April 27, 2012 in Moissac

Julien and I are back in Moissac after two days off to visit friend Marie-Helene from my walk through France last year. And friend Heike from the walk through Spain last year has joined us for a week of walking. So now we are three again. And we start walking again tomorrow morning. We have a chambres d'hotes place to stay tomorrow night in Auvillar but are now having any luck lining up a place in Miradoux for Sunday night. Send good thoughts our way - because the next town is a good five km farther!

April 24, 2012 in Lauzerte

And now we are two. We went from three to five and in Cahors we had a true Camino farewell dinner on the 21st. On the 22nd Julien and I continued walking on our own. It continues to rain everyday. These past two days have been particularly brutal perhaps because of changes in the soil composition. For whatever reason we have spent major portions of the day slipping and sliding along very muddy tracks. We hoped to arrive at Moissac but we agree that 26 km (distance to Moissac) in the mud is too much. And so we will split the distance in two. Although we have lost three good Camini friends our new constant companions continue to appear and reappear: a Belgian couple (who speak perfect Flemmish, French, English etc.) two women from Paris who speak perfect English and a woman from Strassburg with whom Julien communicates in French and she and I struggle together in German. All for now - dinner in five minutes!

April 19, 2012 in Limogne-en-Qercy

We have come 300.5 km since we started walking from Le Puy in April 1st! Weather continues to be less than optimal - raining on and off most days and/or windy - but it could be much worse. We were already settled into our wonderful gite d'etape Les Gloriettes this afternoon when the hail storm hit. Great news: 2011 Camino friends Anke and Peer have joined us for a few days. Sad news: We plan to reach Cahors on thr 21st. Marie will stay behind and begin her journey back to Lyon and then back to Sitka. Ever since Conques we have been saying good-bye to familiar faces as people "time out" and return to their homes and regular lives. Some we only knew by sight or first names. Others we have exchanged email addresses with and hope to see again. And then there are the new familiar faces that we look for on the road, at our new gite or around town. And such is the way of the Camino/ Chemin.

April 14, 2012 in Conques

We reached Conques yesterday. Today was a day of rest and exploration in this beautiful medieval town. Tomorrow we climb out of the valley and on to Decazeville. This is uncharted territory for me as last year we skipped the 205 km between Conques and Moissac. I wish I could attach photos so you can see for yourself that a treasure Conques is.

April11, 2012 In Estaing

We are on track with last year and are in Estaing. Tomorrow we will stay at Golinhac. Friday and Saturday we will be in Conques. Weather has been challenging and the trail is tougher than much of the trail in Spain. By the time I reach my gite (hostel) for the night I feel a great sense of accomplishment! We are eating dinner at a bar with wifi. Wifi has been spotty and today is the first day I could remember my gmail Password thus allowing me to send this quick update. Hopefully I can write more from Conques.