Day 11 Olhaiby to Utziate, Basque Country - rain, sun and hail

We started the day in pouring rain, wearing four layers and rain gear. Before long though the sun began to peak out of the dark clouds. We crossed a pretty bridge, called, Moulin Bridge then ascended up a rocky, slippery, muddy track to a small hamlet called, Gibraltar.

Gibraltar was a highlight of the day - it is the spot where three French Camino routes meet (the one from le Puy which we took, one from Vezeley, and one from Paris). A stone marker denotes the junction.

From Gibraltar it was an uphill trek to Soyarza Chapel at the top of a hill where we were rewarded with a most beautiful panoramic view of the Pyrenees. We were so lucky the sun was still isthmus for a while and we could enjoy the moments.

After a quick picnic lunch we started walking again and soon had to quickly put our rain gear on for a sudden downpour. Very few places have been open in the small French towns that we have been passing through, but we were lucky to find a bar open in Ostabat where we stopped to warm up with a cafe au lait.

The weather was continuously changing. Before long we had another down pour. It cleared up for a while. Then suddenly came a hail storm.

A pilgrim we met today told us that the high pass over the Pyrenees had been closed the last two days because of the weather. There are two routes that the pilgrims take. The Napoleon route is the high pass that we are hoping to take. The second route is actually the original Camino but goes along the road. When the weather is bad the high route is not safe so sometimes it is closed. We will find out tomorrow when we reach Saint Jean Pied de Port.

Day 9 and 10 Navarrenx and the Eglise de l'Hopital Saint Blaise

The weather reports were saying rain for the next few days and it was so cold and windy on day 8, so we started out on day 9 wearing flu rain gear and extra layers. The day turned out to be a pleasant day and the walk was relatively shorter. We reached Navarrenx in early afternoon and had just enough time to have a beer and cafe au lait before a group lunch at our hotel (the only place open in town, since it was Sunday).

Navarrenx was the first town in France to be fortified with Italian style ramparts. The church of Saint Germaine was built in the 1500s and was soon converted to a Protestant temple. Later, in the 17th century it became a Catholic Church again. In former times Navarrenx had a significant population of Cagots ( an outcast population). Many of them became important public figures in the town.

Since we had time in the afternoon we took a drive to the Elgise de l'Hopital Saint Blaise. It is a 12th century Romanesque church that has now become a UNESCO world heritage site.

Today, day 10, turned out to be another beautiful day. Before leaving Navarrenx we walked a little on the town walls/ramparts. We covered 24 km today the country roads and paths. Saw cows, sheep, ducks, polombiere (pigeon blinds where hunters hide and wait to catch pigeons). Here and there we continue to hear cuckoos, reminding us of our dear friend, Claire, who walked with us on part 1 from Le Puy to Figeac.

Met 4 pilgrims from Germany who walk some of the Camino each year, starting from Heidelberg a few years ago. This year they will walk up to Burgos.

Staying tonight in a farmhouse run by a French/Basque family.

Hard to believe that we have only three more days of walking - 69 km to go. Day after tomorrow we will reach Saint Jean Pied de Port, then begin our Pyrenees climb.

Day 8 Rain and more rain

Today was another rainy day. Our walk was wet and cold, so we didn't take our iPad along and have no photos of the day's journey to post. We walked from Aethez-de-Bearne to the Muret Sanctuary. A shame we didn't stop there because of the weather. It was the site of the Battle of Muret in which the Catholics, led by Simon de Montfort, won a battle against the Cathars.

We would have ended our day at Muret but continued another 4 km to Sauvelade, where a church is all that remains of a Benedictine monastery, built in the 12th century. It was originally dedicated to Mary but later was dedicated to Saint James in honor of the pilgrims who stopped to rest in the abbey.

Now that we are back in our hotel the sun has come out. We looked out our window and were surprised of our view...of the Pyrenees...looking much closer now. In just a few days we'll reach them.

Our hotel has a story. It is a 12th century, 3 story house, that had been in ruins. Two English gentlemen bought the property and renovated it. Now it is a wonderful B&B. Its said that it was the home of the mistress of King Henry IV.

Forgot to mention anything about the blisters...they are there...the worst of any of our journeys. Will loose four toenails soon. Still have to keep walking. An angel is walking with us- Lois from Canada wrapped my toes in lamb's wool yesterday and it felt like I was walking on clouds.

Day 7 in Arthez-de-Bearn

We haven't had internet access for the last few days. Finally we are staying at a hotel in a town called, Arthez-de-Bearn, that has wifi so we can begin to catch up.

The last three days have been very similar - country roads and dirt paths (sometimes muddy), rolling hills.

On DAY 3 we walked about 24 kilometers. We started around 9 am and finished by 5 pm. After we were done we went by van on a side trip to Lupiac (hopefully spelled correctly) which is the town that D'Artagnan, of the three musketeers fame, lived. We planned to visit the museum, and hurried to get there before it closed, but found that it was closed on Mondays.

On DAY 4 we started from Lanne Soubiran. It had a little church with a large porch and an unusual dome. As we walked toward it we expected it to be something other than a church.

It was a long walking day, about 25 km, and pretty hot. Had a picnic lunch in a town called, Barcelonne du Gers

We ended the day at the doorstep of a hotel in Aire sur l'Adour. It was a pretty large and town along the river, Adour. There was some construction going on so we couldn't enter the church, but the next morning (DAY 5) we stopped by a local church near the hotel, a 19th century, Eglise de Sainte Quitterie, which was built on the site of a Benedictine Monastery.

On DAY 5 we walked from Aire sur l'Adour to Pimbo. The street leaving Aire sur l'Adour, was called, Rue Nelson Mandela.

Today we had our first glimpse of the Pyrenees, snow-covered in the distance. Each day from now on they will get closer.

A highlight of DAY 5 was the Eglise de Sensacq. It was an eleventh century church dedicated to St. James. It had a total immersion baptismal font for infants. Somehow it seemed so special. We had walked for so long through woods on a very hot day. Seeing this little beautiful church made us feel so peaceful. Krishna rang the church bell several times before we left. Wish we had taken photos of it on the iPad so we can post them now, but we will have to wait.

We ended the day in Pimbo after a long stretch of a narrow path. Pimbo is an old Batide village founded in 1268. It has a collegiate church of Saint-Barthelmy on the site of a monastery founded by Charlemagne.

On DAY 6, after walking about 7 kilometers, we stopped at a place called, Arzacq-Arrziguet. It is a Bstide town founded in the 14th century. The church had a stained glass window of Saint James. We stopped at a grocery store to get things to carry for a picnic lunch later, and stopped for coffee outside the church, before continuing on. We turned on a small street called, Chemin de Saint-Jacques, and walked along side of a large, artificial lake. We missed our turn off just before the end of the lake and had to backtrack to find our way again.

We ate our picnic lunch in front of a little church in Louvigny and ended our day in Larreule where there was Benedictine monastery on top of a hill above the town, founded in AD 995.

We rode to a hotel in Arthez-de-Bearn where we will stay for three nights. Happy to find that it has wifi and we can start to reconnect with everyone after three days out of touch.

Today, DAY 7, the forecast was rain. The temperature dropped more than ten degrees. It was a cool, wet and gusty day. Luckily, the walk was only 18 km, shorter than most of our days, which have usually been around 24 km. We ended our day's walk in Arthez-de-Bearn early enough to have a short Skype session with La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club just before the meeting began.

Day 3 past Eauze to past Nogaro

We just stopped in Nogaro for lunch and might be able to get Internet here. So maybe we can post a quick blog. All going good. The trek today has been vey much like the last couple days - country roads, sometimes muddy dirt paths through lots of greenery. Few towns along the way.

Few churches today. Stopped at Eglise Hopital Saint Christe, formerly belonging to the order of the Knights of Malta. The church was supposed to be locked because the guidebook says it's in dangerous condition, but it was open.

We only passed one stone cross so far. It was a discoidal cross leading to the town of Nogaro, which takes its name from Nogarium (a place planted with walnuts), established in the eleventh century. Nogaro has a Romanesque church with former hospital Saint Jacques nearby.

May not have more Internet today but we still have more kilometers ahead to walk this afternoon.

Day 2 Montreal du Gers to just past Eauze (23 km)

We are finally getting a few minutes to relax in our room before dinner. We will sleep good tonight after walking 23 kilometers. Yesterday was a long day even though we only walked 18 km. We first had to drive 1 1/2 hours from Toulouse so we started walking late in the morning. Then we made several interesting stops along the way. By the time we got to the hotel we had just enough time for a late dinner then some sleep.

There were only a few small hamlets along today's route. Being Sunday, everything was closed as well. There was only one town today, Eauze (pronounced like 'Oz'). We stopped there for a bit because it was the first time we found wifi. Now we'll have to wait to publish this blog until the next time we have Internet access. The paths today were a bit muddy through it was a beautiful day and slightly warmer than yesterday.

Le Chemin Day 1 (Condom to Montreal du Ger) 18 km

We started our walk in front of the church in the main square of Condom. Here we are (in the photo below, if it downloads correctly) standing in front of the monument to the three Musketeers next the the church as we are about to begin. We were told it was supposed to rain but the day was beautiful.

We first stopped in a village, called, Larresingle, a tiny fortified town, completely walled. It was a 1 kilometer detour to visit the town, but well worth it. the fortress was built by the Bishops of Condom in the Middle Ages. Its said to be the smallest walled town in France. We visited the church and lighted our first candle along the way.

A few kilometers later we stopped at a church, Eglise de Routges, with an interesting story about a side door that had to be used by a sect of people (knows as Cagots) who were not allowed to enter the front door. The Cagots were an outcast population of uncertain ethnic Origin who lived segregated lives until the end of the 19th century.

We finished our walk in Montreal du Gers then visited a Roman villa that is being excavated just outside of town.

Can't write much because its hard to find Internet here. We are just at a cafe in Eauze having a quick cup of coffee (me) and beer (Krishna) before we start walking again. (At the moment were actually on day two. More about this later,,,got to go now)

On our way and a travel nightmare

April 17, 2013, 9:00 AM 

Departure day has finally come!  We're ready and eager to get back to the Camino and start walking again.

Our flight just took off from San Diego.  We can now turn on our electronic devices in airplane mode.  This iPad is still new to me.  At the terminal while we were waiting to board, the iPad said it was connected to wifi but nothing worked.  Hope that's not a sign of what's to come while we are on the Camino and hoping to connect to Internet, email and blog.  

April 18, 3:00 AM (Dallas time), somewhere over the Atlantic

We boarded our connecting flight in Dallas as scheduled.  Then after all the passengers were all seated on the aircraft the announcement came...'bad news, we would all have to disembark so they could check the plane'.  At the gate we were told that our plane could not cross the Atlantic.  We would have to wait for another plane. 

The delay would not have been that bad except that this flight was only getting us to Paris.  We had booked a separate flight to Toulouse, via Lyon.  Now we would miss that flight.  The change fee and new flight charge was steep so our next option is to see about taking a train once we get there.

We finally boarded the flight and I checked email on my phone one last time, just on time to receive two fraud alerts from American Express.  Had just enough time to call and learn that my card had been used for several questionable transactions in Canada.  Was able to cancel the transactions and the card immediately.

While we now aren't sure how we will get to Toulouse because of this flight delay, there is a silver lining.  We found out about the credit card fraud right when it happened and were able to take care of it before the problem could get worse.  

April 18, 4:00 pm, Lyon, France

We actually made it to our next flight with literally one minute to spare.  The plane made up some time with the help of tail winds.  We had a half hour to get thru customs, baggage claim, shuttle to a different terminal, and run to ticketing, then found that the flight was delayed 20 minutes.  We're now in Lyon waiting for our connecting flight to Toulouse.  We're back on schedule again!

Not quite a nightmare any more, but plenty of excitement for sure!

Almost time for departure

Just a few days left before we embark on this journey!  This weekend we took our last long hike before departure.  Last year, on our last long hike before our trek I ended up with a stress fracture and was unable to hike for entire trip, so this year, we definitely didn't want to be too ambitious.  We covered some of our favorite trails in the canyons that weave through and around the neighborhoods of Tierrasanta, then entered the vast expanse of trails in Mission Trails Regional Park.

From West Shepherd Canyon you can see North Fortuna

The Tierrasanta canyon trails have new signs

Krishna checks out some wildflowers

 Anyway, we both feel ready, both physically and mentally.  No aches and pains.  The toes, knees and backs are feeling good.  I can tell that Krishna is ready to once again be a pilgrim along the Camino - this morning he stopped to appreciate some purple wildflowers that he noticed for the first time, and during last week's hike he paused to protect a caterpillar as it made its way across the path.  He is living in the moment.
  

On Friday we were surprised with a beautiful send-off, emotional for us, from our Rotary Club, which included a reading form "The Prophet" by Kahlil Gibran, which started, "Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of giving". And he answered:  You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give..."  A familiar reading with words full of meaning.

We attended a second Friday meeting at another Rotary Club as a make-up meeting.  In spite of our travels, we still try to keep our record of perfect attendance.  We visit other clubs wherever we travel.  Attending a meeting overseas is always an experience.  We've made many new Rotarian friends that way.  Attending a meeting in Peru even led us to an NGO that we continue to be connected with and that our own club supported by providing materials for guinea pig farms in a community outside of Cusco.  You never know what may come out of visiting a Rotary Club in another country.  This time, though, we couldn't find any clubs in France or Spain that meet on the days that match our hiking and travel schedule.

The Journey and the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club

Our journey begins in less than 2 weeks.  Time to backtrack and think about why we decided to start writing this blog in the first place. 

We finalized our plans to walk the last part of Le Chemin de Saint Jacques last October.  As we were going on one of our almost daily morning walks, we talked about our 5 treks along the Camino over the last 10 years and how this coming trek would take us over the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles, Spain, the starting point of the Spanish Camino, and tie together a JOURNEY OF 1000 MILES for us.  Krishna suggested - "what better way to complete this journey than to dedicate these last miles of walking to support our La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club".  That's how the idea for a club fundraiser began.

Donors can pledge support based on the miles we will walk, the number of days walked, or just specify a donation amount.  Donations can be made online at the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club webpage: http://lajollagtrotary.org/ .  Donations can also be made by check payable to:  La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Foundation.  Put "A Journey of 1000 Miles" on the memo line, and mail to:

La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club
P.O. Box 13023
La Jolla, CA 92039

All funds donated will be used for Club service projects.  Members are currently involved in many local and international projects.  How it works - members who have project ideas or who have hands-on involvement with a particular non-profit organization share their interest with the club at committee level meetings.  The committee will decide if it is able to support the project hands-on and/or financially (if needed and if money is available in the budget).  The member who introduced the project takes the lead in planning and seeing the project through completion.

In recent years the club has supported several of the projects that we have been passionate about:

In India - provided new toilet blocks for a school for blind children in Behrampur, India
In Pakistan - Built a water filtration plant that provides clean drinking water to an entire community in Jhang, Pakistan
In Peru - installed a solar panel on a school in Q'eros, an isolated region in the Andes where there is no electricity.  The solar panel provides enough electricity for 20 light bulbs and provides the only electricity for the hamlet of Munay T'ika.
In Peru- provided the construction materials for the roofs of two guinea pig sheds in the community of Lahualahua, in order to help families of the community expand productive capability and become economically stable.

Some of the local organizations and/or projects our club is involved in include:

Braille Institute
Ronald Mc Donald House
Salvation Army TLC
San Diego Rescue Mission
Voices for Children
Dress for Success
Social Advocates for Youth
CCSA Holiday Baskets
Police Project
Camp Pendleton
Rotarians at Work Day
Therapeutic Horsemanship/Upward Bound
VA Hospital Visitation
YMCA OZ
Educator of the Year
Four Way Test Speech Contest (high school students)
Model UN
LEAD (Leadership, Ethics and Determination) Conference for 8th graders
Literacy Program
Preuss School Projects
(Interact, Symphony and Theatre trips, Service above Self Scholarship)
USD Upward Bound
USD Expanding your Horizons
UCSD Rotaract
RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Award)
Salk Mobile Science Unit
Sister Schools
High School Institute

Some of our club's international projects during the current Rotary year include:

Afghanistan: Sister Cities (Jalalabad-San Diego)
Afghanistan: Rotary Projects
Guatemala: Computer Labs
Indonesia: Bali Educare Program
Indonesia: HIV/AIDS Project
Kenya: WAPIs
Kenya: Children's Peace Initiative
Mexico: Surgery MOST
Mexico: San Diego Zoo Trip
Mexico: Children's Hospital (District Grant)
Mexico: Tijuana Safe House
Mexico: Ensenada School Project
Mexico: Thousand Smiles
Nepal: Donkey or Yak (for single mother)
Peru: Guinea Pig Farms
Philippines: Surgery
South Africa: Reading Program
Tibet: Scholarship
Turkey: Breast Cancer Awareness Training
Uganda: Hospital Water Project
USA: Somali Sewing Project
USA: Non-Rotary IPJ (Inst for Peace & Justice) Scholars
USA: Project Refuge
USA: Rotary Scholars at UCSD
USA: Rotary Scholars at USD
USA: UCSD International Cafe
USA: USC Rotaract
Worldwide: Shelterbox

Each of the above are lead by members who are passionate about their individual projects and supported by club members who are able to participate in the activities.  So, you can see how active this club is!  Sorry the above is just a long list.  There are too many items to write about each one, but you can check the club webpage or contact me to find out more.  

Rock Art

Saw this rock art on the trail this morning.  We see it often on the Camino as well.  I think there is an actual name for this but I can't remember what it is. Does anybody know what it's called?