila Bookworm.
I hate people who snore, which isn't new. um... I've been doing a lot of walking, a lot of thinking...
I saw my funny Mexican again in León. León was absolutely beautiful and the church, Santa María, kicked Notre Dame's ass. The stained glass windows... the statues, the gates.
Ok, nothing new is happening really. My poo is normal, thanks be to God.
I went to mass/prayer today and the monks were singing in Gregorian Latin stuff. Tell mom.
They blessed the rock I left at the foot of the cross. I still can't get over the fact that I am sinless. If I died right now, I'm totally going to Heaven. Woot!!
They have this thing called a Santiago Pie that tastes a lot like the almond italian cookies Connie makes at Christmas. I am sending my dad the recipe.
K, I've got nothin else to say. I'm walkin, the mountains are back, but I'm in such AWESOME shape that they're a piece of cake, except going downhill, that's always a pain in the ... leg. ;)
Stay warm y'all, it's coooold here, and raining, and there's snow in them there hills. Happy Hallowe'en... none for moi. Have a Kit Kat for me.
Halfway baby!! Only some 380kms to go! I don't know where I am again. I'm in, I think something like El Burgo, just 18kms out of Sahagun where I got a very nice surprise!!
Picture it, Sahagun 2004 (k, I had to use it once and I may not go to Sicile anymore!) -- I'm looking for these ladies I've been walking with. I used the internet and they went ahead to look for somewhere to have a snack. So I walk in their general direction but say to myself, "I must have passed where they are, there doesn't seem to be much this way..." So I walk back and meet up with these 2 guys I've been talking to at dinner n' stuff and they say, "y'a quelqu'un qui te cherche, ton frère je pense."
Mon frère? Impossible, my brother doesn't know where I am. So I walk back to the Spar (an English 7-11 but they have some in Spain too) imagining which guy I've met on the Camino looks most like me and who this guy could be when I see, well, my brother!
Alec is standing there and waves at me... so I start crying because his was the first familiar face in 3 weeks of walking. It was so nice to see him! Then I see Jennifer in the shop getting some food, so I think to myself, "BABY!" who was in the car, sitting pretty, smiling away.
They'd looked for me yesterday and spent the night in Sahagun. I'm walking with a Maria from Germany, and an older German couple had told Alec and Jennifer this. So in Sahagun they went around asking "pour les 2 Marias!" It worked.
We had lunch in the back of a hostel and chatted. They asked me how it was going, how I was feeling. My brother scolded me for throwing away his concoction of small water bottle & duct tape.
Some major thinking is happening here people. Some realizations about life, love, and the pursuit of happiness. I only hope I can implement them in myself. I need to make some actual changes to the way I act, the way I REact, and that's the hardest part. I react in a certain way, to certain situations... well, I lie. Not big lies, not all out lies... ug. I am dishonest about myself and it eats at me. Am I being clear?? Things aren't clear.
I am halfway there. In so many ways. I can't wait to come home and go through my things. J'ai du ménage à faire.
Where to begin?? I've gained new insight on God, I've met some really cool people (some young ones, finally), I met a weird guy in a caravan that goes around waiting for a friend doing the pilgrimage giving people tea and a bit of massage oil. He seemed really nice, not at ALL threatening.
What was threatening, today, was these two cute, little, huge, fangy, ferocious dogs I came to meet. You see, I ate something that did not agree with my stomach. To make a long story short, I gots the runs, real real bad. So this morning I walk for about 5 kms, stopping every 5 minutes to um, well, never mind - and I get to a village where I decide to try to find a bathroom. There doesn't seem to be a bar anywhere in sight, I'm walkin, I'm walkin, and I see this really really old church, falling apart. I decide to go have a peek... out of nowhere these two mutts, lean and mean come running at me, barking and growling, showing me their pretty teeth. I was petrified. They kept moving forward, and I kept moving back. Finally I thought, "OK! Bye!" and walked quickly in the other directions.
Needless to say I almost crapped my pants. I also almost started to cry. I was bewildered. I need to get a walking stick. I keep forgetting the ones I find.
Tonight I am in Burgos, and I am exhausted. It's 8:25pm and I'm going to bed soon. This hostel or Refugio is very nice. Soothing new age music, washer and dryer, nice shower. But I have a feeling the hostel guy wants me to get off his computer.
Last night I met a Mexican. Sebastiàn Cordova... he was so funny. I hadn't laughed like that since... forever. At least not on the pilgrimage. I told him his name sounded like a drug lord's name. He said all Spanish names sound like drug lord names.
Sebastiàn has a really interesting way of describing things, of speaking. He speaks Spanish (duh), English, and a bit of French. Since English is not his first language, he has trouble finding words... he is poetic without meaning to be. So funny. "I saw the sunset, on the hills, and it was painting the fields, the sun painted the fields and the hills were glowing and they looked like a woman lying down, and the sun was setting..." So adorable. Crazy kids.
We were in San Juan de Ortega (or something like that) and the sky was clear and the starts... THE STARS!! they were insane. Not even at the cottage have I seen stars like this. INSANE. I'd've laid there longer, looking up at the stars, but I was cold and afraid that they'd lock the Refugio door on us. They lock the doors, often, around 10pm.
There's so much I'd like to describe, like Eric, the weird guy with the caravan - or Juan Luis, a guy who runs an albergue and made me cry for leaving his place... but I'm exhausted and my laundry is done and I can't wait to slip into warm dryer clothes.
I've lost a pair of socks. I sent my sweater ahead to Santiago cuz it was too heavy and now I regret it cuz it's freezing out. I'll have to buy a jacket. Something fleecy. mmm fleece.
Good day Canada, I miss you all. Good night Spain, I'll see you in the morning.
My internet clock is ticking away... you have 7 minutes.
I'm in a city, somewhere, after a long day of walking. Went to a bar where there was HAND BALL as a real sport on TV with athletes and everything. Didn't want to laugh for fear of some guy hitting me over the head with a beer bottle.
The scenery is gorgeous, and so are the churches -- i've been to church twice this week!! Tell mom, cuz even I'M impressed. So much GOLD in these things. Insane.
My feet still hurt... i'd like to say they're getting better, but let's just say the walking's easier.
I'm not eating enough cuz there's very little money (totally running out of cash!!) and very little time to eat! Little time to do anything really, except walk. I need to calm down.
And maybe even... find a little job?? Oh, before I go, this guy showed us his making of wine cellar thingy. Took pictures. He gave me a bottle which I proptly drank with people.
Alec et moi sommes allés à la plage, la mer... c'était de toute beauté. le lendemain il m'a reconduit à St-Jean-Pied de Port, près de la frontière Espagnol.
J'y suis restée à coucher et le lendemain... I started walking.
Ok, I hate hills. Everyone knows this. I wasn't sure what to expect on this walk, what I was going to have to do... the first 4 hours of walking... no actually, the whole 8 hours of walking was uphill.
I hate hills, so you can imagine the disdain I have for the freaking Pyrenees!!!! Oh Pyrenees, you know you're gorgeous, but you're so very very annoying! I thought I was going to die.
The sun was a hot )35 degrees celcius) and not a cloud in the sky. There was not a tree in sight at 2pm when the sun is at its strongest so i found some shade under a rock, near a dry ditch. My water was nearing empty and there weren't many pilgrims on the route. I checked the map and it mentionned a fountain near a cross.
Mentionned where, but not how far. So I keep walking, walking walking, and finally empty my bottle, nearing some cars that may be able to give me something to drink. "Désolé, on vient de la finir, notre eau."
I was gonna cry. I walked away with a "pas de problème" and sat in a spot in the shade behind these concrete semi-square that seem like look-out points used perhaps in the war?
The cars all leave and I am alone, trying to find something drinkable in my backpack, wondering, "is saline solution drinkable? it doesn't say poisonous on the bottle..." when i see a pilgrim in the distance, walking my way.
Slowly walking towards me, I found out later that she was hoping I wouldn't speak to her, cuz she was in that kind of mood. But for water I begged and she hadn't touched hers in hours, so she had a lot.
She heard my "québec" accent and was happy to hear a familiar sound. She chatted with me a bit and I began to walk with her. Caroline encouraged me to keep walking, up and down the hills.
Let me just say that going down is very painful on the knees and toes -- i was eager to get to destination.
For the next two days we walked together, from Roncesvalles to Zubiri to Pamplona. And in Pamplona she stayed with me an extra night as I played tourist. She left today as I wait for my laundry... she was really great, I was sad to see her go without me.
Bonne chance à toi, Caroline de Victoriaville.
I keep walking again tonight, to the next small town 5km away to sleep in a hostel. It was nice to lay my head in a hotel last night.
I mentionned I'm hating the hostels, right? Caroline and I invented a song that goes... "Y ronfle y pète y pue sur le chemin de compostelle..." I couldn't handle the snoring anymore, I had to get a good nights sleep.
Anyway, I have to go get my laundry and do a few groceries for tonight and tomorrow. I sent some things ahead to Compostella so I don't have to carry so much, but I may send more.
I don't know when I'll be able to write again -- big cities are few and far between.
Lors de mon retour de Versailles, je marchais sur la rue Vaugirard à Paris et je suis tombée sur une vitrine de lampe comme celle-ci. C'était tellement joli!! J'étais contente d'avoir ma caméra!!
I'm at my brother Alec's house now and have been since Wednesday. My brother is a tango freak and has forced me (ok, i went willingly!) to tango classes and nights. It's a beautiful dance when you know what you're doing. When I get back to Toronto, I plan to find some sort of class so that when Alec comes to visit I can blow him away... and dance better than him (mouhahahaha...)!! - Note to everyone in Toronto: we'z takin Tango classes. Apparently there's a tango club on College infront of a firefighter station? Alec was so specific with details...
I've been very lazy these past few days. Watching a lot of DVDs and um... that's about it. OO!! OMG - k, the South of France is very beautiful. It's so strange to see vineyards... fields of wine! The trees are all planted row on row. There are no untouched forests on this continent. Everything's been cut down and replanted.
My brother lives in Tartas, near Dax, about 2 hours out of Bordeaux. (Get a map you lazy freaks, this is as much detail as i'm giving.) A river (very small) runs through Tartas, called La Midouze. This conversation (more or less) transpired between my brother Alec and I:
Me: Is there a path that goes all along this river?
Alec: Yes, but I wouldn't take it too far that way (he points).
Me: Why not?
Alec: You get onto some people's turf that you don't want to get on.
Me: Haha, what I'll get robbed or something?
Alec: Well you might.
Me: Why? Who lives down there?
Alec: Gypsies.
ok, now, at this point, you can imagine the strange look on my face. Me: Gypsies? Are you serious?? I thought those were imaginary, or at least no longer existant.
Alec: Nope, they're very much real.
He went on to tell me a story about how he hired a gypsy at the mill where he works and he got a thank-you phone call from the head of the Gypsies (or the Gypsy-King, if you will, hehe) because it's hard for gypsies to find work...
My question, of course, is do they look like Johnny Depp?
Today we go to the sea. Very exciting!! I love the ocean. Dunno if it's warm enough to go swimming, but I'm bringing my bathing suit anyway... just in case.
Tomorrow I leave on my pilgrimage - St-Jean Pied-de-port... first stop. I'll post again when I can!
Eiffel Tower? Arc de Triomphe? Versailles? Louvre? which is the most important landmark... many would argue: Louis Vuitton. While the store is under construction, this is their facade... Someone tell Jeanne I saw it!!!
OO! Look who I found! It's Oscar Wilde's grave... He is SO COOL.
Once upon a time women would put on their brightest red lipstick and kiss Oscar's grave. Now they've corded it off and don't want anyone to "deface" his grave. For Shame...
They've corded the grave off. Once upon a time there was a bust of Jim Morrison here... Nobody was smokin sliffs and singing Doors songs. I was humming them to myself... that is, until we found Edith Piaf's grave. Then I wished I'd bought flowers. So did Jean-Guy... but there was another grave HE was more interested in. Something is written at the bottom... in Grec? What does it say?
Jean-Guy was all like, "Eiffel Tower? Ya, whatever, been there." So I left him at the top, but that's for another picture... I have a little movie of the Glitter going - every hour on the hour... so pretty.
