Arrived back very late on Wednesday night to a welcome from Alan and Ellie at Gatwick Airport and a Costa coffee. Teresa’s son Anthony was there to meet her. Exhausted on Thursday so I took it easy, poor Teresa had a full day of meetings. However, last night I managed 10 hours of sleep and am feeling much more like myself again, it was the travelling, not the walking that took it out of us I feel. Another great trip and so exciting to see the Pyrenees in the distance – that’s where we’re heading. Over this long weekend, I’ll [...]
This time tomorrow….
The ‘to do’ list is getting smaller as I tick off all the things in my attempt to get an early night. Off really early in the morning for a 6.30 flight to Toulouse from Gatwick. So excited though, just love this walk. We’ll be staying in the hotel tomorrow night that we finished at last section so it’s good to know that we might have time for a leisurely drink on the terrace as opposed to staggering through the door at 6.45 last time, exhausted after 20 miles and needing to shower in record time for dinner at 7.30! [...]
All paid up
The excitement is mounting as the balances are paid and there is now nothing stopping us going. April 25th is only 25 days away….Woohoo!! God, I love this walk and I love walking with Teresa too.
Next section booked
Yes, the date is April 25th and we head to Lectoure to pick up where we left off in May 2011 and walk another section of our beloved walk. It’s a rather early start, plane from Gatwick at 6.30, be there for 4.30 but the exciting part is always going so we’ll chill in Costa, grab breakfast and natter ten to the dozen about what’s in store for us. The days are shorter than on the last section so not so much exhaustion and a little more time to explore, I hope. When I got bored the other day I [...]
Heading in the right direction.
Small steps at first and the ‘gotta get planning’ is happening. I’ve been planning work for 2012 and as the diary has been filling up, it’s definitely been time to look at dates so those have been shared with Teresa and I have emailed Ann at http://www.worldwalks.com We’re hoping to cover two sections in 2012 so we can get to the French/Spanish border and would like to start the first one in mid/late April. Not sure as yet if the seasons have started then. Fingers crossed as getting the time in May is going to be difficult. Will keep you [...]
It’s that time again.
‘The Way’ is now out on DVD so that would make a nice stocking filler……. Of course that got Teresa and I talking about the next stage of the Camino and it was on Dec 31st last year that we sat and planned this year’s section over coffee and mans in Stanfords…… got to get planning.
On the way home.
Up early as this morning we were leaving so we had breakfast with Francoise and the Australian lady who we met at dinner last night and who lives in Sydney, in the same area as Karen and Anthony. It was a nice breakfast but the pain au chocolate where not a patch on the day before. The day promised to be interesting travelwise and started with a 40 minute bus journey to Agen and from there we took the TGV to Toulouse. What could have been fraught with challenges went extremely smoothly with time in Agen for coffee. Although Toulouse [...]
Last day, Auvillar to Lectour
Not surprisingly, there was a fabulous breakfast today and the Pain au Chocolate was too good to leave so had to take half of it with me for later. Sad to leave but I’d love to come back to this hotel some day… Off at 8.00, our last day and we bought quiches at the Boulangerie and Olive Fougas which is like Foccacia. We knew we would be road walking and weren’t looking forward to that but it wasn’t bad at all. Most were minor roads with good views so plenty to see and admire. There were also some grassy [...]
Only two more days of walking
May 10th 2011 Yet another good night’s sleep and an earlier start so we could get away and walk further before the heat set in. Everything worked well until the signs caused confusion and we had to retrace our steps on two occasions. The first was when we were trying to find the bridge so we could see this magnificent structure on our way out of town. We did finally get there and in the photo you can see Teresa making her way towards it. After that it all happened again and after a while of back tracking, we trusted [...]
Day three, what’s in store for us today?
Monday May 9th 2011 The beautiful Auberge de l’Aube-Nouvelle in the morning sunshine and from our room on the top left, we had a fabulous view down the drive and over the surrounding countryside. Thankfully Teresa felt much better this morning and was up for breakfast – so glad she’s feeling good as it’s so horrible to have to walk if you feel ill. Breakfast this morning was fabulous, yoghurt and fresh strawberries, freshly squeezed orange juice, boiled eggs and croissants and the people who run it are so lovely. View looking back at the Auberge as we climbed up [...]