The Chemin de St. Jacques and return to Flamarens

Well, I have not written in a long time because I have been staying in many small villages and have not found internet access. I started the Chemin de St. Jacques, or the Way of St. James (I can't figure out how Jacques=James but whatever) on September 11th and have now walked over 400 km. At the beginning of my journey I walked 20 km a day, but soon after I began to do no less than 24km, usually 26 or 27. Some days I do over 30, but I don't enjoy that very much. I stay at Gites at night, which are like hostels meant for pilgrims. Usually I take a demi-pension, which includes the bed, breakfast and supper. I think its good value, and during these times I meet a lot of fascinating people.
Today I only walked 14 km because I have stopped in Flamarens, the village I did my first workcamp in. I have said hello to a few of the villagers, and I will stay with the mayor and his family tonight. Right now I am in Catherine's house, a lovely woman who has been very gracious to me, the young Canadian who rang her bell unexpectedly early this afternoon. We met when I stayed here before, but she had gone to England for the second two weeks of our camp.
I checked in on the ecomusee that we worked on; it looks largely the same but is quite abandoned. Some shrubs and grass have overgrown the area where we had our table, and the toilets and sinks are dirty and full of spiders. I also checked the wall, it is still standing firm as ever! I was said that the buvette was closed, I had hoped to surprise Daniel and have a Coke!
I saw Yaseen and his parents, they were very happy to see me. Yaseen is supposed to be sick but when I came he came to life, and was acting very much like a 9 year old boy.
Anyway, I have a lot of stories about the Chemin but its too much to write in one blog entry. I hope all who are interested seek them out when I return home!

Zombie in Paris

Well, I left London this morning at 5:30, but in order to catch my train ontime I had to leave Brixton at 3:30. That was very painful. I could not sleep at all in the hours before departure...I don't know if it was excitement, nerves or maybe I just wasn't tired enough. As 3;30 grew closer though, I definately could have used some sleep. I am not known to pull all nighters, and so far I am suffering the consequences of this one. I was able to sleep a couple of hours on the train to Paris, but now I am walking around the city like a zombie. I cannot think; typing this is draining what energy I have left.
Anyhow, I though I would let everyone know that on Thursday I will begin my pilgrimage in Le Puy en Velay; it will probably take a month to walk and I do not know how often I will use the internet during that time. I am going to buy a SIM card so I will have a phone number to call or text; I will post that soon.
Love everyone immensely!

Chilling in London and Preparing for the Camino

So, I arrived in London last Thursday, and was very glad to be able to just relax. Frances is a wonderful hostess, and she keeps reminding me to help myself when I want anything. I sleep in, I read, watch TV, go for walks and not much else. I think soon I should remind myself that I am in London and should go do something interesting or special.
Yesterday I was accompanied by Frances' neighbours, Enid and Byron, to Croydon to buy some hiking gear (I bought a Swiss Army Knife!!!) I also found some really nice ''trousers'' and a hat (I hate hats.) So, I am all kitted out to start my next adventure, but I don't think I am really ready to go just yet. I have not bought any ticket to get to France, although I am working on that now. I want to find the most economical way to get there, and thats proving a problem. Anyhow, after the shopping Byron begged me to go to Wimbledon (he loves the trams!) I gave in to his cute little begging, although while being cute it was also very irritating, and we went to Wimbledon. We did not do much there, however, just go to the bookstore and McDonalds. I have to say I am proud of myself that this is the first time I have gone to McDonalds in Europe...sometimes they just looked like such an easy option! It was good to have a BigMac again, and now I won't have any cravings for a few months I think. The day was full of Byron holding my hand, singing and saying my name over and over again. Quite enjoyable, but on the way home I was feeling quite sick from all those trams and busses!
Today, Frances and I went back to Croydon to meet Juliet and her children. We had lunch together, and I bonded with Isabelle. She is an energetic six year old who took quite a liking to me...we held hands the rest of the afternoon. It was nice to be with Juliet, I think she is quite a wonderful and generous woman. She is very warm and kind to me, and its nice to speak to someone younger than 80 sometimes!
Juliet suggested that she call her brother-in-law and ask him if he has time to take me around. I said that sounded good, it would be nice to get out, and that way I don't have to go to all the traditional tourist sites. He will be able to suggest some other options. So perhaps in the next few days I will hang out with him. And do something with my time in London!

Paris

I have recently been informed that my blogs are highly anticipated and read regularly by certain members of the Degner family, so I think the pressure is on to write more indepth prose...I will do my best!
So my strep-throat is gone, gone gone and I am so happy. Now I have more energy and better spirits to visit this beautiful city. I have now been to the Louvre, the Catacombes, Maison d'air, Sacre Couer, Notre Dame and Champs Elysee. Today was the day I visited Champs Elysee, and never in my life have I seen more wealthy people...it was like their skin was made of gold and silver, and maybe platinum! And they were so posh, so put together. And so this is reason number one why I cannot live in Paris - I am not so posh and I do not love to shop. I do not put myself together so well in the morning; although since high school I am sure my mother would agree I am doing a lot better!
Reason number two that I cannot live in Paris, or anywhere else if France for that matter, is crepes. I ADORE crepes with nutella, and possibly bananas. If I lived in Paris I would want to eat 5 crepes a day, I am sure. And this is a serious health risk.
Reason number three is that men in Paris are very forward and extremely persistent; I just cannot deal with this all day every day. I can only say "non, non, non" so many times a day, and certainly not every day a year.
Reason number four is people like me: tourists stress me out. There are piles of tourists on every corner, every metro, every restaurant, and it is quite exhausting.
So far this is my list of why I cannot live in Paris; none of them do I take so seriously that if the chance came to actually live here I would turn it down! I love this city and if I had a lot of money I would like to spend a long time here.

Updates

It has been awhile, and I think this blog will go faster for me because I am getting used to the French keyboard...this could be troublesome when I go home and have to readjust. Ok, so I am finished each and every workcamp, and now I can relax...except that I cannot because I am staying in a hostel and apparently there is a reason they are called youth hostels. It is because you would be crazy to stay in one if you are over the age of 25, or if you value sleep. And I am trying to recover from strep-throat, which is hard to do with the medicine prescribed to me by the utterly thorough doctor who walked in the door, shone a light down my throat and wrote a prescription. But slowly I feel better!
And enough of the whining.
I LOVE Paris. Did anyone know that it is supremely beautiful? It is such a pleasure to simply be able to walk through this city. I wish I had all the time in the world so that I did not need a guide book or some idea of what I want to do, because it is my favourite thing just to start walking towards one destination and to get lost...you find so many beautiful and interesting things along the way.
I have not been in anything except the Musée d'Orsay, but I have seen Bastille, Le Louvre, Le Tour Eiffel, Le Grand Palais, Les Halles, St Eustache, La Seine, and so much more. I look forward to going to the Catacombs, Notre Dame, and all other sites.
Everyone should come be with me in Paris.

Update

I think that today I am going to the mountains, so I probably will not be writing much from now on. My next workcamp will be very rustic, we will not even have running water. In the next few days I will try to call family and friends, but until August 20 I may not blog. So, until then!

Toulousse

I have just stepped off of the train in Toulousse and said goodbye to some very good friends. My workcamp in Flamarens has come to an end, and leaving has been far more emotional than I ever thought it would be. At the camp I lived, worked, ate, played and slept with 8 amazing people for 20 days. Additionally, I made many friends from the village and nearby village. In the past few days we finished our work on our wall; it was bittersweet: it was satisfying looking at the finished project of the past few weeks, but looking at it reminded me of how it is all over so quickly.
Thursday night we hosted a dinner, a soirée, at the ecomusée where we gorged on food, wine and good company. The next day we spent all our time writing notes to each other to remember our time by; it was like the end of highschool and the frantic signing of yearbooks. We exchanged addresses, took pictures like mad, and that night we had some friends come to say goodbye. This morning we packed, and left our beloved ecomusée. In Agen our group split in two and I said my goodbyes to Anka and Daniella, the Slovaks; and Yusuf the Turk. Then, Ruben, my Mexican; Seung Eun and Sung Koo, my Koreans: and Maria the Ukrainian and I boarded the train to Toulousse. Here, Ruben, Seung Eun and Sung Koo carried on there way to Barcelona. This group was closest to me during these 3 weeks, and we all cried as we clung to each other and said goodbyes. I did not know that these people would have such an impact on me, and I did not know that they would love me so much.
Soon, Maria will continue on her way to Madrid and I will wander around Toulousse by myself. Tonight I will be with Joel, our fearless leader. Then tomorrow is unknown.
I am happy to have some free days to relax, wash my clothes and catch up with emails and phone calls; but I am sad to leave Flamarens and all that it meant to me. I will return to the village as a pilgrim, and undoubtedly will stay for a day or two. But the friends I made in my workcamp will not be there, and I will miss them.
This means that I must work very hard this year so that I can continue travelling: Mexico, Korea, Turkey, Ukraine and Slovakia are all beckoning to me!