I'm pleased to anounce i'm back in good shape and the kilometers are starting to fly again underneath my feet but my beard is luckily not growing that fast...thanks to you all this is the first time since my birth that my beard is staying for two weeks now
So let's see were we were
15april (Cluis - Gargilesse 13km)
Last time writing and putting photo's on my blog in a bar took me so much time i left it at 5pm still having 16km's to do and it started raining a lot in the meanwhile
But the bigger goal has to be kept in my mind, so i continued and rain or no rain i camped in the wild next to a small river in a forest where i was a little bit safed from the rain...only 3km from my goal of the day (Gargilesse)
16april (Gargilesse - Crozant 30km)
i suppose i don't have to tell anymore what sleeping in my tent means...but i never get upset by the lack of good sleep..the energy is still coming from the enthousiasm
This has been the most beautiful walking day up till now...the landscape changed into a quasi Ardennes-like scenery with Gargilesse as the first beautiful town to enter.
Ardennes-like landscape means steeper paths to cross ofcourse and i walked an impressive GR-path next to a very big lake (Lac de Chambon) which was artificial made by a big hydro-electrical dam which delivers enough energy for a small city like Leuven. The whole way the GR-path was going up and down so i can't remember how many times i walked some 50m uphill and downhill...the weight of my backpack is at least much more comfortable to support these kind of walkings. A few km's before Crozant i had an amazing view off this town which lies very nice on top of the rocky valleyside.
Before i checked my information on sleeping availabilities, an old lady of a shopping store stops me and informs me that the school of the town is not in use any more and is now used to give a sleeping place to pelgrims passing by...so for only 4euro i had a dry and good sleep and felt again like a child in school
17april (Crozant - La Souterraine 25km)
I had a good morning walk still in the rocky rivervalley and later on walked on a higher plateau with in the far distance higher hills already lurking at me (600-700m). I will cross these hills next days before reaching Limoges i suppose tuesday..these hills are the most western outcrops of the "Massif Central"...i think there in Limoges i will take my first full day off to visit the big city and to let rest my legs a little bit..if i don't walk 30km in the city ofcourse
So again like always, entering La Soutairraine before being able to take a look at my information, a guy talks to me and sends me to a big old house which has been renovated by an English family who made a beauty out of it and it offers 12rooms to pelgrims. The man owned a restaurant in England before and came to France to be the owner of this lovely house&job. I met some other French pelgrims who i crossed about a week ago. Always fun of meeting others again and exchanging our stories.
The weather was colder (14degrees) today with very big rainclouds but luckely just a few raindrops dropped on my head. Tomorrow will be the same, but the temperature is ideal for the bigger etappe (40km) which awaits me. I will try to catch up with the Dutch couple since i heard of my English host that they were staying here last night.
Much greetings to you all
Pascal
ps photo's are updated (see link in "mijn favorieten")
This is my first message from France and the first time i managed to find a computer since the middle of France is quite deserted
Everything is very fine with me and i have now already 11 walking days in my legs, with an average of almost 30km a day and 20km the last two days because i had to take it more slowly due to a small injurie at my heel. But today i feel back in shape again and thanks to some good friends (Kevin, Thomas & Hervé) from Belgium who drove all the way to join me for 2 walking days i could give enough stuff with them to make my backpack less heavy...this was putting too much pressure on my legs with probably the small injury as a result of that..Now i lightened up my backpack for as much as 4kg! It's a though decission to decide which stuff to leave in their car, but i have to manage with less clothes and other things, otherwise te wheight could get me in bigger trouble over a longer period.
So, lets write something about the first days of my very inspiring journey where i met already quite much interesting people and stayed at nice and variated locations to spend the night..it's fun to be surprised every evening where to sleep..the weather has been very good so far...lot's of sunny days and only two half a days walking in the rain..this is very good especially because there could still be snowstorms in the first half of april in this region..it's a nice spring now and i'm very hopefull for the next 60days
4april It has been a kind of official departure for me, since my parents were so nice to rent a holliday chalet in the vicinity of Vézelay for a few days. Vézelay is my official departure location to start walking to Santiago de Compostella as i mentioned already before. I decided to postpone my departure for 1 day (so start on the 5th of april) and we visited a very beautiful town (Noyers) of Medieval Ages which is classified as one of France's most beautiful towns. In the evening we went already to Vézelay to subscribe me officially so i'm an already famous pelgrim know in Vézelay ..i got my fist two stamps to prove at the end in Santiago that i did the whole way from Vézelay. I asked if i could get a pelgrim blessing which is the ritual people do before starting their very long hiking jouney, but i would have to go to the mess the next morning at 8am for this..i didn't manage to be on time in the cathedral next morning..bad start..
5april (Vézelay-Varzy 30km) My brother and the family dog joined me for the first walking day of 30km, which was a very suny day so putting enough sunscreen was already a necessary task to not put me into troubles for the next days. We officialy started at the portaal of cathedral of Vézelay..the town with its very large cathedral lies on a hill (+-350m) which makes an impressive view from far distances in the lower lying surroundings. In the middel of the trip the dog had to be "depannaged" because of the heat and he was not into long distance walking that day. So i finished the first official etappe with my brother in 'Varzy' and after a last evening meal with the whole family, i said goodbye to them and found a camping space in the garden of the pastor's house...as a fresh pelgrim this is the best way of starting my journey ofcourse in the right spirit. Since i brought my tent with me, i have a lot more freedom to look for places to sleep. Sleeping places like gîtes, hôtels, youth hostels,particular houses,... are quite common on the official track to Compostella, but it takes a bigger part of my finances ofcourse
6april (Varzy-Prémery 40km) The 2nd etappe was almost 40km but with very beautiful nature and i most admit the time flies bye even when you're walking alone..spending so much time alone was one of the reasons which scared me off a little bit the last month at home, but it's wonderfull how fast i got used to me, myself and Pascal It brings you in peace and i have had no badfeeling moments untill now...there seems to happen always at the right time something which brings you back in the right good mood..every day at least 4-5people stop me to start a conversation which always starts with the sentence "So, you're heading to Compostella..." and then the conversation can get quite long...
In the evening i asked to an old man in his garden to who belonged the grass field next to his house, but he didn't know...so i walked furher and 2minutes later his wife ride after me in her car to stop me and invited me to camp in their garden..this kind of hospitality happens almost all the time, it seems people love to invite pelgrims going to Compostella...gives a good&special feeling! I spent the whole evening in their house drinking pastis, wine and being overloaded with good food..how much generousity!
7april (Prémery-Nevers 40km) Sleeping good in a tent is not a certainity..so i'm getting used to wake up a lot during the night...i thought all the birds would be sleeping, but it seems some have to work night shifts , but luckily after some effort in the morning getting out of the tent, i'm always fit enough to start the next walking day..this day it's raining, but before i thought slipping away out the garden, i was invited to join for breakfast by the generous hostsand then i headed to Nevers..Quite a big city where i spent the night in a monastery due to the rain..the sisters gave me a nice sleeping place and a good breakfast next morning..it was a very long walking day (almost 40km) and that feels in your legs...
the landscape until today (15april) is very green and slightly ondulating, which reminds me somewhat of the Voerstreek in Belgium...i love it and it will change starting today with more relief and rockier sights towards Limoges
8april (Nevers-Grossouvre 28km) no rain anymore and quite sunny...leaving Nevers i walked a long time next to the Loire, a big river covering a large drainage basin in France with beautiful green riverlandscapes i enjoyed a lot...then i passed trough Aprémont, which is one of France's most beautiful towns so i took a longer break to discover its beauty..having a drink in a bar in the evening at my destination of the day (Grossouvre), the owners invited me to camp in their garden so i accepted their generous offer. I had a good meal in the evening and spent some time drinking pastis (again) at the bar..i was informed that job opportunities were so low in the region that some people even go working by car/train in Paris (350km) every day, so i immediatly forgot my everyday 1hour transportation to back and forth to work
9april (Grossouvre-Vernais 27km) Camping means getting awake a lot, but it's again a sunny morning and the enthousiasm to continue is still very good. I took a good shower&breakfast in the café and headed for a whole day of walking next to a channel which started to be a little bit too monotoneous at the end of the day..i spent the night camping in the wild, a deserted field which has turned into a wild nature place with lots of plants&trees..i didn't noticed first i put my tent on a bumpy place, so i spent the night turning around&around not finding a comfortable position to sleep..that's life when hiking&camping
10april (Vernais-St.Amond.Montrond 25km) sunny day again with still some 10km walking next to the channel..i arrived early at the small destination city where i met a Dutch couple and had a good conversation&drink at a bar..they also enjoyed their hiking trip already a lot and we felt we could talk endlessly about it..in the evening i started to feel pain at my heel and concluded that i needed to reduce the weight of my backpack beceause it puts too much pressure on my legs&feet...in a few days 3 good friends from Belgium will join me for 2 walking days and then i could give them some stuff to bring back to Belgium..so patience is needed and i took it more easy the next walking days
11april (St.Amond.Montrond - Le Châtelet 24km) i woke up with quite some pain in the heel ('ontstoken achilles pees'), but the show must go on so i kept on walking at a slower speed. At noon i met the Dutch couple again and we got offered a drink by someone in the bar who feels sympathy towards us because he did the trip also some time ago and he gave us some good tips..i walked in the afternoon together with the Dutch couple and we spent the night together in a big house which is entirely at the service for pelgrims and at a very comfortable price..i could finaly put my clothes in a washing mashine. Have not much shorts, shirts means using lots of deodorant I drank my first Belgian beer (Leffe) agian in a bar that evening..
12april (Le Châtelet - Châteaumeillant 13km) Had a very good sleep in a comfortable bed and agian fresh&dry clothes..yippie...today only a short distance to walk and this does quite good for the recuperation of my heel...In the evening my good friends (Kevin, Hervé&Thomas) arrived by car from Belgium to join me for the next 2 walking days..i reduced the weight of my backpack almost 4kgs by giving back some stuff (hard choices to decide what) to them..we spent the night at a family's house on their first floor which they especially comforted to offer logement to pelgrims. That gives again a nice social feeling with the local people. In the town was a wine festival so we had a very good evening
13april (Châteaumeillant - La Châtre 19km) Again a shorter distance and we took a lot of brakes walking through the slightly hilly and very green landscapes. Having been now almost 10days away i feel quite 'turbulated' when having again long discussions about work, politics,... it feels amazing how i was "out of society" before they arrived..you forget quickly about our stressy&bizzy live in Belgium..this means that the journey is going well ofcourse and its purpose is delivering results
La Châtre is quite a big town where we spent the night in a youth hostel and had some pizza
14april (La Châtre - Neuvy 19km) Today we enjoyed the landscape somewhat more beceause we discussed less The bad feeling in the heel is gone and i used enough medication to solve to problem We got a whole house at our disposal in Neuvy where whe cooked a nice meal and had our last evening together
15april (Neuvy - Gargilesse 24km) My good friends went back to Châteaumeillant where they had left their car and are heading back to Belgium now
I'm back on my own and have to get used to it again..so far the Belgian intermezzo.. But sharing my experience now with you on a laptop in a bar already puts me back enthousiasticly on the way to Compostella!!
THE SHOW GOES ON and still 60days to go....ULTREIA
Please behave you all in Belgium Much greetings, Pascal
Als kind liep ik soms eens weg van huis... Als volwassende doe ik het nu nog eens over, maar dan wat meer voorbereid en niet omdat ik m'n ouders heb kwaadgemaakt ;-)
Na zowat één jaar mentale voorbereiding en een 10-daagse oefentrektocht in Zuid-Frankrijk (GR-route in de regio van de Verdon) zijn we nu klaar voor de grote uitdaging, met name 2000km in +-70dagen afleggen vanuit Vézelay (Bourgondië) tot in Santiago de Compostela
Het weer ziet er momenteel veelbelovend uit en zo ook het enthousiasme om eraan te beginnen!
1- De geloofsbrief moet de pelgrim in staat stellen om in nood deuren te openen om onderdak te vinden. Kloosters, abdijen enz.
De inhoud van de geloofsbrief (opgemaakt in drie talen) luidt als volgt: "In naam van het Vlaams Genootschap van Santiago de Compostela verklaar ik hierbij dat het bovengenoemd lid van ons genootschap te voet/per fiets/per rijdier een pelgrimstocht onderneemt naar het graf van de heilige apostel Jacobus de Meerdere te Compostela in Galicië (Spanje) in de geest van de pelgrims van weleer. Ik vraag aan alle ingezetenen van kloosters en abdijen, aan vertegenwoordigers van de overheid en speciaal aan de Compostelagenootschappen dat ze voornoemde pelgrim alle bijstand en hulp verlenen om de tocht tot een goed einde te brengen. Met dank en pelgrimsgroeten.".
2- Het stempelboekje dient bij officiële slaapgelegenheden voor pelgrims voorzien te worden van een stempel waarmee de pelgrim bij aankomst in Santiago de Compostela kan bewijzen dat hij een lange tocht ondernomen heeft en zodoende een officieel certificaat op de bestemming zal mogen ontvangen als aandenken aan zijn tocht
3- De route in Frankrijk wordt gevolgd aan de hand van twee boekjes die uitgebreid het hele staptraject documenteren met stafkaartjes en tevens alle voorieningen onderweg (slaapplaatsen, winkels, restaurants, transport,...) vermelden. Het traject in Frankrijk bestaat uit twee GR-routes die gevolgd worden en waarvan elk boekje de volledige GR beschrijft.
4- Stafkaarten in Frankrijk op schaal 1/200000
5- Een boekje dat de staproute in Spanje even uitgebreid documenteerd als de GR-boekjes voor het traject in Spanje
6- dagboekje gekregen van de collega's en dat mij verplicht om wat te noteren ;-)
..i got my fist two stamps to prove at the end in Santiago that i did the whole way from Vézelay. I asked if i could get a pelgrim blessing which is the ritual people do before starting their very long hiking jouney, but i would have to go to the mess the next morning at 8am for this..i didn't manage to be on time in the cathedral next morning..bad start..
...en dat voor de komende 70dagen 
