Some 80 km done and only another 1500+ to do! It is good to be on the move, having started with a Mass celebrated by the Bishop of Le Puy on 25 August. There were some 20 pilgrims that morning of which only one other is going to Santiago. At the end of the Mass the Bishop invited us all to introduce ourselves - useful for when one meets people along the way later. An interesting touch was to ask each of us to carry with us a "prayer" for a family member who had suffered and to take this to Santiago (if going that far).
I am now in Aubrac Aumont staying in a gite in a room with 13 Frenchmen and women who walk but have their effects moved by wagon. They are pigrims going to do this over several years, 2 weeks at a time.
Scenery is magnificent, architecture in churches very interesting, people one meets pleasant. Morale is good and physical shape OK; weather fine for the most part though 3 hrs walking in the rain yesterday not so good!
Now slipping into a routine: leave around 7am and walk for 4-8+hrs depending on distance to cover, rest and recuperate and look over the town / village in which I am staying, supper in either the gite or at another resto nearby, 8-9 hrs sleep.
On the Way one is very conscious of being on a pilgrims' route because there are frequent signs, prayers, St Jaques shells all along the route. The Way is well signed: a map is scarcely necessary though I do carry one in case of a problem. Guide book has been a great help.
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