Blessed

Time flies. I’ve been on the road for a month now. This week went surprisingly fast. A lot of "new" pilgrims on their way, beautiful weather and a wonderful hiking flow.

Just after I left the last houses of Troyes on day 28 I met Els and Lucia for the first time. 2 retired ladies whose husbands are still at work. They got to know each other through a Santiago Facebook group and decided to make the trip to Santiago together. Nice to walk a few k's together and share stories.

Somewhere while walking in the afternoon I suddenly stopped, shit....forgot my underpants!

It suddenly occurred to me that I had left it hanging in the shower. Well, not going to run back for it, then I have to continue with only 2 pieces.

Towards the end of the afternoon, after a nice hike of 22.3 km, I arrived at the pilgrim's residence in Sommeval. Here I met Henk. Els and Lucia also stayed here. We made our own 3-course menu, cup-a-soup, pasta with green beans and blue cheese, followed by yoghurt. A combination of what was there and what everyone had with them.

Everyone put their sleeping mat on the floor and slept.

Day 29 from Sommeval to Ervy-le-Chatel in 21.7km. Except for the last 5 km, I walked this day together with Henk. A very relaxed hike with nice conversations.

Day 30 continued to Bernouil. I started off alone, but soon ran into Caroline and Marjoke. A while later we also met Henk again and the 4 of us walked along. When we made the switch from the Champagne to the Bourgonge region along the canal, we took a little break. Lovely in the grass with our faces in the sun. Less than 5 minutes later and we were pressed against the nearby house to find shelter and put on our rain clothes as quickly as possible for the downpour that came on us.

Henk had the first stop of the day, I found a spot for my tent after 22.4 km and Caroline and Marjoke continued to the next village.

On day 31 I had something to celebrate, I'm on the road for a month. It was just as convenient that I walked into the town of Chablis towards noon. Here I met Caroline and Marjoke again and we went out for lunch together. Tasty salad with bread and fries. The glass of Chablis (white wine) was delicious. It was as if we were taken out of our pilgrim life for a while and just went out for a nice lunch. As soon as I got up and looked at my muddy pants and dirty shoes, this feeling disappeared instantly.

I slept that night in a municipal-inn in Saint-Cyr-les-Colons. I had to report to the municipality before 6 am. After 31.2 km through the hilly vineyards of Chablis, I ran into the municipality at 3 minutes before time. Fortunately, the woman had to laugh about it and took me to a very nice inn. A washing machine to wash my clothes, and a clothesline outside to dry my tent, a nice hot shower, and above all a great bed to sleep in. How happy can one be with these facilities.

The weather was lovely again on day 32. Good weather for camping. There was a campsite in the town of Arcy-sur-Cure, they always have room for a small tent, so I decided not to call in advance. When I arrive there after 23.3km, the campsite appears to be closed. The gate was open so I decided to find a spot on the field for my tent anyway. Unfortunately the water was shut off so the shower had to wait until tomorrow. Just asked for drinking water at a nearby house.

On to Vezelay. After a good night's sleep on the closed campsite, the day started with a pit stop at the mini market for fruit, a coffee and a baguette. On the app (organic maps) I had seen that there was a second route that led along the canal where many caves were symbolized. This piqued my interest. It is day 33, the sun is already up and warm and I set off with good energy. Arriving at the fork, all routes go to the right, there were four. And my cave route via the app went left. Cross point; short talk with myself here. What am I going to do, do I just do what is asked and follow the route like everyone else and regret that I missed the caves. Or do I go for the bit of adventure... you know it, don't you!

A little further on I came to a large gate, with a sign of the caves and that it was closed. Via the app I could see that there was a walking path continuing beyond the caves, so just went passed the gate. The big caves were also closed so I couldn't go in there, but there were several smaller caves scattered along the canal. Very nice to take a look here. The path continued along the canal and between the rocks to finally reach the village of Saint-Moré, as the other route did. It was a very pretty area, happy with my choice.

Well warmed up already in my t-shirt I walked past an ice cream shop. Hmm it's only 11 o'clock, but I’m keen, so let’s do it!

In the afternoon I met Caroline and Marjoke again on and off. We watched a natural birds of prey show together. The farmer had recently mowed the field with grass and there were 10 birds circling above. With the knowledge of my fellow pilgrims, the conclusion was that there were many Red Kites and also a single buzzard. Beautiful to see.

In the distance I already saw the village of Vézelay, at least the cathedral on top of the mountain. Very special because usually the villages are located in a valley and therefore go downhill to reach them. To reach Vézelay I first had to climb a bit. This was a very steep slope of about 320 meters. A walking path made of stones. Kind of like cobblestones, but more uneven. It was the middle of the day, the sun was burning and I climbed up step by step. In my last break I had changed shoes, this last part I walked on my Vivobarefoot shoes. This made me feel the stones even better and I could vividly imagine how they walked up barefoot as pilgrims hundreds of years ago. To then arrive at the highest point of the mountain on a square in front of the Saint Madelaine Basilica. Mighty beautiful. Such a special moment.

Vézelay is a very famous pilgrimage place and a starting point for many pilgrims. A special place. And that's how it felt. A place where I needed to take a break. Had to stop for a while instead of continuing on. Taking a moment to let everything from the past few weeks sink in and prepare for the weeks to come. Just to ground in this beautiful place.

A town with 433 inhabitants. A main street with a few side streets that all lead steeply up to the basilica. Some small shops and here and there a restaurant or bar. Very picturesque with wonderfully fragrant wisteria. A scent that embraces and enchants you as you walk up the street.

The first evening I went for a bite to eat with Caroline and Marjoke, their part was over and they went home tomorrow. I will miss them, because I was a bit used to meeting them at some point during the day by now.

The first two nights I stayed at the campsite just outside the village. In the morning it rained and I sat sheltered in my tent when there was a "knock" at 11 o'clock, the coffee was ready at my camper-neighbor. Sweet. Even sweeter was the invite fordinner.

In the afternoon it was dry and I walked into the village. I saw Henk sitting on the square in front of the basilica, later Els and Lucia joined us, they had just arrived. Great to see them again! And to meet Frank, albeit briefly, because he had also reached the end of his etappe.

At the same time I also met Janneke, she took a picture of us. Dutch, turned out to be on the same campsite with her super flowery campervan and invited me for tea that evening.

After the pleasant reunion of my fellow pilgrims, I went for dinner at Guus's in the evening. I was spoiled with wine and cheese and a delicious Indian curry with naan bread. Yum!

Afterwards I met up with Janneke to have a glass of wine and a warm tea. So fun, meeting new strangers. To round off this special day, she offered to warm up a hot water bottle for me. What a trooper of a warm heart! Small effort she said, but for me a big gesture. You can imagine how well I slept 😊

My last and third night in Vézelay I slept in the pilgrim's inn with the nuns. Here I slept in a female dormitory with 8 beds. In the evening Henk and I cooked a nice pot of vegetables for our dinner. Vitamin booster. Lights went out early in the dormitory.

After two days and three nights of rest, I was really looking forward to walking again. From here I will follow the GR13 route, straight down the middle of France towards Lu Puy-en-Velay. While most pilgrims cross the country diagonally.

Before I left on day 36, we first went with all the pilgrims and the hosteliers to the basilica for the morning mass where the nuns sang beautifully. At the end of the mass, we were allowed to come forward and receive a pilgrim blessing. I couldn't understand it, but it sounded, in French, very poetic. (Later I received the text in Dutch) After the blessing we received a Mary Magdalene charm that I now carry with me on my pouch together with my St. James charm.

I was all set for the next phase of this beautiful journey.

For those who count will realize that I'm a week behind on writing. My walking days are long and the evenings are short, but I do my best to catch up, because there are too many beautiful things happening to skip. 😊

Thank you all so much again for reading. Please leave a comment, I really enjoy getting them 🙏

Below some bonus material for those who can't get enough of it 😉

Maybe it's because the sun is shining or because I've been on the road for 4 weeks, but this week really felt like my legs were in hiking modes. This does not mean that everything went smoothly, because I still feel something here and there, the calf, the knee, then the tendon plate, then the tibia, or sometimes the shoulder for a change. But these are all aches and pains that are (or seem to be) under control and don't hurt so much that I'm going to walk differently because of it. Usually these are in the morning or the last bit at the end of the day. The middle part of the day walks smoothest.

I can notice that my legs feel less stiff after a break and that I get back into the hikingflow faster after taking a break. The legs want to go further, walking feels good.

This week I was also able to really enjoy my breaks, because of the beautiful weather, but also because I felt less of a "pressure" if I would reach the destination of the day. It's a certain rhythm you have to get into.

This rhythm also flows through into the food. Especially the meals that I have to take care of myself along the way. Getting dinner and breakfast with your overnight stay is very pleasant and sometimes even feels a bit luxurious, because this is not always the case.

I always arrange the food for during the day myself and for the nights that I camp or sleep in a municipal inn I have to provide my own morning and evening meal. If there is a supermarket in the same village as the sleeping place, this is a breeze. But this is not at all obvious here.

In the smaller villages there is usually a bakery, but no supermarket. If the village is even smaller, they sometimes have a baguette machine, but also plenty of villages where there is nothing available.

So I can't walk on spec, I enjoy eating too much for that!

I usually carry food with me for 1.5-2 days. Sometimes this is as simple as a piece of fresh baguette with fruit for lunch.

In the supermarkets they very often have one-pan meals in a bag such as rice with vegetables, or lentils with rice and soy. These are very nice to have and tasty to eat.

While walking you fall into a rhythm where the days of the week are not important. It's very freeing to let this go. But for my food supply it is important to keep a little awareness of the days in the week.

Everything is closed here on Sunday afternoon and the whole Monday. Most shops are also closed at midday. Of course it would be easy if these times were standard, but sometimes they are closed from 12.00-14.00, or from 14.00-16.00 or something in between. This also applies to restaurants here, before 7 pm it is difficult to dine here. Important matters that concern a pilgrim 😋

France is still very unfamiliar with following a plant-based diet (vegan), but it’s slowly growing i’ve been told. Recently I walked through a ridiculously large supermarket where they had 10 kinds of everything, but not 1 piece of hummus. Vegetarian food is good, but there is always cheese with it. It is therefore not possible to walk through France without eating cheese or croissants.

When I spend the night at people's homes, I indicate in advance whether a vegetarian meal is possible and so far something delicious has come out of that. Turning down cheese at people's house almost feels rude, so I just enjoy it.😊

I try to buy fruit on the way as often as possible and I always have a bag of mixed nuts with me. My body really asks for nutrients with such intensive walking.

And yes, a French baguette is tasty, but a bit one-sided. Where possible I try to keep the variation up 🌈😋

There are some French table habits that stand out. One of them is the bowl where you get your morning coffee or tea in at breakfast. The tea in the evening just comes in a regular glass or mug, but in the morning in a bowl. A kind of pudding or soup bowl, fits the amount of at least 2 mugs. Baguette with butter and/or jam, which is usually even dipped in coffee.

In France, the bread can simply be served on the table. Breakfast, lunch or dinner, you get bread with everything, but it doesn't have to be on your plate, it can just lie next to it on the table.

Bread with dinner comes in handy, because all courses are eaten from the same plate, so you can at least make sure that you clean your plate with the bread for the next course.

This was it for a while. Thanks for reading 🤓