A day in Macdonalds

Getting up this morning was a non event. Jeremy, who had the alarm clock, turned it off and went back to sleep so no movement was seen until after eight.
We walked the eight kilometers down into St Jean de Angely in a short time and fell upon a Macdonald's fairly quickly. They have power points and wireless networks available if you eat their junk so we had a meal and plugged in.
My laptop takes ages to charge. I bought a new little Acer touchscreen laptop just for the trip but honestly it's not a patch on my MacBook Air. Ahh we'll, one lives and learns.
I sat and worked until about 5:30 before going to the supermarket nearby. Jeremy filled time by consuming beer and so has been reluctant to walk the agreed fifteen klicks extra so now we're in a woods on the outskirts of town. There is an ankle deep stream running in the woods and Jem threw himself into it immediately. I might have a go shortly.

I caught sight of myself in the mirror in the McDo loos. My face and neck have greatly diminished in fattyness. Walking is definitely doing me good physically.

Jeremy is building a fire.. Again.



Looks like a Sasquatch to me.

Location:Avenue Charles de Gaulle,Saint-Jean-d'Angély,France

Siesta

As we go south the midday heat becomes more marked. We have taken to dozing for a few hours until the day becomes cooler and walkable again.

Stag

A visitor to my tent this morning.

Snaps

Some shots from last evening and this morning including breakfast plums, the campfire with obligatory cassoulet can, a pit-stop for a thorn in the foot, some lovely wild snapdragons and me looking a bit Aussie.

Bath time

Walking beside a clear river that ran through the town of Usseau deux Sevres we came across a stone bridge. The water was knee deep an freezing cold but bein hot and filthy from several days walking we decided to wash ourselves and our clothes. Jeremy went first and shrieked at the temperature. I was, of course, more stoic in my tolerance of the chilly waters.
Standing naked in and indeed, dousing oneself just a few feet from a road upon which cars passed oblivious to one was a bizarre experience. Wow but the wash was good though!!

Tyred

We had a blowout of the wheelbarrow tyre. The two-hundred and some kilometers has taken its toll on the already worn rubber and it finally gave up the ghost.
There being no purveyor of wheelbarrow spares nearby I was forced to hitch-hike into Niort to procure another. To my consternation no tyre of the same dimensions was available so I had to buy a. 400-8 instead of a 350-8 and risk it hitting the frame.
A lovely lady gave me a lift into a garden center in Niort and by chance saw me hitching on the way back and picked me up a second time, delivering me to the spot where poor Jeremy was waiting.
The tyre did fit and has made the barrow a smidgen higher so easier to push.

People

We are in the odd situation of being judged by people as we walk. Stopping to ask directions some treat us like hobos and ignore us or insult us. Others guess our mission to walk to Santiago De Compostelo and complement us and welcome us.
We stopped for drinks at a cafe in the town of Toutlemonde and found ourselves receiving beeps and waves from drivers on the road for several days. In Colonges a lady guessed what we were doing and was so delighted that she hugged and kissed us saying we had restored her faith in humanity and she would pray for us. We didn't have the heart to say that our journey wasn't a religious pilgrimage but a sort of secular one.
It's lovely not to be treated like a bum.

Myst?

Anyone familiar with the computer game Myst will appreciate the shady walkways of La Garrette. Looking exactly like sets from the Island where raised wooden walkways carry the adventurer above swampy terrain, these wonderful paths wind between trees and swampy pools full of algae, frogs and insects. Only the wonderful soundtrack was missing.

Antisocial

The initial physical shock of walking pretty much all day is over and we've been racking up an average of twenty kilometers a day. Walking is indeed a contemplative activity and I've had a lot of time to reflect on the past and think about the future. Having been a provider of income and housing for a large family with the attendant needs for waking in the morning at a certain time, being at work or in another seemingly interminable meeting on time I find myself in the difficult position of having to get out of those long established habits. The brim of my hat that shields my eyes from the sun also obscures some of my forward view and so I see the road surface far more than the road ahead or the horizon. This is a little bit analogous to the Buddhist philosophy of being in this moment, not concerned with what has past, although it is very difficult to let go of, and not to look into an uncertain future with unattainable desires.
Strangely, I find it all oddly relaxing.
The night was wet but the morning was fine and now we're sheltering from the midday heat. More miles this afternoon.

Location:D1,Coulonge sur L'Autize,France

Fat

Modern life isn't good for people. We'll, not good for me anyways. Years of complacency, overrating and booze turned me from a lean fighting machine into a blob. This walk is partly to overcome that sad circumstance as I need something to drastically change me from how I have been into a fitter and leaner me. A few months ago I was one hundred and thirty seven kilos! That's more than twenty one stones or three hundred pounds. That is just plain horrible and the strain on knees, back and metabolism is horrible too.
A couple of months of intense gym work coupled with giving up drinking has seen twenty or so kilos fall away but this isn't enough and I need to lose about another forty kilos to be a good weight again.
I guess this walk is an escape from a life that made me compromise everything for a wife and family and while I recognize that choices get made along the way they get made for reasons that are not wholly selfish.
Today I need not compromise or consider anyone but myself. I hate being fat. I want to run without risking a busted knee. No pain no gain they say. I should be doing myself a load of good somewhere.

Tick

It rained a bit during the night and I had to get up for a pee. That was a pain and I stood on a thorn which embedded itself in my left heel. I also picked up a tick that bit my arm on my right bicep so I 'll need to watch that for the telltale red ring of Lymes Disease.
A few kilometers brought us to a town where Jeremy had a little freak-out due to his general dislike of urban areas but I was able to find a spanner and fix the wheel.
Google maps walking routes leave something to be desired as the route took us into an area tat was proclaimed to be guarded by armed guards, security cameras and had a risk of death associated with it. The detour was long. The map says only 12 klicks but I know we walked more with the detour.
We put up for the night on a disused farm track. I really need to wash myself and my clothes as my tee shirt is encrusted with salt from dried sweat.

Woods

Walking with the wheelbarrow is easier on the back and I can carry, or at least propel, more stuff so I have taken a lot of Jeremy's heavy gear.
The axle on the barrow squeaked badly and it seems that it has not been tightened properly, we blagged oil from some chaps for the squeaky noise but I will need to get tools as the pliers on my multi tool aren't good enough to do the job.
Camp three was in some woods. I am wary of these as although they have great places to tie up tarps or to hang things the leaf litter is always dirty and there is too much biota in the surroundings.

Second day

With food, water and boots my pack weighed in at thirty two kilos. I carried it for about ten kilometers until the heat of the day drove us into shade. I fell asleep and didn't wake for about four hours so Jeremy suggested an early night and an early start. I had still not put the tarpaulin up before it got dark so I lay in the open in my waterproof sleeping bag cover and threw the tarp across the top like a blanket. As I crawled in a big anvil shaped cloud lit up pink and orange with internal lightning. A bad omen for sure.
I awoke with the rain beating down but I was dry thanks to the equipment and good luck that the water had not run under where I had lain the night before. Struggling out semi naked into a downpour was an experience I had not had since many years past.
Sitting by the stove making tea I remarked that my back hurt badly and feeling behind me I was horrified to find a proper hunchback hump. The weight of the sack had caused a severe scoliosis with my spine curved very noticeably to my right and sticking out a couple of inches.obviously a thirty two kilo pack was a bad move for a man who has sat at a computer desk for decades and who has become unused to heavy lifting.
I don't like to be beaten and so, as we had only walked about twenty two kilometers I hitched back into town to buy a wheelbarrow in which to push my gear.
I was foiled again because it was Sunday and all shops close on Sunday in small-town France. Still not to be beaten I called my daughter who kindly brought mine from home.
So, the journey continued.

Worse than useless

The travois is not a reliable form of travel and on roads it wears away the wood at an unacceptable rate. Even though it's next to useless it did take the weight off of my back so some form of carrying device is quasi necessary. I'm thinking wheelbarrow?

Wet

Tip for the traveller: get your tent or bivouac set up before nightfall,

Yesterday morning Jeremy and I set out late and walked about eleven kilometers. It started to get hot in the afternoon so he suggested stopping for a few hours to rest and eat. I was tired as I'm pretty much out of shape despite the last few months of gym every morning and having already lost three stones. I lay down to rest a while and slept four hours solid. Admittedly, this gave the phone and other equipment time to charge on the solar panel I brought along for the purpose. We were on a little used farm track so Jeremy suggested stringing tarps and hammocks across the path for the night. I wanted to re-pack my bag so I waited. Sitting down I felt odd and noticed a lump in my back. It was then that I realized that my spine was curved crazily due to the weight of the pack. I think I'm in trouble there. Re weighing pack including food and water came out at a whopping 32 kilos! It may not be much for an elite commando but I'm an old fat computer programmer that spent the last few decades slouched at a desk. I cannot carry my pack at that weight, not if I hope to get fitter and not crap out from injuries.
So, back to the main story... I messed with the pack and trying to build a travois to pull it on and didn't set up my tent or my tarp. It was only at nightfall that I found the ground too stony to take a tent peg so in desperation I just put my big waterproof sleeping bag cover on the ground, threw the tarp on top like a blanket and slept there waking to the sound of torrential rain in the early dawn.
The equipment kept me dry but it was nasty crawling out into the downpour. The tarp went up strung on bushes and I am sat in poncho and Aussie hat while the rain continues. Buddhist teachings say that life is a series of moments. We cannot change the moments we had and should not grasp for moments in the future. This is fine by me.

Aoutats

I had completely forgotten about the existence of aoutats, a tiny larval stage arachnid that lives in tall grass and that bites and burrows into the skin of the legs and lower body. Remembering them this morning after an uncomfortable nights sleep is not much help. It rained on and off during the night but I stayed dry.
Today I'm going to try to combat fatigue before it starts by eating a highly calorific breakfast of tinned canneloni before starting out. The old feet are unhappy though. In an effort to reduce weight I have decided to get rid of my favorite tee shirt that was a gift from my Microsoft MVP days. The thing is an XXXL so I don't need it any more. Say goodbye to an old friend with me.

Location:D3,Pouancé,France

Day one.

Day one,
It took us three hours to walk to the bridge on the old road near Pouance. We set up tarpaulins in an area of ground just off that road that I must have driven along past the spot a thousand times I never imagined I would be camping here on my way to an adventure.
I am definitely not used to walking with a heavy pack and the extra 55 pounds takes it's toll on legs and back. I know that I will sleep well tonight even if it does look as if thunderclouds are gathering. Jeremy looks very comfortable in his hammock and is reading a book just like the inveterate long-distance hitchhiker that he is. We covered ten kilometers today which is not bad for the first effort but hoping to cover 20 tomorrow. Still, We had set out late from home as the day had been so hot that it was useless to try to travel in such heat. Anyway, there's no real schedule so never mind.
We ate tinned cassoulet for supper. A diet to which we will no doubt become very accustomed as it is calorific, cheap and easy to carry in its tin. Perhaps more dried food would be lighter but not nearly so convenient.
We found wild plums too!

Location:D775,Pouancé,France

Leaving day is just over the sunrise.

Tomorrow my son Jeremy and I will begin a walk of more than 1400 kilometers from Brittany in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain along the pilgrim routes of old. We are doing this because Jeremy fancied a stroll and I am making a pilgrimage to myself. I am few weeks away from being fifty four years old, overweight, depressed and feeling my mortality so I need to do something that will change my life utterly. I have been a serious and professional man for more than thirty years, working as a programmer with a great career and great earning potential. I did it all to support a wife and ever growing family and now those things are gone from my life and feel as if I am empty and useless.

I expect bodily pain and discomfort but I hope to find enlightenment and happiness enough to counteract that in some way as we travel the roads of France and Spain. On the way, we will learn Spanish so as not to be completely reliant on the English speaking natives and with luck, this blog will be a foretaste of a book that we will write as we make our way along the Camino de Santiago.

Join us for the adventure.