Camino Finale Day 10: Montmartre

Renoir’s garden.

Reading in Renoir’s garden.

Is this what Renoir relished when he got home from painting?

A reminder of the Montmartre vineyards.

This is the weather we thought we’d have all trip! It is more than cold in a Paris this morning!! Great to get up to the Montmartre Musee when it opens so that we can wander the garden, exhibits and look across the vineyard unimpeded.  Two minutes before Chris hits hypothermia from sitting in the garden while Anne gets a better idea of what Montmartre was like in its hey-day, we go off and find our favourite little bakery with its tiny corner of peace – in the middle of, but escaping, all the tourist crush. Hot coffee and quiche does the trick.

Eye-opening to see photos, paintings, and read descriptions of what the area was like 150 years ago. I’m guessing it was like many of the country villages we have walked through in Spain… lots of space, trees, animals… Also interesting to me to connect the Commune rise (and fall) in the late 1870s with the building of the Sacre Coeur – an attempt at social control to build such a large symbol on the highest point of the ‘butte’?!

Found myself concocting an idea for a cartoon where Montmartre today is much about tourists taking pictures of ….? tourists and tourist shops? However, there ARE 188,000+ people living in a 6 sq km radius.

We wander downtown to the local contemporary art gallery, where I enjoy one artist’s digital representation of the Tour Eiffel and the area around it, full of trees, with plants growing on the tower… and a similar one of the Arc de Triomphe with threes, plants and playful grafiti.

We walk by ‘Amelie’s chocolate shop (a cafe) …. The owners must be making a complete fortune from everyone who goes in to have a coffee in this building which was used for the film…. There’s a business lesson here…

The afternoon is a mixture of local exploring and resting, before a finale dinner. Dinner lives up to its finale status at Le Cave Gourmand, delivering us simple but exceptional French meals and great service. A very fitting end to our adventure… Or is it the beginning? People say the Camino starts to work on you when you finish. So, maybe one epilogue posting in a few months time.

Meanwhile, there’s a trip back home to be had and a new blog to start – on compassionate communication –  as part of my new business: ‘Aware with Words’.

If you’ve vicariously been part of Chris and my Camino through our blogs, I hope it’s added in some rich way to your own ‘path’. And – if you ever want an inexpensive holiday where you can totally click off – I can recommend the Camino Frances or part thereof.

P.S.: Hey, Dietrich, if you are reading this, leave a message so we can keep in contact with you. We looked for you in Santiago, but figured all the souvenir shops probably propelled you on to Finisterre!!

Camino Finale Day 9: Paris

The wonderful Abbeys Bookshop in the Latin Quarter.

Monday on the Champs Élysées.

Just a few people at Le Tour Eiffel

Autumn morning by the Seine.

Another day of rest and meandering – and enjoying the ease and efficiency of the metro. A visit to Abbeys books in the Latin Quarter was fun – over 40,000 books in English. The notables: Notre Dame, Tour Eiffel, Arc de Triomphe had queues and queues of tourists, so we were both happy to take a look and move on, having had a look in past years.

Stopped at a lovely restaurant for lunch – just by the Arc de Triomphe. The food (a simple pesto, tomato and mozzarella salad, and grilled salmon) was simple and stunning – and a favourite moment of the day. We wandered the streets of Montmartre for a bit tonight after another delightful meal close to our flat.

Great to have time to rest, read and begin to ‘integrate’ the last 6 weeks of walking into the rest of our lives. Tomorrow is a day for more local exploring before heading home Wed/Thurs.

Camino Finale Days 7 and 8: Santiago de Compostela to Paris

Getting to know our way around Montmartre.

An old Paris favourite

Captured!

Getting to know Dali some more.

4.15 start is a bit of a shock, but the cabs are used to it and we leave Santiago de Compostela without a hitch. Plane to Madrid, then to Paris. The train system from Orly is as easy as are the instructions from the lovely Malika, our AirBnB host. It’s not long before we are climbing the 200 year old steps to her flat and are welcomed in. She shows us around and then shoots through – and will return after we leave. It’s a tiny flat but all we need and just off the tourist streets of Montmartre.

In no time we are doing as the locals do and getting to the supermarket. We find a little set of streets away from the tourist scene where there are a few restaurants we like, so the first night has us finding a great lasagne. We notice the change in latte prices – from €1.20 in Spain to €4+ here in Paris.

Our first full day has us heading on the metro to the Latin Quarter, where we stroll down Boulevard St Mich and check out some market stalls. I note hoe life has moved on, and the bohemian, free thinking areas of the past are taking some decades out until the next crisis – which could well be economic and soon!

We contemplate a walk into Notre Dame but change our minds when we see the queues. I’m aware I don’t want to go rushing around all the galleries and museums, firstly because I’ve done them before, but primarily because the trip across Spain has been such a feast, it would be like trying to add two more courses to a meal that has been completely satisfying.

So, back to Montmartre. I do take some time to visit the Halles Saint-Pierre (naive art) gallery, and find 3 new artists whose work I want to follow. I catch up with Chris who’s reading on a park bench below the Sacre Coeur. We scale the steps and join the hoards of people who are walking through. It’s the second time for both us us, but still impressive – as is the view of a Paris.

I get it in my head that I want to go and do a coffee at the Place du Tettre, but walking with the touristas reminds me while I like to be far from the madding crowd. We do manage to find a little bakery and discover it has a small upstairs courtyard with chairs and tables. The tiny space away from it all is like paradise.

When we are re-charged, we make our way to the Dali gallery, and manage to get a reduced entry fee for being old. It’s a great experience to see so many of his sculptures – the bronze oozing clocks, the lobster on the phone….

We dawdle back to our abode, after I take some time out to listen to a guy who is playing one of these new ‘halo’ percussion instruments in a way the draws me to keep listening.

Dinner is at a vegetarian restaurant – where the food is satisfactory and the service – well, we won’t put it on Trip Advisor. A full and satisfying day – and 2 more left!

Camino Finale Day 6: Muxia to Santiago de Compostela

Breakfast by the harbour in Muxia.

Tonight’s tapas bar.

Coffee while we wait for the bookshop to open in Santiago.

We are getting mega amounts of sleep! A slow start, and I’m grateful for such a warm and generous hospitaliero who prints off our boarding passes for Paris. We meander with our packs into town – with Meg from NZ and then on to breakfast.

The trip to Cee and then to Santiago de Compostela goes like clockwork, though with 3 hours of winding road we both have a vaguely green tinge for half an hour when we arrive. Somehow I have managed to land us a hotel room at a very good price, right in the heart of the old town. Amazing, given the constant stream of peregrinos and the Womex Festival that is on. Who knows if we’ll get sleep with music on every second corner!

We get a little shopping done and Chris buys me a beautiful rose gold shell pendant and earrings – symbolising the completed Camino. Then our final tapas bar. We meet up in the street with Linda, who we both walked with for a time, and Tommy and Karyn from Bavaria. We first met them the day we arrived in St a Jean and at a couple of places in our first week. It seemed a fitting goodbye. It’s an early start tomorrow for a 6.45am flight to Paris.

Camino Finale Days 4 and 5: Finisterre to Muxia

Monument to the oil spill in 2003: Off Muxia.

Drying eels.

Muxia.

Chris reflects.

Iglesia de Santa Maria de Muxia.

Today we find a great place in Fisterre for a hot breakfast, saying a final farewell to Reece on the way. We easily locate our little bus to Cee and the connecting bus Muxia, another special seaside Camino town. Our albergue (it’s OK, Phil, we stay in the hotel section!) is very modern and has won design awards. Each room is named after a poet or novelist or other artist who has some special connection with Muxia (ref.Bela Muxia).

I do a roam around town and the harbour while Chris crashes for the arvo. Most places serve dinner at 8 so we hunt for (and eventually find) a place that has an all day kitchen and settle for calamari, salad and fish. A young woman comes in on her own and asks if we are peregrinos. I say ‘yes’ and invite her to eat with us. She is Veronica from Strasbourg and has just finished studying physiotherapy. She tells us of her adventure walking the Camino du Nord and Camino Primitivo.

We are grateful for another comfortable bed. I figure I’ve slept in 48 beds in 56 nights! Home will be a treat.

Next we know its Thursday and we find a good coffee in the town. Chris’s German friend, Marina, joins us and I then head off to buy some fruit while they say their goodbyes.

Its a gentle and easy walk out to the lighthouse past historic churches. Amazing to see the Iglesia de Santa Maria de Muxia – right by the edge of the sea and in a very significant celtic location…. but then, this part of the land had been owned by Germans, Moors, Normans, Spanish Christians – and all seem to change or build on the local legends for their own reasons. The church was struck by lightning on Christmas Day 2013 and is only now being renovated after the consequent fire inside.

We cannot go in the church but we wander around the rocks and note the significant ones – like the one that was used as a Celtic fertility symbol and later took on other Christian meanings (ref the story of the boat made of rock and used by the Virgin Mary to convey a message to St Iago). We watch the swell send the waves across the rocks and then retreat.

Chris gets chatting with a nun from NZ who also works in genealogy and may be able to help identify his great (?great) grandmother. Would be amazing if a Spanish woman and Portuguese man had met in these parts and been his forebears.

We walk the town on the western side and go back to the harbour for brunch, stopping to chat with peregrinos from UK, US and NZ. On the way back to our abode we visit the local lace-making centre and watch the women at work with dozens of wooden bobbins.

While Chris crashes in the afternoon, I go walking again (me thinks I can’t yet stop!). One of my finds is wooden drying racks for drying eels – a process unique to Muxia. I walk back out to the lighthouse and watch the ocean which had grown in strength since this morning. I reflect on how refreshing and satisfying this 6 weeks of walking cross Spain has been and how simply we’ve lived and how few possessions we’ve needed.

Tomorrow we return to Santiago for one more night before flying to Paris and staying in a little flat (thanks to AirBnB) in Montmartre for 3.5 days.

Camino Finale Day 3: Finisterre

0.0kms left to walk.

With ancient friends in the Fishing Museum.

Sunset at the end of the world – Finisterre.

Trying to find a decent breakfast by the water is a challenge. We finally settle on a place and walk out wondering why we persisted, after a cold soggy croissant with no spreads, very ordinary coffee and bottled orange juice – but am reminded that this would be a feast for some,

Tuesday seems to be market day in the north of Spain – where the shops come (by van) to you. So we explore for a while until Chris returns to the Pension to rest. I go exploring. First stop is the Fishing Museum in an old castle. A lovely man comes and explains the exhibits to me. Quite fascinating!

I walk around the waterfront and a man offers me a large fresh fish and bread. If we had cooking facilities I would have said yes. I continue on into the back streets of the town where I find the main street for the locals – with better breakfasts! I pass an elderly man on the footpath, and say ‘good morning’ in Spanish. He has hat hat almost over his eyes and walks slowly with a walking stick. As I say hello and pass him, I hear a low voice say ‘good morning, blondie!!’. I completely crack up!!

In the late afternoon we take the walk up to the Lighthouse – known by the early pilgrims as the end of the world. The sky is clear except for the occasional cloud. We are joined by Marina and Marika from Germany and settle in for sunset with wine, cheese, ham, pate, fresh bread, grapes. A stunning sunset and another fitting end to our Camino. By the time we are back in town it is dark and we are drenched in sweat  – probably from the moisture on the ground evaporating – and the 25degree day!

Camino Finale: Day 2

Our lodgings at Finisterre.

Fishing boats at Finisterre.

History echoes in the present.

Finisterre seafood degustation plate.

Breakfast at 9.30 – if the city can wake itself up. “Let’s see what’s in here” I say to Chris as we walk into the only cafe open – and next door to our hotel. In we walk and there is our friend Reece having breakfast. So, we join her – and then her sister Kate for bacon and egg crepes.

After breakfast it’s business to attend to – get the phone sorted, book flights to Paris, get packed. We both separately bump into Ray and Pura. Chris decides to get a cab to the bus station – turns out to be a great idea. It’s a 3 hour bus trip to Finisterre. The countryside at times reminds us of the Hawkesbury River at home. Strange to be being driven and not be walking. I find myself wanting to walk and missing the daily 20km jaunt. Somehow I don’t think Chris missing it yet.

Our Pension is up on the hill behind the town – with great views. Once settled, we explore the harbour area, find a supermarket, and bump into Chris’s friend Marina from East Berlin. I suggest we do dinner one night so we decide to share a picnic at the Lighthouse tomorrow at sunset – a Camino thing…..

We do dinner by the water. This town is all about seafood. We share a seafood broth – which is stunning. Then a degustation plate of pulpo (octopus), baby squid, razor clams, small mussels, scallops and prawns. They are either grilled or steamed and served merely with light olive oil – so none of the flavour is disguised. We finish with melt-in-the-mouth fish on a bed of steamed potatoes with an olive oil and paprika dressing. It’s been a wonderful way to sample the local food without feeling we’ve over-eaten.

Such a peaceful place to have a rest after weeks of walking.

Camino Finale: Day 1

Deserted streets at 9.15am

Final dinner:Vicki.

Final dinner: with Robert.

Final dinner: Chris and Sylvia.

The Botafumeiro completes its swing.

When DO the Spanish wake up? We go looking for breakfast at 9.15 and the streets are deserted. The question is more probably ‘when do they hit the sack?’ Eventually we find eggs, bacon and coffee and wander the streets of the old town for a bit.

We organise travel and accommodation – Mon/Tues nights in Finisterre and Wed/Thurs nights in Muxia – both by the sea. Then the process of bumping into people starts: Reece from U.S. and a couple from Sydney, Ken from Liverpool (U.K.) and Dennis (Holland). Dennis is the one person we have continually met up with during our Camino. It’s lovely to meet his girlfriend who will walk to Finesterre with him. We head to the cathedral at 11.30 but by the time we get there it’s completely packed with over 1000 people. Chris finds a step at the base of a stone column which gives us a welcome seat through the service and a great step up to watch the swinging of the Botafumeiro. Given the ancient meaning of this swinging 80kg of incense, I consider that we are well fumigated from our bugs! I manage to get a much better ‘video’ than stills. The cathedral is so packed, that my quiet reflections are left to an afternoon walk I take around the quieter parts of the old city.

We re-connect with Ray and Pura and then head off for some tapas and a siesta. We’ve planned to meet Robert and another Australian couple for dinner. At 4.30 I decide to go for a walk. On my way back to the hotel I walk down the main eating areas. As I look across a small garden square, I think I spot Sylvia – who we said goodbye to in Leon. I walk up to her and say hello in Spanish (her second language). We are both in complete disbelief that we have managed to meet up again. I join her for a drink while we wait for Vicki and Chris to join us -equally surprised. I set them up to be sitting outside our hotel when Chris and I walk out for dinner. His jaw drops and there are hugs all round. So, our dinner increases in size from 4 to 8. We find a great restaurant and emerge several hours later after stories, laughs, tears. A very fitting way to end the day and this part of our journey.

Day 44: O Pedrouzo to Santiago

Last day on the track.

We’re done!

Celebratory Baileys.

Our last bar stop.

After a mediocre breakfast at our pension, we are walking in the dark and needing a torch, despite it being 8.15am. Chris sets a peaceful pace that lasts the whole walk and is a delightful pace for walking into Santiago.

The weather is really warm – maybe as we are now nearer the coast. We quickly work up a sweat. The countryside continues to offer up eucalypt forests, farms, hamlets and villages – along with the occasional good bar. Just as I begin seeing a mirage of bacon and eggs we walk into a bar at San Payo which has a caliente dasayuno… Bacon, eggs, tomato, coffee, and the rest. We say hello to a Robert who took a day out to hibernate from Thursdays downpour.

The mud is not too bad today, and the rain holds off – with patches of blue sky, as we continue through Lavacolla, Vilamaior, San Marcos, Gozo, and then the long walk into Santiago. Tradition has it that the walk ends at the Cathedral, and we are directed around the back as there are major renovation works going on. We walk through the church, find some locals to take some photos and look around for others we know – after giving ourselves a hi five. It’s nice to bump into Marianne from Sweden before we find our hotel and room  which – at 1.40 – is not yet ready… until we down some soup and empanada.

Once we are settled we go out to explore the town and start bumping into people we know: Dennis (who has been weaving in and out of our journey since day 3), Robert, Reece and Kate, the women from Washington… and so it goes on. We finalise our compostellas (certificates of Camino completion) and find a tapas bar, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Pamplona.

We go to the Cathedral for 7.30 mass – not that we understand much… but it’s a way of catching up with others and reflecting on 800km that is now behind us. Amazing to think we don’t have to get up and walk tomorrow. It will take time for this strange experience to sink in. The main feelings for me tonight are contentment, satisfaction and a sense of complete relaxation. The physical nature of this experience has been completely refreshing.

…til the finale blog day 1….we plan to be in Santiago tomorrow (Sun) the head to Finisterre and Muxia for a few days and then 4 days in Paris before flying home.

Day 43: Arzua to O Pedrouzo

Forest of oak trees

Forest of eucalypts: imported for the pulp industry.

Chris and Ray along the way.

T-shirts decorate the bar at Salceda.

It’s raining when we wake – and nothing will stop me walking this second last day! By the time we leave the rain has stopped. A head torch helps me dodge the mud for half an hour til daylight comes around 8.20am. Then we are blessed with a pink sunrise! The air is remarkably warm and before an hour is up we are stripping back the layers.

As usual, it’s a beautiful walk – through countryside and six hamlets with typical old Galician houses and barns. At A Calzada a bar jumps out and offers us empanada, orange juice (maybe I’m up to 13 litres), and coffee. Pura and Ray show up and after greeting Deitrich, we walk on for 5kms with them to Salceda. What used to be a New Age influenced bar that appealed to Chris has changed hands and now displays T shirts from around the world, all hung from the ceiling like flags. The service is great in this thriving little bar. I introduce Chris to Reece’s sister, Kate, before we go back on the track, and we say hello to a Spanish couple we shared some Azura cheese with last night.

We continue to avoid rain as we walk, ducking a storm at Santa Helena when Chris suggests another coffee. We are both feeling weary as we climb the hill to O Pedrouzo, but it’s very satisfying to be in our Pension before the rain sets in for the afternoon.

Dinner up in town is basic, but another good €10 meal of salad, spiced pork and chips, cake/ice cream and a good vino tinto. We walk back to our lodgings ensuring we’ve checked where the track goes when we start our last day of walking – in the dark. Tomorrow ends our 800km trek as we walk into Santiago de Compostela – but not this blog which will continue with a Camino finale as we visit Finisterre and Muxia on the coast, before heading to Paris. It’s truly an amazing walk and a rich way to begin to know the north of Spain. For me it’s not the difficulty of such a walk that is the most challenging (though there are challenging stretches) – it’s more about getting to know what one’s body and psyche are capable of, and how the ordinary issues encountered in daily life, raise their heads in this context. it’s also been for me a wonderful way to mark a change in work and lifestyle.

How strange it will be to not be walking each morning after the 6 week schedule we’ve followed across Spain!