All along the watch tower...

And so I arrive at my final point for this trip.

Here I am at the Porte De St Jaques. This is the traditional medieval door way that all pilgrims travelling through France would have entered.

But I have a big question, if this is my end how come it feels like just the beginning. I now have my Carnet de Pelerin de Saint Jaques. (chemin passport) and my first stamp!!

My last thoughts were given voice as a young waiter ambled happily across the road singing Bobs (Jimi??) classic. "There must be someway out of here....said the joker to the thief, there's too much confusion, I can't get no relief..."

Alors! Until next time...

S

Finis.....

Well I have done it. I'm here and yes I took the wiggly road but no I missed the big hill. Strange that I took a wrong turn that happened to by pass the hill. Actually I went to have a look and said to myself yes I can do that but no I'm not going down just to come back up to prove a point.

However, I have not quite finished as tomorrow morning I am going to go to the official St Jean de Vieux and I will post a picture of celebration so bear with me on this one.

But for now here is where I will lay my very weary head for the night. It's a few miles further on (another wiggly road) from St Jean de Pied in the hamlet of Esterencuby. There was no room in the hotel so I have my very own Chalet sleeping six!! And to top it all it has it's own small church.(the village not my chalet!!) I missed sitting inside so sat happily contemplating my trip on the church steps.

I won't mention the horror of two coach parties being entertained with a accordion music! Thankfully they departed but I did have a great conversation with one of the inmates on the fantastic results by Wiggins! All. In all a good, hard day..... And the Garmin lied, it was only 4500 feet all told in 65 miles. Simples.

Three pilgrims on bikes...

I have met with my first pilgrims. I spied two unlikely looking figures perched atop of two much too small beaten up bicycles. As I drew closer I saw they were carrying their belongings on their backs in misshapen old rucksacks. A little closer and I saw the two or three spare tyres strapped to the front alongside a glass bottle or two of water. I kid you not they even had children's fluorescent sparkly cycle streamers to warn the oncoming traffic.

Now what I write should bring a smile as I'm not mocking merely bemused.

As I draw alongside to say hello I am greated by the father. His son (mid 20s) appears a little too taciturn but then he was carrying the bigger load! The simplicity of our conversation as to where from and where to brought a glow to my heart. They were indeed on their way to Compostella. They were just doing it bit by bit and slowly slowly. 30km a day. Bon Courage I say... As we parted I smiled at the joy of having dispelled all images of hessian sack staff bearing pilgrims. Fantastique!

What lies ahead

Oh my goodness. I have just come up over a hill south of Dax and the Pyrenees lie before me. I was going to put in a photo but they just wouldn't do it justice. I am hoping that I am going to the foothills not all the way up and over. Not yet. Need a bit more practise and a little less pannier to get over them !!! Awesome

Oh the dilemma

So here it is in the image below you will see a long straight red line heading into St Jean de Pied. Right to left across the map. Just above it you will see the alternative wiggly road. The later has more hills and a Col to take on too. So what shall I do? Hmm now let me think!!!

Weather is perfect and it's only 1.30 pm and it's 18 miles to climb an apparent 4,000 feet???

Ok Wistful let's see what we can see.

Les Landes

They were remarkable. From my guide I had been warned about the monotony of this landscape but I was unprepared.

The roads stretched out way in front as far a the eye could see. Zero percent gradient and little wind. Perfect for the first 20 miles but then what do you do? I sang, had full conversations with myself and spent hours inside my head. Then came the revelation. This was exactly what the wilderness was meant to be. No Thing. So I tried as hard as I might to stay in the moment and savour everything around.



Another mad ramble.... Time is really only measured in your head. The journey started and finished and where I went in between was up to me. I could see it as minutes or think of it as hours. As it was I fell in love with this area The smell of sun bleached pine trees does it for me every time.

I have a video which I'll try to upload so watch this space. Literally!!!!

Well it appears that I neglected to notice that I have to climb 7000 feet with my panniers etc tomorrow. So of today was flat? I hope they didn't smooth out all the hills to the end of France jut for me! Gulp.

What on earth?

This was the cafe I stopped at for lunch. I had to share this as its just surreal! And I thought I was off my head?

After Bordeaux

This was always going to be a hard day. Because I had decided this would be a hard day it was going to be! However after struggling out of Bordeaux I fell into the way of the Roman roads through Les Landes. Now I haven't quite worked out what this means but I do know it's flat and the landscape is pine trees. The noise is terrific. The cri cri insects are out in force. So head down I put on some miles as today is 105 miles. This is why today is going to be hard because for the first half I have to just peddle

At one point I thought my day was up as the road stopped short of forcing me to take the A10 motor way. They were rebuilding the road I wanted to take. But as luck(yeah right) would have it a farmer was stood by the Barrier. He saw my dilemma and waved me through onto the new road. Ok so there were no niceties to the sides of the road but it stretched for miles and it was all mine!

At the end of the stretch I was greated by this signpost.

Saintes to Bordeaux.

I was up with the sun today to have the chance to visit the abbey in Saintes and still make it out on the road a 'Bon heure'.

There was a beautiful low lying mist that encircled the abbey. When the bells tolled at 8.00 am the doors were opened and I had the whole place to myself. Beautiful. The bells were awesome.

The sunflowers were stunning and my day was idyllic with the sun beating down over the vineyards of Cognac and Haute Medoc. Part ofy route took me down soil tracks between the vines. Well it looked ok on the Garmin :-) I made good progress and realised that yesterday I was hampered by the headwind. Yes that old excuse.

I have Valerie to thank for showing me how to avoid sun stroke by wearing a cap under my helmet. Apart from looking like Super Mario it worked a treat. Thank you!

Quick ferry ride to the other side of the river/inlet at Gironde was a perfect stop over. Funny that there were three cyclists all single travellers and not one of us broke silence !!! It's not because we were being rude but I fear more like the spell of the 'way'.

So my biggest day tomorrow. Bordeaux to Dax. 105 miles. Right better get some sleep as I need to be up and out before Bordeaux comes to like.

Staying in a Bel Air hotel tonight. Have you ever had a shower in a train toilet cubicle? It the only comparison I can find! Sheets are lovely and cool though.

Piste again!!

What I like about travelling 'toute seul' is that you decide when to stop and when to go. If you take a wrong turn you quickly learn it was not wrong. I made two detours today and at Colombiers I discovered what I can only assume is a shrine / ley line marker. In the middle of nowhere I find this garden and two water fonts. At the top of the hill an alter. Amazing

Then whils travelling through Montredont I was baffled by the one way system. Not to be daunted I took the plunge down a side street and when I arrived at the end which was just on my route! Well I guess it's Sign no 3.

Sign no 2 was a small scallop shell right by my bike tyre when I bent down for water bottles there it lay. No other shells in sight! Always a smile to be had on these journeys.

On the Way!

This one is for Anna who shares my delight at spotting odd things on the side of the road! So far I have encountered three gloves one sock but this has to beat them all! I have no idea how he got here or where he was going (do pilgrims have a destination) but he was indeed on his way! I have enclosed a surround picture so you can see I'm not joking.

And not to disappoint my KVG tour peeps

I didn't end up on a motorway again did I. That would have been very silly wouldnt it???? Well ok so it was a bit if a major dual carriage way heading to the motorway so it dosn't count does it? :-).

Poitiers to Saintes

Well all I can say is I'd forgotten how heavy a bike with panniers can be.

However what a great day. My route was a bit mixed as I was attracted to those Roman roads that sap the soul as you peddle away along a straight line with little to see but the back of the odd juggernaut and caravan after caravan. But it has to be said that when I followed my other more off piste routes it was fantastic.

But what about the signs??? Well I suspect this part of my pilgrimage represents of time of being in the wilderness.

When I set out I had little idea as to what to expect this time round. I was conscious that just like any good movie this was going to be my plot point moment. You know that part in the film when the cast has been set the protagonist found and the story is under way. Then you get that moment when there is a still point. A moment of no action, the pendulum has swung far and is at its maximum. Well here I am. Left wondering. (and a bit of wandering too!!) I was also left without my map which mysteriously disappeared!!

There is however a sense of searching for not an outward sign but an inward one. So the night before I set out I am reading an astrology book and discover that to make the best of my planets I should endeavour to travel , write about travelling and indeed undertake feats of courage and strength!!!! Sound familiar?? I had a good giggle at that.

However I was also blessed with an external sign When on my off piste route I came across a perfect symbol of this Chemin. Which is what I shall leave you with.

More musings from France tomorrow

Sun glorious sun

Sat in a wifi spot just outside Chatellerault. The sun is VERY switched on here so I have a feeling that my trip is going to require very early starts to get many miles under the belt before the sun reaches its 30 degrees. Hmmm funny how I've packed the water proofs and deliberated over shoe covers. Spot the rider who trains in England. Four days to go.....

The plan!!

Phew.... 2.15 am just finished my route and hotel bookings. I'm setting off a week today for part three of the trip. Day 1 Poitiers to Saintes. 95 miles
Day 2 Saintes to Bordeaux 95 miles
Day 3 Bordeaux to Dax 98 miles
Day 4 Dax to St Jean de Pied 70 miles
Train back to Poitiers.
Well it's a cunning plan as Baldrick would agree.

Right then train to book and off to sleep.