Condom - A Safe Place Indeed ;-)
Sitting in Condom, trying to keep straight faces as we receive some amusing comments from friends!
We are hanging out killing time waiting to heal up. A very slow morning writing and skyping with folks as an unexpected rain drizzled down for a few hours. Then a late breakfast in a town bar where we planned the update of our home bedroom and the study over a pane de chocolate et tea.
Where I had a very nice oven fired thin crust pizza and Annemarie enjoyed a veal dish.
Like I said, it's a nice little place and is quite beautiful lit up at night.
Pretty good in the daylight too.
Great view...
Even a good dessert..
I did say it was a slow day...ok, a very slow day! I'm struggling here and clearly need a good walk to kick things into gear again. We are eating well and I'm hoping to soon have the opportunity to burn it all off.
On the health front, things appear to be on the mend. I have a Skype confab with a specialist from home who generously offered to help me if I experienced any problems on my journey. Not a house call, but a most generous and appreciated effort. I'm always amazed at the generosity I find while on these walks. Very humbling. I have a supply of anti inflammatory drugs that I'm happily popping and I also just picked up a supply of rather heavy duty prescribed pain killers should I require them...just €6!! Wow! Annemarie says that if I get to take these it's only fair if I share. Odd logic, but they gave me 44 of them. I'll avoid them actually unless no choice. After all, I would prefer to remember the walk, not my naps in some ditch! Will see what tonight's discussions reveal.
I'm not sure what I'll show you tomorrow? Any ideas? Well yes, Annemarie was so bored today that she wrote us some poems. The first I apparently inspired, so I'll include it. I always feel pretty good when I inspire a poem! Perhaps tomorrow one or two others to fill the space:-)
"Perspective"
We walk out of the small village early in the morning
Descending then climbing the pattern of our day forming
He says "take a moment, look back at where we've come"
The village sits majestic shining in the sun
Look forward, don't look back we're often told
But today's view negates that position if I may be so bold
In looking back, we may see what we didn't when previously in that place
Enhancing the cache of memories of that time and space
We capture the image by camera and in our hearts
Then turn to move forward again to truly depart
Bon Chemin....I hope!
4 comments:
It is a strange name for a town. Stranger still because it can mean the same thing in English and French (although the more typical translation is "préservatif"). Any idea where the name comes from? Was there a M. or Mme. Condom somewhere in the town's past?
Sounds like you're ready to move on, that you've had enough rest. But I hope you take it easy--a couple of short days wouldn't hurt.
I've been thinking about road walking, since my next walk (another one in Ontario) is going to involve a lot of pavement and gravel shoulders. There's no other way to get from one place to another. Everything in Regina is paved, so maybe I'll be able to prepare.
Hope so, anyway.
Have a great day, walking or resting!
Also, thanks for the poem, Annemarie!
Hi Geoff:
Sometimes Camino lessons may be difficult to receive, but are nonetheless worthy - for reasons later understood.
Wendy
Well, if you can't walk in France, you may as well eat!!! Wow - those meals looked good - and seems as though there's a variety of lovely little places to sample. So different to little towns and villages in Australia (and I imagine Canada?) where mostly your options would be the pub with steak and chips (large), the truck stop with truckers (large), and maybe a greasy Joe kind of place or a very average Chinese or Thai. And absolutely no 'drizzle' would be harmed in the making of any dessert!!! So, if you read between the lines, you can tell we're really feeling for you, languishing as you are in a superbe French food region!
And by the sounds of the rain yesterday, maybe it was a good day to be having a rest. Even so, hopefully things are righting themselves and you can get underway soon. We do feel awed at the thought of you walking towards that imposing ridge line of the Pyrenees for 10 days - it's like they really announce themselves to you, and you have plenty of time to prepare for the meeting, to contemplate their grandeur and your own smallness in the scheme of things. We wonder what that will be like, and look forward to your reflections.
Bon chemin
Neil and Sarah
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