Europe - Spain, France & the AB's

From tropical Goa in India where Leah & I are sunning ourselves for a few days whilst we wind down to our return home.

I last left off in Spain at the point we were heading to France. Our reasons for traveling in France were threefold:

1) Watch as many of the AB's pool games as I could get tickets for
2) Finish off a pilgrims walk we started two years ago
3) Have a holiday with Hilary & Dave, our good friends from Winchester

I will deal with the walk first. The French camino (or GR65) is one of four that runs through France. They were ways used by Pilgrims from all over Europe from the early Middle Ages to get to the tomb of St Jacques (James the Elder) in Santiago Northern Spain. One route sort of originates in Tours & acted as a focal point for pilgrims from the Low Countries. The second started from Veselay in central France & attracted pilgrims from Germany, Poland & the like. The third started at Le Puy and served as a point of reference for pilgrims from Sthrn Germany, Switzerland & points east eg Austria. The final route went through Arles in Southern France & picked up pilgrims from Italy, Provence etc. The Le Puy route is by far the most popular & it was the one that we had begun 2 years ago. This time we picked up the route from a small town called Figeac. Small but beautiful. We walked three days to a town called Cahors, a very historical place & then took three days off in a small village near a town called Limoges.

Our diversion to Lautrette resulted from meeting a French couple (Vincent & Claude) in ULaan Bataar. They very kindly invited us to their parents house in Lautrette when we were in France. We happily did so & had a really marvellous time. It was country life with french families at its best in an old farmhouse . Vincent's parents were there as were his sister, brother in law & three children. We were made to feel part of the family & did a heap of interesting things. Like visiting the local market, going for long bike rides (they were very patient with us slow coaches), having family dinners & checking out the local Pate suppliers etc etc. We particularly enjoyed the night when the local mayor came for dinner. The wine & conversation flowed very freely that night. We loved having lunch etc in the garden at the back of the house - a very civilised process I can tell you. Hard to say "we have to go now" . It was also interesting that their house is right on the pilgrims route which comes down from Vezelay.

Anyway (sadly) back on the march from Moissac to Condom. Highlights of our walk included:

1) Night in a big convent in Moissac run by half a dozen nuns. I was the only guy there!!
2) Walking alongside a large canal. Very flat so really easy day.
3) Brand new gite in Auvillar which was as good as a 4 star hotel. And only EU 11.00 ea!!8)
4) Singing the Yellow Polka Dot Bikini song with Dannielle in Auvillar. How we got onto that I will never know but it was a lot of fun.
5) Therese our hostess in Miradoux. What a lady - she had us singing all these pilgrims songs, she took us up to the local church where we sang a few more songs, she plied us with food & wine and got me to walk her dog. Actually it wasn't a dog - it was a small horse!! The B .... thing was so big it dragged me everywhere. Especially whenever it saw a cat, which seemed to be quite frequently. So my pilgrims days almost ended in Miradoux.
6) Monestary in Lectoure where we met the local priest cum poet. He wrote his own hymns & graces & took great delight in getting all we innocent pilgrims to sing along at dinner. As dinner was free I guess we couldn't complain too much. And we had to clean up afterwards.
7) Walking thru fields of sunflowers (fantastic), picking all the wild plums, grapes, figs, apples & the like. And I still managed to lose weight!!
8) Defending the AB's chances when talking to all the french followers. Maybe I put the hex on them.

We arrived at Condom (still find it hard to write that name without wondering how it ever came about). I did notice a lot of children in the town so obviously the import of the name has passed the locals by. Or are they trying to make a point?

Anyway we met our very old friends Hilary & Dave from Winchester UK there. They wisked us off to a week in the country back near Figeac. A small stone cottage in a small village called Ambeyrac. It was right on the banks of the Lot river - a really picturesque location. We had a fantastic time. Travelled around the area a lot, did some walks (are we tigers for punishment or what?), visited local markets (the one at Villefranche was great), toured the local castle & enjoyed the guide ("now I repeat the number of people who walked thru this gate was 30,000,000; do you understand, I repeat again the number of people who ....") all in a classic deadpan french english accent, and visited St Cirque de Popie, a cathedral town built on the side of a cliff overlooking the river. A spectacular place steeped in history. Also got our bit of culture in with an evening of music in a local cathedral. And the food & wine flowed c/o of our master epicurean Dave. So an amazing week & thanks so much guys.

But all good things come to an end & it was back to Condom & continuing on our pilgrimage. We were heading into Basque country now - rolling countryside with the house painted a white & red colour. Very pretty in its own way but I think that I prefered the earlier stages (more to eat along the way!!) However we struck it lucky one day when we passed a producer of pates. He gave us three tins of Pork pate gratis which was very much appreciated I can tell you. So much so that Leah actually ate some. Not too many other highlights & some lowlights. I some how contracted shingles which I thought at first were some sort of bed bug bites. I didn't get them diagnosed until we did our final week of spanish - english teaching at Avila. They ended up being a real pain & spread over a big chunk of my chest.

As I said not too many highlights but we did see some Basque dancing in a square beside our Gite one night. Very loud but very enjoyable. Also stayed in an ancient church (built & invested by Charlemagne in 777). It had been flattened a few times since then but still retained that feeling of history. A lot of the smaller towns in this part of France were known as bastides. They were fortified villages ie a castle (or fortified church) with a big wall all around. Usually built on the top of a hill. The english held this area for many hundreds of years & there are still many reminders of that occupation around eg watchtowers, castles, chateaux etc. So historical interest wherever you looked.

We finally arrived at St Jean Pied de Porte the town we left from 5 years ago on our Spanish walk. People everywhere - the pilgrimage is now big big business & numbers have increased incredibly. In 2003 (our year) 16,000 passed thru St JPdP. Last year (2006) 23,500 started the pilgrimage there. And this years numbers will break all records.

We left St Jean next day to travel to Avignon. We used that as a base for the first AB game in Marseilles. Afterwards it was off to the French Riviera. We spent time between St Raphael & La Lavandou - the area including St Tropez. The Riviera is sort of part of Provence & was truly great. Weather fantastic, beaches great (so Leah says - I am not an expert) & the sky such a wonderful blue colour. I can see why it is such an inspiration for painters & the like. We spent a day in St Tropez & no I was not approached by BB or a film director. I guess that a long haired aging hippy dressed in scruffy tramping gear dosen't quite cut it any more. St T was very nice with heaps of million euro boats & cars. The town was in some ways just a little too good to be true. So very neat & clean, buildings all in perfect condition, paint immaculate - everything was in its place etc etc.

We had a great night at our camping ground at La Lavandou though. The owners put on an end of season party for all the campers. Food, wine, a one man band (who sang continuously for 5 hours +) & dance. We let our hair down & had a great night. We enjoyed shopping there also at the big Supermarkets. Our regard for price efficiency was well & truly satisfied. 16 Pottles of yoghurt EU2.20, tin mackeral EU0.94, 1 litre Wine EU .90, bread EU0.50. So no prizes for guessing what we ate. Also had a day at a town called Bormes La Mimosa. It is inland from LL. An historic town which has been really well preserved. Built on the side of a hill it has all the narrow streets, quaint houses, old churches, the compulsory chateau, vines, flowers & herbs growing everywhere, wonderful smells and a special sort of ambience. The place felt a little more natural than St Tropez. Highly recommended!!

Now for the hard part. The All Blacks. Need I say more . I watched the Toulouse (Roumanian) & Marseilles (Italy) games. Both a walk in the park for the AB's. Very enjoyable for we spectators, but the Italians & Roumanians were not remotely competitive. The stadiums were terrific & I had good seats in both. But once I learned that we were up against France in the 1/4 final I had a sinking feeling. The French had a lot to prove, not the least to ensure that they played a semi final in Paris. Also they had hard games against Ireland & Argentine so they were probably more mentally tuned to Cardiff than the AB's. I also have always had reservations about Henry's rotational policy. There never seemed to be a top 15 on view & I think that can be demotivating for the players. Lots for the "wise men" to think about over the next 4 years.

I learned of the AB French result in Khatmandu. Quite put me off my Dahl Bhat meal I can tell you. And India & Nepal is another story.