Pomps and Circumstance

Catching the bus from Condom to Aire_sur_I,Adour ( 1hour) was as always like a jump foreward in time you spend weeks walking you tend to blend in and then this mad dash with Buck Rogers of the 21st C.
 walked about Aire for a while nice city but at 12 30 feeling a fraud decided to bang out 18k to Miramont and bang it out I did my mind in a dream it seemed like no time before I was there having written 2 books in my head thought of 2 films saved the world by knocking the heads of a hundred dandylions and having 2 slightly disterbing erotic daydreams either there is something in the water or I need to drink more of it.
Miramont has a nice gite and then set of the next morning aiming for Pomps 33k fell short by 4k fell being the operitive word,I am keen to walk with Daughter number1 from Ostabat but still a full day behind so walking just 11k the next morning excepted a lift into Navarrenx and here I stay 40k short one day left having made the mistake of a good lunch.
 this part of France lends itself to slowing down and long lunches the last week or so has been a bit similar lush green fields and gently rolling hills you don,t need to fight climb and earn your views here they are handed to you on a plate and invite you to lay down a while and have a  picnic,no wonder a lot of French painters depict quite rural settings with friends family lovers laying about all over the place having lots of picnics
 I find myself  pinning for the Pyrenees, there is a definet end to this part of the way and I long for the madhouse that is Spain and the great melting pot of the Camino Frances

CONDOM

Could not resist putting up the pics of the trees_I seem to be going through my tree period.
 I sit here in Condom having said goodby to Syblle my walking companion for the last few days having met her in Auvillar a hilltop village with the best gite ever a truly 4 star stay.you pay for the night at the tourist office and are then escourted by a frail old lady to your quarters at the other end of the village, she spends the afternoons going backward and forward.no shops open as this was a Monday as opossed to Saturdays and Sundays when there also closed. at Lauzerte another beutifull hilltop village I had asked to use the computer at the tourist office only to be told this was impossible as it was a Friday???
 the first 2 weeks you seem to spend your nights in valley towns only to spend the first hour or two of the new day climbing steep climbs out of them I longed for a downhill start to the day, now I spend the last hour climbing steep hills into hilltop towns a hard end to the day.
 things have levelled off now and I walk through green fields that remind me of home at a nice pace of 20k a day;Syblle was a good companion and we talked of many things as we walked through this very still quite timelass landscape. Syblle goes back to Germany and tomorrow horror of horrors I have to catch a bus to Aire_sur_i,Adour in order to be able to meet my Daughter in Ostabat_Asme who walks with me for 4 days to Roncesvalles. I made the mistake of thinking I could do the same mileage as Spain ,at first I could,t and now I just enjoy each day and take what ever the days bring and dont worry about the clicks.
thanks for all the comments they do give me strengh and the will to continue.
 I met Rob from the Forum at conques and a few others that read the forum,and all sing the praises of Kiwinomad and find her blog invauluable (just to let you know Margaret)
 I will try to post more as I  get nearer to Spain

I,ve Looked At Trees From Both Sides Now

ii

Sat in Moissac with the Memories

19 days in and taking a rest day,the knee and back hurts and if truth be told I need to do a big wash before my entire wardrobe starts walking to Santiago by themselves.
 the days have starting to merge into one big long walk sleep eat and walk again world and its hard to retain the memories of what has been a hard but great walk.
 Certain moments stand out the 34K  walk to Aubrac and on to Espalion being the pinnicle_the elation of walking to the snow capped peak and then the long mad walk down into spring will stay with me a long time .
 Spring it seems has now turned into hot glorias Summer  my pealing nose and red face a testiment to my Englishness.
 The landscape too has changed from the pine woods through to the long lanes lined with Plane? trees and the rivers and canals  running through the the now more frequant larger towns.
 The walk from Le Puy to Conques is a Camino in itself a great start and to finish sleeping in the abbey makes it compleat.
 My walking companion for most of the way has been Thierry the last of the Jonnie Depp camino,s the others long since gone home or retired hurt_Sonia is still about and turns up now and again each time minus more lost items.
 With my thoughts on the big picture of Santiago 1500km down the road I have been putting in too many long 30 plus days in,( not always intentionally as its easy to get lost trusting red and white stripes that try and take you on a 54k detour round Cahors****) using the 45 year old Thierry as my rabbit as we burn up the miles down this rocky road thats so hard on the feet.
 Thierry now goes back to Paris ( train strikes permitting ) and I have decided to slow down and take each day as it comes as I continue on this day by day increasingly busy road

let the pictures teel the story_a walk from winter into spring back to front