back again

hi

i am still in castres. Dominique has a very sore toe. We are going to wait a few hours before we start this morning. ( his toe is really sore.)

We stayed in a dormitory for young people who are working but can't afford housing on their own. it cost us 12e for bed and breakfast.

Castres is a town i would come back to (if i spoke French). it is an old town where fabrics were designed. there is a river with several old bridges and old homes along the river. there is an enormous plaza with fountains and bars surrounding it. the other town i loved was arles, where i began walking. it was a roman outpost. there is a colliseum and an amphitheatre that are still being used, happily for less brutal entertainment. arles is a very small town; so the colliseum and theatre are imposing. i think it is also a tourist town. there were many beautiful stores and places to eat. the first area we walked in was carmargue. it is known for it's beautiful white horses. the whole area has a cowboy, western feel. there were many cattle and horses and wrought iron crosses. speaking of crosses, they are everywhere. some are simple and beautiful, others not so much. i keep thinking how oppressive it would feel if you weren,t christian. the really bad part were the mosquitoes. they were horrible. i thought provence was perfect, but no.

from the cattle area we walked into orchards: apricots and necterines primarily. we ate the ones on the ground. yum. from there we went up up up into the chestnut forests and pines. the chestnuts were very important in ancient times for flour and protein etc. i was thinking last night about telling you about the hunters in the woods. it was one of those times when i thought what am i doing here. their are men with guns in the dark and i guess there must have been wild boar. and their was mary daniels and her backpack and her cute little scarf. good lord.

the other time i had this feeling was the day after i wrote to you from lodeve. dominique and i got really lost. we walked out of town in the wrong direction. we are following a national hiking trail that is marled with a red and white design. it doesn,t specify direction. we walked on an ancient roman trail for 3 hours and we met a man who pointed across the valley at the road we were supposed to be on. i of course have no idea what is being talked about, but suddenly we are walking very quickly with this man and his two dogs. after about an hour we arrive at his car, the dogs, backpacks and dominique get in the wayback and i am in the front seat with this very handsome man. he looks like big from sex in the city. we are driving through woods and villages and i thought how did it happen that i am here? the man looked at me and said this is the dogs car. he could speak great english and so i started talking with him. it is such a good feeling to be able to talk with someone. i am so sorry i dont speak french. dominique is giving me lessons as we walk. we spend our time walking drawing pictures in the dirt to discribe what we are talking about and singing christmas songs because they are common to both of us.

i am thinking about what is important to me on this pilgrimage. for me it doesn't feel religous. it feels spiritual in the way being outside always feels spiritual to me. the most dominate feeling i have is one of being healthy. my heart races with the effort, i sweat and drink gallons of water: all of my aches and pains that i had at home are gone. i feel so good. maybe later i will feel the pilgrimage in a more spiritual way. i do have a deep respect for the history of the way and the thousands that have gone before me.

dominique is sitting next to me, anxious to start. goodbye again.

Love,

mom and Mary

in Castres

Hi everyone
There have been many footsteps since we last talked. Dominique and i have finished 283 k. We have walked in dark dark foggy chestnut forests ( i felt like was in a monty python movie) and over high mountains in the rain. it is incredibly beautiful here: i can,t explain how it feels. it,s like a slow moion movie. one of the funniest things happened one morning on a cloudy day in that dark forest: there were about 10 hunters in brown outfits and orange vests standing along the path we walked on. they had their guns slung over their shoulders and when we walked by they all said ¨bonjour¨. it was like they were hanging out at the coffee bar but instead they were hunting wild boar.
i wish you were all here to share this with me. it was very sad to say goodbye to chuck and kathy. but they are so supportive of me continuing and i feel great: more as soon as possible.
love, mary

in lodeve

hi everyone
i will write simply because of the keyboard. so many things have happened in the last 6 days. my friend kathy hurt her knee and cannot walk. her husband chuck has stayed with her of course and they will come home in a week or so. the night before kathy hurt herself we met a french man, 62 married in case you are interested, who is going to santiago di compostela. i am now walking with him. he is great, a cross between st francis of assissi , he talks to the animals and finds berries and figs for us to eat, and he is like george christianson, organized and confident. his english gets better everyday. i would indicate a joke if i could find the right keys. he is very kind and protective of me. we have walked with two people from paris and a young man who is like alison's adam.
here is a typical day for me. up at 6:15 on the road at 7 walk till 4 or 5 or 6. we stay in gites or churches or convents. we arrive in town, find a bar for a cold beer, find the church to have our credentiale stamped and ask where to stay for the night. we shower , or as dominic says, i wash me, wash my clothes find something to eat and if possible i draw a picture in my journal.
i was so scared when i left kathy and chuck. it seems impossible for me to go on , not knowing the language and the way. but i remember when jolynn free and i went to new york after 9 11. we went to riverside church and we were a part of an amazing service. the pastor had us turn to each other and take the hand of our neighbor and say you are safe in this place. this comes to me now. i know i am safe in this place.
i left domenique in a cafe while i write this. we are walking with some people from germany this morning. it is cool, cloudy but no rain. there are chestnut trees all over. and lots of hills.
by the way: adam, you were right: it is like the lake superior hiking trail much of the time. rocky paths, very high steep hills and beauty everywhere. i think of oscar on every steep hill . i think up up up. or down down down.
i feel so lucky to be here. i have no hurts. i must go now, i have 13 k to go. i will write again when i find another computer: they are infrequent: the guy from paris complained that it is easier to find a computer in india or africa than in frmance.
i love you all and miss you.
mary/mom

My last night at home

I am ready to go. My bag is packed, I had dinner with my family last night, and I can't wait to start walking. I thought I'd give a little history of "el Camino" so you would all be familiar with it's history. I am going to take an excerpt from the liner notes of a cd given to me by my one of my neighbors.

-for about a thousand years, pilgrims have journeyed to santiago de compostela, the legendary burial place of st.james the apostle. in the year 815 a hermit was led to the grave site by shimmering miraculous lights- the field of stars, campus stellae. the bones were identified by the gourd and the scallop shell the apostle always carried. between the 12th and 15th century , the the popular peak of the pilgrimage, hundreds of thousands journeyed to santiago seeking healing, miracles, adventure, atonement and salvation.-
Tonight I leave on my journey.We'll see together what I discover. More later...