Post 1
Since I wrapped up in June of 2021 my career teaching high school French, I decided that this rentrée needed to be something amazing – like going to France in September and hiking 9 days, doing the stretch featured above. A fascinating little expat British lady tour guide who lived near Le Puy told stories of the pilgrims who started here and wended their way southwest towards Conques and then on the the Spanish border near Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and then up the Pyrenees and on to the well known Camino Frances all across northern Spain – all the way to Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle in the very northwestern tip of Spain. Ah, but that’s too far for me right now; I just want to do 126 miles or so from Le Puy to Conques this time. We’ll see how it goes. What will I see? Whom will I meet? What will I learn? I’m looking forward to this adventure, a mini-pilgrimage, and a chance to do something new to me, but familiar to so many others before me on the pilgrim’s way. I want to record a bit of my journey here: 3 images and a few observations and reflections from each day. I hope a few others find it interesting and helpful.
• • •
- I will say Renee Nicole Good & I don’t want the USA to take GreenlandI have to say something. I cannot sit back and listen to what is happening in our country and just read and view and not say anything. I am a…More
- Hog Walk 2025Finally, something worth writing about! Hog Walk 3, Van Buren County, Iowa, November 1st, 2025 “Hog Walk? What’s that?” I’ll try to be brief. A few years back, my hubby…More
- A visit to Jacques Cartier’s country home near Saint MaloWell, I knew I wanted a guided tour of Cartier’s home. I showed up at 10 am Thursday to the Quebec House, a 5-minute walk from my hotel. Several women…More
- Le Panthéon & MemoryThis monument also is impressive from the outside, but it was my personal walking tour this time, with an audio guide, that helped me understand why it’s important: Remembering.More
- Notre Dame de Paris, La BelleShe’s back in all her glory. Better than ever. Crowds and lines and the reported need for reservations kept us away from her Thursday afternoon. But at the 8 am…More
- Why I’m here – this time…It’s all Terri’s fault. She’s a Johnston friend who decided to make learning French one of her top goals in retirement. She had travelled with Kari Gray and me and…More
- April in Paris, 2025This time with Tammy Where to start? The beautiful, never-ending Luxembourg Gardens. It’s a couple blocks from our Hôtel Des Mines in the 5th arrondissement. Statues of French queens, a…More
- January in Iowa: Very Cold & just a little snow
“I hate winter,” I said to a friend at church last evening. “Oh really? Me, not so much. Do you want to ride the BRR Bike Ride (24-mile ride) on…More - Reflecting on Ragbrai: after four months’ recoveryJuly 20: Leaving Mount Vernon by 9 or so, riding in 2 vans across the state with our bikes transported in a large Budget Moving Truck. We set up our…More
- From the lovely Hippie Campground to La Ferme Bio du Gévaudan, 14 1/2 milesIt had been a long walking day, and even though the man was very nice and the price was right, the ambiance was less than lovely. A barking black dog…More
Walking in France from Le Puy en Velay 