Just getting acquainted with this new site. And like most new things I’m stumbling around, fumbling around really in the dark. But I don’t give up easily so I will keep trying and try to discover how to get this to work.
Days 6, 7, and 8 Confolens, Rochechouart, Saint Germain de Confolens (6, 7, 8 July)
We are still finding new routes up to the castle. And exploring the area around.
We visited another town, Rochechouart and even looked at a house that’s for sale. It’s 400 years old and a good price but it needs a bit of work which is out of our price range. Unless we set up a go fund me page. 😂😂😂
This city also has a castle. It was closed the day we were there. It doesn’t really appear to be open for exploring. It does have a modern art gallery. The castle is from the 13th century.
Another day we went to Confolens to visit their weekday market. It is small but had a vast assortment of fruits and vegetables, cheese and oil and nut carts. The oil cart had oils from France and Spain and the biggest bag of pistachios I’ve ever seen. I will let you know how yummy they are.
The last few days have still been hot. So we are still acclimating, trying to get out but also being smart.
Another walk around Saint Germain de Confolens brought us to an outdoor cafe (all seating is outside) with tables, chairs, loungers and umbrellas. There is a nice breeze off the river but it’s still hot!! We will go back and eat dinner one day.
Again really enjoying our time in this area.
Day 5 Saint Germain de Confolens (5 July)
We decided to go for a walk up to the castle ruins. There are several ways to get to the castle. So far we have taken five different routes. The castle is no longer open to walk inside but you can walk around the perimeter. One of the interesting features of the castle is the round towers on the outside are square on the inside. But alas I can’t confirm that.
There is a church and cemetery next door. They both sit just above Saint Germain de Confolens. There are signs along the river and around the walk to the castle telling about all the wildlife which include otters and bats, hoping to spot some.
We haven’t really ventured out in the heat too much other than to shop in air conditioned stores. It’s just too hot. But the training has begun so we will get out in the heat next week, but be sensible. I will use my sun umbrella fondly called my sunbrella and we will drink lots of water and use sunscreen.
We are really enjoying being here.
Days 3 & 4 Saint Germain de Confolens getting settled (3 & 4 July)
Living a nomad life means experiencing new places, environments, accommodations, and appliances. Being a nomad means packing up and settling into whatever is your new home for the time being.
We usually take a couple of days to do this settling into our new environment. And that’s what we have been doing the past couple of days.
We are trying to do shopping and walking early in the mornings to avoid the heat. Then relax, read, watch tv in the afternoon and evening in the house. We have managed to stay cool with fans, open windows and closed shutters. We also are getting to be experts at killing flies.
Well celebrated the 4th of July and Noël’s quitting smoking 9 years ago by eating chicken wings. I also got to talk to my mother on her 99th birthday.
Well that catches you up until tomorrow!! Hoping to explore the castle.
Day 2 Orleans to Saint Germain de Confolens
We had a late start this morning, which was perfect because we’re a little tired from all the adventures. We have had these past three months.
We had our coffee and we packed up our belongings and then we headed to the car to get going.
Playfully I lost Noel in the car garage and he went back looking for me when I was already at the car. He wasn’t pleased, but he laughed.😅😂
Our drive from Orleans to Saint Germain de Confolens was uneventful. And we arrived early afternoon. David and Teddy met us at the house and showed us around. At first sight it was cozy and beautiful, and the town is equally beautiful!!
Fascinatingly the sink for the toilet sits on the tank of the toilet. Apparently you can find this often in Japan.
After a little unpacking we took a walk to look for dinner and ended up at a wonderful restaurant and wine cellar, La Cave de Chateau. It sits at the base of the castle/chateau ruins.
A nice, short walk back to the house to unwind. A good day.
Next Adventure
We woke semi early on Wednesday morning. Finished packing and cleaning. We realized that we needed to take more stuff to storage. So back to Ternuezen which was a detour. But it was okay.
Couple of stops to charge the car. But not before taking an hour to drive through Paris. It was crazy but Noël did such a great job. We only saw a couple of accidents which is amazing because they drive crazy.
We made it to Orleans where we stopped for the night. The apartment was in the 2nd floor (for us Americans that is the third floor). The bedroom was up another floor in a renovated attic. The bed was not great. Fortunately it had enough fans to keeps us cool.
Dinner was at a fun place called Well’in town. We had some delicious garlic cheese bread. The fish and chips were okay. The batter was a little odd. But the atmosphere and service were great.
We wanted to walk around Orleans a beautiful city. It sits on the banks of the Loire River. It is famous for Jean d’Arc saved the city from an English siege in 1429. The city still celebrates this event.
Next stop for us is a two month stay in Saint Germain du Confolens in France. Where we will do lots of training for our next camino on the del Norte. Stay tuned!!
Day 4 April 22 Caldas de Reis 19 kms
We were hoping for coffee on our way out of town but everything was just opening and not ready to serve. But in O Marco on the outskirts of town we found an open cafe. The woman working was so helpful and friendly and even complimented us on our Spanish 😂🥰
Pilgrims overall seemed a bit more friendly and happy today. We did see some struggling up a steep hill.
We found a cute cafe to have some lunch. Hamburger for me and a giant sandwich for Noël. To be fair my burger was pretty big too.
Then we tackled the last 5 kms. It was a very steep climb but we made it. We were shown a lot of kindness today from pilgrims to locals making sure we weren’t lost, heading in the right direction and making sure we weren’t lost okay. It was beautiful seeing the camino spirit.
We stopped for the night in Cesantes at O Refuxio de la Jerezana. Very nice. Showered, laundry done, relaxing waiting for dinner.
21 April Caldas de Reis to Pontevedra 22 kms
We left a little later today making sure we ate a little something before starting out. Our first stop was in Briallos. We met a couple from Tennessee and had a nice conversation.
Next stop another 6 kms and we had a nice lunch in a very busy but effective cafe A Pousado in San Amaro.
Got some interesting questions about our well being or if we forgot something as well as the you’re going the wrong way.
We had two encounters with very different pilgrims. One woman asked us if we were returning to which we explained that we started in SdC and are walking to Porto where we will meet friends and then walk back. She was having a rough day and was ready to be done but she had 10 more kms. And she was lonely on the road. We talked for about 10 minutes and she was happy for the company.
The other woman, Emily asked us if we were staying in caldas de reis. She was a bit disappointed in the way saying it was much more commercial than she expected. While chatting we shared our story of meeting and she got very emotional and teared up. I told her my name was Debbie and she teared up again saying that was her mom’s name and that she had passed away five years ago. We spent about 15 minutes sharing and then exchanged instagram, hugged and went our separate ways.
After checking in we showered and headed out to walk around Caldas de Reis and find something to eat. We found a little place called nata and pizza. The natas are delicious the pizza was so so. But it hit the spot.
20 April Escravitude to Caldas de Reis
Before going to bed last night we had a nice long chat with Marius from Romania and Anya from Germany and Hannah from Singapore came and joined us. Marius asked us questions which allowed us to share our story. There was such a nice connection.
This morning at breakfast we talked again with the two women from Barcelona and Marius. Even though we haven’t been walking the same way with them we all really connected.
After 6 kms we stopped for breakfast and we both had a strange experience of feeling lightheaded and dizzy. We had already talked about taking a cab since we were doing 28 kms. And the dizziness probably sealed the deal.
On our way we came across an older couple walking with a young woman with Down syndrome…she looked me in the eye and said Buen Camino!! I replied with the same. And then melted into tears.
We got our stamp in the cathedral in Padron and continued on to Buen Camino cafe. That’s where our taxi picked us up and dropped us off 6 kms before Caldas de Reis. Before the taxi picked us up we met a family. The daughter had just found a four leaf clover and gave it to me. That was so sweet. The last 5,8 kms were enjoyed because there was some forest walking.
We ate an early dinner, a little shopping and a visit to the church. Nice day. Nice way. Taking care of ourselves along the way.
Santiago de Compostela to Porto
18 April we drove to Lavacolla airport where we will leave our car while we walk to Porto and then back to SdC with Kim and Ann. And of course had a nice meal at L’Incontro.
19 April SdC to Escravitude
We left SdC just as the sun was coming up.
It’s funny that we decided to walk backwards again. It’s fun but I guarantee you say A LOT more buen Camino’s going this way.
We noticed that many pilgrims seemed down, tired, grumpy as they passed us. It seemed odd to us because they are so close to SdC. But we haven’t walked their journey.
We had a few fun conversations with people who told us we were going in the wrong direction to which Noël says, “that depends on where you are going!”
9 April Viana to Logroño walking, Logrono to Leon by way of Burgos on bus.
Today was our shortest walking day. Only 10 kms. Everyone was a bit tired today from yesterday’s ups and downs. Our bus wasn’t until 15:20 so we weren’t in a hurry.
We needed to pick up David’s and Heleen’s backpacks in Logrono before heading to the bus station.
We ate lunch at the station and had time for some great people watching.
Two bus rides later we arrived in Leon. It was after 7 so not much to do except a few errands and getting some dinner. We stopped by the cathedral which of course was closed this late. And then popped into our favorite pizza place in Leon El Topo for a takeaway pizza.
Showers and bed are next on the agenda.
Lesson learned?
Stay positive
Work hard
Make it happen!!
Tripping into Grace 