April 24: Feeling it!

Today was only 22km. I felt every one. Cumulative tiredness has kicked in, while it’s too soon to have significantly improved our fitness. The first will pass. The second will come. Today, we sank gratefully into the bar at our hotel (a proper hotel) and enjoyed a few bevvies with an Australian couple we have met a few times along the way (John and Jenny, from Canberra). It was a wonderful way to pass the 2-or-so hours before check-in and a great remedy for 5 (almost 6) hours on the hills. Even though the walking is spectacular and the temperature not above 16 degrees, the sun and the constant up/down worked up a considerable thirst (!) - but, nothing a couple of cold “bieres pressions” and some excellent conversation couldn’t fix.

They are “walkers” rather than “pilgrims”: doing 10 days to Conques, as part of a wider trip. The difference is both negligible (you are all walking the same path) and quite profound (a mindset of promise, commitment that really does create its own “reality” as you move across the landscape). Along the Le Puy Way, walkers far outnumber pilgrims, but tokens are present: pilgrim mass at village chuches; occasional scallop shell signage; the stone crosses that mark many crossroads…

Dinner is always at a communal table. This is a cultural, rather than a spiritual, choice. It is a new thing to see “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” playing out in vacation conventions, rather than a spiritual context. Even the foreigners have, so-far, been walkers enjoying the glorious views, rather than pilgrims heading for Santiago. We, ourselves, are only heading to León, but we are peppered with questions about what the camino is and why we are walking it. It’s a very different headspace.

That said, we ARE, both, on camino in the fullest sense. I start my day with my prayers and often sing as I walk. Gratitude is inescapable as you walk through the spring, from view to view, even with tired legs and your pack straps digging at your shoulders. It’s easy to get too precious. This is a reminder that simply walking for the pleasure of it is a wonderful experience many choose, with no need for another reason. Although, I must say, our fellow travelers are intrigued by the idea of pilgrimage and always want to know more from us.

Today, I saw my first (confirmed) goldfinches. If you have followed us before, you will know how they are “a sign” I hope to see. Our SuperTrip 2024 followers will remember the astonishing red fields of poppies. This journey is all about yellow fields.

Yesterday, it was wild daffodils, flourishing by the many streams that crisscross the valley floors. Today, it was dandelions: not gnarly city weeds, but yolk-yellow, glossy blooms outgrowing the grass. A few clocks have set, but it’s still all about the magnificence of big, golden flowers, pushing up toward the sun. I hope today’s pictures do them some kind of justice.