Paris to Biarritz Sept. 10

It was a long night of fitful plane sleeping and movie watching!  But we arrived safely.  Now it was time for a taxi to the Montparnasse Train Station to catch the train to Biarritz.  We are all a bit dazed but trying to find the taxi area when my Dave disappears but suddenly reappears with a lovely young man from Algiers who says he will take us to the station for 60 euros, much less expensive than anticipated.  Dave Shenton's eyes are now bugging out and he is stammering something about,"No, no we have to go outside!"  "It's O.K. Dave, it's only 60 euros, he'll take us right there." 

We pile us and all the luggage into his little grey car and off we go!  And it was like riding through a Paris made movie.  The Champs Elysees, Eiffel Tower, the Seine, even a glimpse of Notre Dame.  We should have paid him another 60 euros for a longer tour! 

Gare de Montparnasse is huge and intimidating.  There's nothing for it but to haul everything inside and find our gate.  There are people and shopping booths and announcements being made!  My Dave finds someone to help us interpret the arrival and departure signs.  "No, your gate won't show until 20 minutes before departure."  So, it's definitely time for coffee and there's got to be some French pastries here somewhere!  My Dave needs some cash so, I get out my envelope of euros and have Dave Shenton's eyes bugging out again - "There's got to be people watching us!"  (Dave S. has travelled extensively with his work to many potentially shady places.  He thinks we're nuts!)

The little coffee shop down the way proves to have wonderful coffee and pastries and atmosphere! - the Police Nationale surround a doorway on the other side of the hall!  Just step quietly past them to find our gate.

We settle in to our booth not really looking forward to another 5 hours of travel - we'd already been at this for 24 hours by the clock, somewhat less with time differences.  Dave Shenton has some rather ghastly and potentially lethal pictures of Dave and I sleeping!  He was ordered NOT to publish these.

It's 8:00 pm and we have finally arrived in Biarritz.  We kept looking at the map and thinking  - we can walk this - we're going to do 800 kms.  A taxi was ordered and it was a brilliant idea!  Biarritz has nary a flat street and not one direct route to anywhere!  The taxi driver brought us skillfully to our destination which was a lovely pension whose owner directed us to authentic Basque food for dinner.
A walk along the sea wall ended our long day and sleep came easily!

One year ago today...

One year ago we started out from Calgary to join the thousands of others who had walked the Camino de Santiago - Camino Frances from St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela - 800 kms across the northern regions of Spain. 

Dave had been thinking about this walk for many years and it had popped up in many contexts including the planning of our walk around the Isle of Wight in 2005.  Then it popped up again when our friend Dave Shenton loaned us a book his wife Cheryl had given him, The Way is Made by Walking, by Arthur Paul Boers.  It seemed to be a confirmation not to be ignored! 

After much talking, planning, organizing, and procrastinating and a blatant push from our daughter, "Have you booked your tickets yet!?", a plan came together.  Spreadsheets were prepared - in true accountant fashion - and an agent had been contacted to handle my part of the walk since I would only walk the last 110 kms.  This decision made it possible for both of us to receive a Compostela - a certificate of completion.  It also meant I'd be in a rental car following along each day and meeting the two Dave's in the afternoon.

There were some goodbyes at the airport, Dave Shenton's wife was not joining us, and off we went on the first leg of the trip to Montreal and from there overnight to Paris.

Shades of things to come:

The "little brother" and his phone camera at work!