17 mar

Walked another 34 kilometres, from Castenau-Camblong to Ostabat, making a total of 626 kilometres. That’s the result for three weeks. Still about 30 kilometres a day. That will change, because we are going to camp out one or two days at Saint Jean Pied du Port, after tomorrow.
Turned South at a point close to Lafagne, at about 11 o’clock this morning, and there they were: The Pyrenees. Faint snow capped mountains, hidden in the clouds. Thrilling and threatening. I just gasped at them for a while. These mountains resemble so much of what makes this walk worthwhile.
At one point – I think in Compostella. but maybe in SJPDP as we pilgrims call Saint Jean Pied du Port– you have to say why you took this trip. I’ve been thinking about that.
Pilgrims in the Middle Ages went on these journeys for two reasons: atonement for sins and adventure. I feel a little the same way. It started out with the adventure, put I find rather gratitude in the atonement. And the adventure is gruelling in a pleasurable way, which makes it rewarding from a punishment point of view.
But that’s not all. Part of it is time for reflection on the future. Where to go from here. The picture is getting clearer but there still are grey areas.
Part of it is losing weight. Like everyone who walks the Camino wants, according to Gideon Lewis-Kraus. I am not sure about that. Claire could lose some weight in her backpack, maybe, and Kitty will lose strength when she loses weight. I thought I would write about this weight issue when I had lost my breasts. Which hasn’t happened. Mind you, I am not against breasts, but I find they detone on the male body. Okay, last year, when my friend Marc turned sixty, and we all had to dress as middle aged women, they came in handy, but they have had their role in life as far as I am concerned.
I really enjoy the contemplating, the disagreements with myself, the joy of finding a description of something that I find beautiful, thinking of lines of poetry or songs that make sense at a specific moment, the abundance of time really. It was good to have company for a few days, but I truly enjoy the walking by myself, the moaning when this or that hurts. I can do that better on a forest path when nobody’s around then anywhere else.
With full sun again, and the Pyrenees in the background, the scenery today was just stunning. The best day of lots of great days. The hills are just perfect here. Pretty steep, with tree covered valleys in between. You get dragged into the landscape and then are lifted above it in a sort of continuous movement. It was just thrilling. I really felt like everything was perfect for a while. Who cares about the troubles in Ukrain, who cares about earthquakes in Los Angeles – even when my mother is just there – look at this lovely land here, about a day’s walk away from Saint Jean Pied du Port, the pilgrims entrance to the Pyrenees.
Just after seeing the first snow topped mountains I entered Basque country. It seems more orderly and wealthy than the earlier regions. A little bit like Bavaria in Germany. But then the farmers still spray their manure over the land, while in any civilized country it is injected into the ground.
Still 813 kilometres of fun ahead of me.