Enroute

There isn't a better way to go off on a long solo journey than to be with good friends beforehand. Thanks to fellow pilgrim Mark Bucken for organizing this gathering.

Notice my new brush cut? If I ever commit a crime worthy of incarceration in the near term (as Diane says, just so I can catch up on my reading) I could skip the mug shot part of the indictment process.

Diane drove me to the airport on Sunday afternoon. I had secured my walking sticks in a mailing tube in the hopes of checking that and bringing my backpack on board with me. Never has there been a more appropriate application of the expression "fat chance". My ruck was too obese in both size and weight to meet Air Canada's carry on limits. With the help of a friendly agent, I taped the mailing tube to the rucksack, encased the result in plastic, and checked it.

The flights were routine, although the thought struck me that Mapleflot (Air Canada) ought to consider funding silent movies as part of their business plan. The earbuds they issue are essentially useless, so why not? Thank goodness for the e-reader function on my IPad Mini.

Monday morning at a Paris CDG baggage carousel, up came the rucksack. My Camino remains on schedule. There are a variety of ways to get to the trailhead at St. Jean Pied de Port, but arriving by air at CDG and then taking the TGV has one significant advantage: you get to take a 20K practice walk through Terminal 2 to the train station before you head south.

They say that the Camino is a social experience. Still, who would expect to meet 2 Camino pilgrims while waiting for the TGV to Bordeaux? Allison from Victoria and Dan from Calgary. I knew there was a good reason for wearing a Nav Canada ball cap with a flag on the back.

The 10 minute sprint to catch my next train at Bordeaux turned into a 30 minute delay while they attached another passenger car (oversold the ones they had). A minor inconvenience to a travel day that has turned out well. I'm ensconced in my Bayonne hotel.

The flex-o-line travel clothesline is getting a workout and so did my flat rubber drain stopper (the bathroom is a marine style all-in-one where everything tends to get wet and there is no drain plug).

Mark Bucken takes great food pictures and I take shots of clothes lines. What can I say?

Tomorrow I'm off to the trailhead town of St. Jean Pied de Port by local train. My Camino begins the following day.

 

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