Day 41: Sauges to Espalion

Felt pretty good this Morning so I ate a normal Breakfast in the Gite. I regretted this decision immediatly when the Bus to St-Côme-d'Olt started to drive zickzack on this little streets 🤢.

After I fell asleep for a bit I felt WAY better tough. Drinking a lot of Fluids tends to work well as well.

Poor Beast! Look what they did to you! I know you massacred almost 100 innocent women, children and men in the most brutal fashion but do you really deserve such humiliation?!

Felt a little lost after I arrived in St-Côme. Walked around a little just to get back into the groove. Went to the church which always gives me a good feeling somehow. And what else do I see but an entry in the Pilgrims book by Lili! Felt better immediatly!

Got my stamp in the Office de Tourisme. Was funny because everyone there was so excited about my outfit. Two Women even spoke german and talked a bit with me.

It's still funny to me how People here react to my outfit. On the Via Gebennensis almost nobody cared but here I have to pose like two or three times a day. I can only imagine how People from all over the world show my photo around claiming they now saw a REAL Pilgrim. I find this term so stupid! What's REAL on that?! Why am I more real than people in a Rainjacket? Is a Robe really all it takes to be "real" in Peoples minds? I would think it takes way more to actually "be" a Pilgrim! Everytging that count is on the inside anyway! Call me "traditional" if you want but even that's nonsense... I wear a Jedi Robe over regular Hiking clothes for heavens sake... but I digress.

On my way out I stumbeled over an interesting little phenomenon. There are seemingly different Crosses "carved" in stone found along the Way. It's not really known if they are manmade or of natural occurance or - uuuuh how exciting - a miracle 😬.

I checked it out and to me it's just a natural phenomenon. It's too subtle and random to be man-made and there are other similar structures next to it that just don't have the distinctive enough form. But hey, if People wanna see a supernatural thing be my guest. I just can't help wondering why a God would waste his/her/its time carving crosses in stones when children suffer from bone cancer and stuff at the same time. That's my overall problem with the idea of "miracles". It seems so petty an idea and kind of offensive in contrast to all the real shit going on around the world.

The same can be said when people pray for something good and thank their God(s) when it comes to pass. Soooooo... your allmighty and allknowing diety changed its mind just because you asked nicely for it? So your Grandma got better after you prayed but the 20 year old in the next room of the hospital died and that's... somehow good and fair and your doing in some way? And that's not dillusional narcissistic and boarderline psychopathic WHY exactly...?

But-I-di-gress

Enjoyed my little 10km walk today. The weather was fresh but at least it was dry. I dig the nature too which is exactly my style with its overgrown stones and gnarly old trees!

I walk without a detailled Guidebook at the moment which has the nice touch that I'm positively surprised by stuff as I never know what to expect next. So when I stumbeled over a wonderful old statue of mother mary overlooking the valley it seemed so surprising and cool. Like a discovery more than just "another thing on Trail to pbotograph".

On a little old church I met some young french Girls who were smitten by my outfit again. I realized how I missed talking to People younger than 60. It's just nice to have somebody to chat who wasn't blown away by the invention of colour TV! Also, the younger generation of the french actually speak english lonand behold! Yesterday in the Gite everybody was 55+ and I had the hardest time talking to anybody about anything!

I'm starting to eat more and more "regular"

food again. I need it if I want to return to walking 25km+ days anytime soon. And I'm in France for heavens sake! Arguably the most famous place in the whole world for food (Italians don't come after me, I know I know...)! Time to finally see and enjoy some of it...!

I now go and try to find a spot for my tent in the local Campground. I spent yet another 40+ Euros this night and I should return to be more careful with my finances again. Sure, this money included washing my stuff, Dinner and Breakfast but it's still quite a bit of money and more than I planed to spend a day.

I seem to recall that we never spent more than like 10 - 15 Euros a day for accomodation back on the Camino Frances. But this was also 10 years ago and it's more Pilgrim-y there than it is here to be sure.

Like I said, around here I'm mostly surrounded by bored elder People playing Pilgrim for a couple of days whike sending their laggiage ahead and Hoteliers taking advantage of them. So maybe this'll get better the further west I get.

I was even thinking about camping wild tonight but until I feel 100% good again I should stay close to People who could help me out in case of another fallback. So the Campground it is...

So, got a space for 18 Euros / night INCLUDING electricity, running water and like a huge place just for myself 😬. Now we're talking! I'm all the more sure that I wont join this retarded Bedrace and this unnerving and boarderline undignified reservation all the time! I carry this 1.2 Kilo on my back for a reason and man I plan to have it pay out for me! Another Pilgrim just told me they didn't had any free beds in their Gits anymore because for days they were all booked in advance! Ah well... I got my PCT tent and no worries and now I have time to check out this georgous little town.

I love the overall groove here. It's funny how some places just resonate with me and others don't and I can't even put my finger on it why that is. More groovy People than myself would call that "good energy" maybe. Well, Espalion sure has it.

Also, 1368 Kilometers to go... aawyeah 😎

I was a bit nervous at first because it's so weird having so much free time and not hiking if tough I technically could walk further. Feels a bit like watching TV when you know you should learn for a test.

But that's stupid for several reasons. First and foremost because it's my Holiday after all even if I don't act accordingly too often. And also, if a Pilgrimmage should teach you anything at all, then to relax and live in the moment!

So darn it! The Camino'll still be here tomorrow I'm sure! And if it shall be I'll catch up with the others and if not than not! I get too attached to the idea of walking alongside others again!

Maybe it's meant to be that I spend time alone here without any bubble... it is a whole different experience and not at all just for the worse either. I have time for my Audiobook for example. And I can sleep whenever and wherever without being constrained my the wants and standarts of others.

Also I'm more open to chatting with new people then I maybe would be were I with others. And if not for meeting new People what is the Camino for after all?

And last but not least I have time for this very Blog here. It became much more important to me than anticipated! It's more like a diary in which I am able to re-live certain moments. It also gives me a certain pressure to actually walk on and not to give up. As if I own it to the People reading it to go on. I wonder what I'll do with it after I ended this Trail one way or another. I might keep it online for a while so others may learn a thing or two - or as a cautionary tale as to what a stupid idea it is to walk once trough half of Europe 🤪...