Via Regia 2016

My timing isn't very good at arriving at the destination during their "open" hours. After a sandy ordeal for a few hours followed by an easy bike path part, all totaling 20.7 km (12.9 mi), I found the reception desk at a huge vacation resort (with a few places set aside for pilgrims) closed from 1:00 to 5:00 pm--so it's 2 1/2 hrs lying in the grass under the shade of a tree and blogging!

Aline, the hostess last night, was an angel--she tried to make my stay as comfortable and nice as possible. She even picked me up last night thinking I had gotten lost--fact is, my GPS took me some crazy sandy path the last kilometer! She primarily takes in pilgrims, and I felt guilty being fed so well--that's not what it's all about. The picture of the gourmet salad with cheese and prawns was just one of the courses Aline served. I posted a picture of her along with Mimi--a real trail angel. (Only 2 more nights in France and then it's back to raw basics.)

I took a rest at an unusually idyllic spot with bridge over a small streamin front of me--a passerby captured the moment including a rare reflection of the sun off my forehead.

Walked an easy 21.2 km (13+ mi) on paved bicycle paths, but I felt the heat coming on--91 at the hottest point. The town of Capbreton has a population of 8000 plus and is a popular holiday destination for sailors, surfers, and beach-goers. At some places along the walk, only a large sand dune separated me from the ocean.

I called for a reservation for tonight at the number listed for pilgrims and as I got closer into the neighborhood , a car stopped and the lady driver asked in French if I'm American. I then established that she got my message and will arrange something at her house. I'm in a nice comfy bedroom, all showered, and my few pieces of laundry hanging in the son.

These beach towns amaze me--not sure why, because we have the same up and down the California coast. I guess, as a pilgrim, I just didn't expect to deal with all the cycle traffic, the lunch places being full, and of course, lodging being scarce in some places (and costing 5 times what they should). The flip side is there are lots of places to rehydrate along the way. I've carried no more than a pint of water and a little overflow in the fold-up bottle (Douglas's).

Last night's place was on a lake and I saw a few beautiful views of it as I left this morning (one pic included). The path this morning soon turned ugly as it took me through some very powdery sand--like walking on a beach. I had to get to my destination by 5:00 pm, so I was stressing out--walking on sand is VERY slow. But at the 1/3 point I cut over to the paved road and the last half was on a dedicated paved bike path with hundreds of vacationing families cycling their little hearts out--I was the only walker! Pics included.

I'm staying in CBE (Compagnons des Belles Etapes, probably for people who travel along stages of an itinerary). The place is a huge two-story building with lots of 3 or 4 bunk rooms. I have one all to myself.

The town of Vieux Boucau les Bains decided to build an artificial lake to enhance their tourism. Its population swells from 1500 to 10 or 15 thousand. I went the kilometer into town and can attest to its swelling! Amazing tourism.

I walked the Chemin de Compostelle route to get close to the ocean. But rather than being an 11-km day, it turned into a 20 km day (12.5 mi). But well worth it to see the goings on: stores, restaurants, campgrounds, and kiddie rides. I just wanted to stay there and relax but realized I had another 10 km to go in the warm sun.

I'm now at the Le Col Vert campground on the deck of a beautiful mobile home quite the opposite of last night where I had no water or electricity.

When I arrived at the campground there were 40+ people in line at the reception. I wasn't worried about not getting my lodging because you need credentials to qualify for the 10€. Theirs was costing upwards of 60€.

Today is a very different day. Had to walk 31 km (19.4 mi) to find a refuge Jacquaire (albuerge) which was bad enough, but then the albuerge turned out to beat a camp ground in a trailer with no hook ups (water or electricity)--for water I go about 50 yards and thank goodness I have my external battery. The German neighbor in a camper invited me over for dinner, but I already ate. I did have a beer with him however. And a good aspect is that I get breakfast in the morning.

Just a few comments. While walking, I noticed the many campers, RVs and trailers loaded with canoes on the roads, truly a vacation land. And I still see so much sand everywhere but no ocean or bay has come into site. Lit et Mixe is a town of around 1500 people, but I'm sure it swells to several times that size with tourists. I've probably passed a dozen campgrounds during the last hour.

The picture is of my home for the night:

Crazy day, not one totally planned. I had a reservation at Saint Paul, but knew I couldn't make it walking there. I thought I would take a bus there. So the day started with a 18.8 km (11.8 mi) walk on a lot of sandy soil to reach Parentis. Pretty flowers along the way and all went well until an "ugly" thing happened. BTW, do you notice the very small waymarker on the tree in the middle of the road fork? I n I did a zig, as my electronic map showed, that put me onto another perpendicular dirt road which happened to be in maintenance mode. A scooper had created a 6-foot deep U-trench with soft sandy sides and had covered up the exact location of the zag. I found the zag, but then had trouble climbing down and up on the other side. After several attempts, I finally managed but was annoyed at this "ugly" encounter. It took me a while to get my composure back, realizing that it was all part of normal life where things don't always go your way. The Chemin/Camino, after all, is just a simplified microcosm.

Now, the only way to go on to do the 13.5 km (8.4 mi) portion was to take a cab to Saint Paul. I hadn't counted on that. But in the end it all worked out well. When I arrived at Saint-Paul-en-Born, the gîte already had one of the two bunks taken by a cyclist. Christian just seven years younger offered to take the upper bunk--I was very grateful! He also offered to cook for us and to use his bike to do the shopping--my contribution was to do the dishes.

Had a wonderful B&B stay last night in Marcheprime at La Maison de Caroline that ended with a scrumptious breakfast and a group photo this morning with Caroline and Stephane in the back and Emilie and Julie in the front. We had great discussions last night, all in English, over a delicious dinner with a good rosé wine. This morning I opted to take the first 11-km (6.9 mi) leg to Biganos with the train to keep the total distance down. Then I walked the second leg 22.6 km (14.1 mi) on a very boring straight road with an enormous amount of vacation traffic. That's to be expected when you're on the coast. The dual picture gave me confidence that I was on the right path. Pilgrims get such a warm feeling seeing those signs.

My first stop at Sanguinet was the Office de Tourisme which issued me a key to the local Refuge Jacquaire right next to the church (and the bell!!) and made another Refuge arrangement for tomorrow evening. You can imagine the many steps down from a B&B to a Refuge Jacquaire both in quality and price. The picture of the church also attests to the traffic.

Had crazy thoughts of going to Biganos at 35.5 km (22.2 mi), but then I found out while walking that my lodging there was not available. So a fallback option was to walk a reduced 24 km (15 mi) and find lodging in Marcheprime or take the train to another place. As luck would have it, I found a chambre d'hôte in Marcheprime through booking.com (it's the French equivalent of a B&B) and 24 km was just right.

It was a fascinating day--comfortably warm. Very straight country roads that went from asphalt to gravel, my biggest concern being what rocks to avoid. The frequent railroads passing within 15 meters of me interrupted the boredom of the straight path. I picked and ate blackberries and looked for shade to rest, but only found a trailer-mounted large, automated hose reel that pulled the sprinkler as it very slowly wound up a 5-inch hose. Not much shade, but it did the trick. And then there was this truck that you barely see in the picture coming up the same gravel road. He stopped and warned me to cross over now to a parallel road because of the bees ahead--all in near-perfect English. And lastly, there was a superb bike path for about the last 3 miles along the highway. It all made for a fascinating day with a promising B&B experience ahead.

Only had to walk 13 km to my gîte, last one on the Tours Chemin de St Jacques because I head west to the coastal route. Have two others sharing a 10-bed room.

Interesting sights along the way include the Saint-André Cathedral (which was closed today), the City Hall where I got my credentials stamped, Saint-André Hospital that was established in 1390 for the purpose of treating pilgrims, and the University of Bordeaux Business School, called just that.

The second set includes a book store that focused totally on the Beat Generation with lots of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac lit all in French!, a road sign that actually included my destination gîte, the two lovely hospitaleras, and a statue in front of the facility that portrayed one tired pilgrim--no, make it two.

Caught up walking to where I've been staying at the Refuge Jaquaire--tonight will be my third night. Nice day for walking the 16 km (10 mi)--high 70s, so not too warm, and I walked with a day-pack equivalent, leaving the rest at the Refuge. After saying goodbye to my cyclist friend, Jose, at the Refuge, we went our separate ways (see attached pic) he south and I north to the train station. As I left, I still wasn't sure if I had a third night. I was to meet our hospitalero, Michael, at the Refuge after 2:00 pm and he would let me know.

The theme today was more chateaux and more vineyards. I won't post anything along this line. And when I returned, I found that I had secured a third night. I also had bought food along the way, so there wasn't any need to eat out.

Took the train from my Refuge Jaquaire here at the Bruges station back up to where I took the train to come down. I then walked a short 15 km (9.4 mi) to Macau and timed it so that I would catch a return train at a reasonable time. I also had a snack in Margaux--boy did I lust over just tasting some of their fabulous wine, but I held back.

The theme all the way was chateaux and vineyards; I think I saw where some 1600 chateaux (translate: wineries) were in the Margaux Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC). Just an amazing experience, but of course, without the tasting. What a world of difference between a Saturday in Napa Valley with its bumper-to-bumper traffic and a sleepy Saturday here with few cars and few people! I enjoyed the sedateness of the atmosphere here, plus, I didn't have to watch for all the traffic.

Beside a few pics of chateaux I had to include the tarif liste for wine tasting at just one of the many wineries.

What a beautiful cool day for walking, but not so good day for finding lodging. Got to Blye 16.1 km, which is located on the right bank of the Gironde estuary (which is some 3 km (1.9 mi) wide at this point). Although I thought I would find something here, I couldn't and ended taking the ferry across the estuary, walking another 5 km, and taking the train to Le Bouscat, a suburb of Bordeaux, for lodging at a refuge Jaqunaire (at 10€/night). This is a great place at the corner of a huge cemetery--NO, it's not spooky!

The plan is to take the train back up tomorrow morning and backfilling the hike. My walk to Blaye was filled with scenes of fishermen on the banks of small streams interspersed with bevies of swans, each scene forcing you to stop and "smell the roses." Also, wall-to-wall vineyards and chateaus (several pictures)! When I arrived at Blaye, its citadel greeted me and I entered its gates. I could have spent hours there, but sufficed it with lunch (and a picture from my table). Then I worked with the Office de Tourisme to get lodging, and rushed to make the next train in order to meet the hospitalero. And the "rushing" just aggravates the Achilles heel--I had no choice.

Dinner tonight was as if there were no tomorrow: steak tartare with a raw duck's egg along with a bowl of small filled potato-dough pockets swimming in a Gorgonzola sauce and my first taste of local Bordeaux wine! Words elude me--suffice it to say, I was off the pilgrim's fare, as you can see from the photo. This more than makes up for lunches of plain bread and water while resting on my backpack--it's been an absolute roller coaster!

Rain most of the 16.9 km (10.6 mi) walk and that was a blessing in keeping the temperature down to low 70s. The Achilles tendinitis held steady--no change from when I started today--I seem to be over focused on it, but it worries me because it could mean aborting the trip! The best outcome is that it gets no worse while walking and I may have to change Camino Routes to one with less hill climbing. The tendinitis, incidentally, started right after my 35 km day on Jul 27--now in its 8th day.

I stopped at the Office de Tourisme at about the midway point and the lady made a reservation at the camping site here for me and for the other three (who at 6 PM are still a no-show). I'm staying in a double-width trailer with two bedrooms--check out the pic. I stocked up on food for this evening and morning since there's nowhere to buy anything. BTW, I love seeing the advertisements for Bordeaux wines already. I'm not planning any wine tasting--will save that for another day.

Crazy day: I finally analyzed my foot problem as tendinitis. Now thinking my brace wasn't helping, I saw a pharmacist who confirmed tendinitis and told me to stop the walk. Yeah right. But it did bring me to my senses. I was thinking of doing 31 km tomorrow and, of course, that knocked that idea out--so I'll do about 17 km instead.

I do think it's slowly improving. I did about 25 km (15.6 mi) today and ended up hobbling maybe the last mile. I'll get there. . . Am sharing a hotel room with a first-day walker from Pons, named Constant, a beautiful name that makes you strive hard in life to be unwavering!--at 20+€ each, it was the best deal. My two other older friends are staying with friends and the three younger hikers decided on another hotel. We kept meeting each other at rest stops through the day! I'll see what tomorrow brings as far as meeting up with new walkers. Only 3 nights out from Bordeaux, then I head to the coast, the others toward St Jean (the traditional Camino Frances starting point).

Pictures: Saying farewell to Dominique and Robert, setting the bar for an exceptionally wide load, a boat, that took both lanes, Mirambeau's church with Office de Tourisme just across it, and my roommate for tonight.

Another marvelous day to notch 22.9 km (14.3 mi) without the heat I was expecting--temperature was under clouds and in 70s and the walk mostly easy rolling hills. I encountered a German WW II cemetery on the way--sad that so many young men of the 8000 laid here to rest died for a cause, I think, they never really understood.

At some points, only a passing tractor shared the road with me. I arrived at lunchtime with the Office de Tourisme still closed, so I took a lunch break. It's not everyday one gets to have lunch in a medieval city in front of the 12th century dungeon tower--actually the only complete remnant of its medieval history. Indeed, Pons is a town of 4000+ with tourism at the top of the list.

Our pilgrims' quarters with 4 sets of double bunks is at the lower end of town and lies just 300 meters from the Office de Tourisme, and ironically was the location of the new pilgrims' hospital founded in 1160. Mind you, hospital in those days meant the pilgrims, the poor, the sick being treated by hospitallers more from a religious vantage point than today's hospitals. The remains of this hospital, just meters from our quarters, had a fantastic Camino de Santiago (Chemin de St Jacques de Compostelle) exhibit I couldn't miss.

By the way, all six of us from last night have managed to be at this pilgrims' albuerge, and the two folks that offered me food for dinner last night are offering to prepare something for me tonight as well! Thank you, ever so much.

Another great walking day for the second half from St Jean d'Angely to Saintes (total of 32.2 km for the two days)--it never went above the low 70s. Although I glimpsed a short history of Saintes last night, seeing the Roman ruins here and there made it come to life. I arrived a bit after noon and had nearly four hours to squeeze lunch and sightseeing in before the pilgrims' refuge opened up. Incidentally, now just after 5:00 PM, all six bunks are taken--I got the last lower one.

First, I took a look at the old Abbey that has long ago been decommissioned as an Abbey. The church is still used but the quarters now serve as a hotel and facilities also provide for the EU's musical research center--first two pictures, followed by Roman victory arches at the bridge once allowing Romans to cross over the Charente River. Next, I visited the cathedral that has also been decommissioned as the cathedra of the bishop, but is still used as a church. I still had time, so I marched up to the amphitheater. Its condition had badly deteriorated over the two millennia but still gives good insights into the big picture of what goes on in an amphitheater.

I have been spoiled being the only one at most pilgrim facilities. Definitely came close to not having a lower bunk! The last two bottom pictures show St. Eutrope and just behind it a small refuge for pilgrims.

The Office de Tourisme at St. Jean d'Angely made arrangements for me to stay at St. Hilaire with the Vinet family's B&B at about the same distance as Juicq in my plan. It's half the distance to Saintes and still fighting an ankle problem (although it's getting better), I thought it best to cut my distance back a bit. At 19 km (12 mi) and low 80s with some cloud cover, it was a perfect day for walking!

I had to take a few km detour from my Camino bike path to visit the Lantern of the Dead at a village named Fenioux. Built on a site known to have been used for rituals by Celts at around 500 AD, it's an 11-columned (!!) memorial for the dead--a fascinating structure that one can climb with a very narrow 38-step spiral staircase inside. The local Notre Dame church is within a few hundred meters.

A few other sites caught my eye along the gently rolling hills: an old water wheel on the Boutonne River, a farmer (or Coop) tapping into this little stream for irrigation water (did they have a permit??), and fields of vineyards (both old and new) appearing in greater numbers. By the way, the grain fields have all, as far as I can see, now been harvested and appear to be in the fields in a rolled configuration or in rectangular solids sometimes stacked seven or eight bales high. This massive staging area was overwhelming--one wonders how they managed to stack it so high.

What a place to celebrate my 100th day. The cream I bought for my foot sprain (or whatever it is) seems to be working--it's kind of a Bengay! I managed the skimpy 17.6 km (11 mi) before lunch and met with Marta at the Office de Tourisme. She arranged for a stay at the Abbey for tonight and a stay at a place tomorrow that's midway to Saintes because I didn't want to push for 32 km yet.

St. Jean d'Angely with a pop. of 7,000+ has leveraged its once famous Abbey into a cultural center of the town including a library, the school of music, and the Center of European Culture. Youngsters between ages 16 and 19 come for two-week stays from all over the EU. Although I'm in a two-person room (with loft arrangement--my roomie is on top), they have lots of bigger facilities.

Pictures include: the clock tower that was the medieval entry gate; ruins of Benedictine Abbey Towers of 1741 (the original Abbey was here in 817 already!); Abbey housing in which I'm staying; the library that occupies part of the Abbey with computers, etc.

In the second set, a half-timbered house, their City Hall, and across it their Hall of Justice, and my room (I'm actually taking this pic while lying on the bed).

The cloud cover made for an easy walk of 18.7 km (11.7 mi), but my strain or something in the foot slowed me down considerably even though I had my brace on. For a while, I thought I had it on too tight, but loosening only improved it a bit. Desperate to fix the problem because I have to be at the Office de Tourisme by 1:00 pm at tomorrow's destination (17.6 km), I bought some cream that might help. We'll see. There's that psychological aspect that you have to show your body you're trying to help it!

Aulnay-de-Saintonge is another town with only around 1500 inhabitants, but they have show pieces like St Peter's Church that date to around 1120, an example of Romanesque architecture that will take your breath away. And lots of oriental influences like the elefants at the top of one of the columns. And then there's St Peter's Tower with a 12-ft thick wall from the 1100s that attests to the fact that the local Viscount was serious about defense. Of course, the 100-years war pretty much destroyed everything. Next to the tower and City Hall is the first colored war memorial that I can ever remember seeing.

I had to include a picture of the Halte Jacquaire (another term for an albuerge in Spain). The upstairs has a small bedroom with three sets of high/low bunks and the downstairs a full kitchen and bathroom and clothes washer. Just came back from buying food for tonight and for breakfast. Again, I'm the only one here.

Yesterday was down, today was up. I only walked 13.1 km (8+ mi) to guarantee lodging and give my Achilles Tendon a rest--marvelous results. I stopped at a l'Office de Tourisme first, then bought a sandwich to go, and met a welcoming lady for the Organization called Maison des Art. Keeping in mind that Brioux has a population of around 1500, I have a hard time getting my arms around this organization and its ability to own/run this four-bedroom house for pilgrims! (A few pictures don't do it justice--and at pilgrims' prices, with a fully stocked kitchen, and with Wi-Fi.) They also manage to accomplish quite a lot for the community.

It's a gîte (pronounced like the second g in garage: ʒit) and technically to be called a gîte, the owner must live close by in order to provide help, assistance, and a warm welcome to guests. And I stress "warm," because this hostess actually came down the street and found me eating my sandwich, then retrieved my walking poles for me that I left at the boulangerie, took me to the house, and showed me around. It made all the difference in the world. Then she tried to help me with the next reservation.

After a brief rest, I found the photo op place for the Brioux iconic shot of the St Jacques Portal with church in background! I feel like I'm on convalescent leave, but the rest feels good.