We woke up this morning certainly well rested and refreshed. Ed had a big smile on his face. I think he missed being a doctor so he offered to give me a complete pilgrim body check free of charge: no blister, very good, no back ache, no hip problem, no ankle swollen, all toes moving up and down, shoulders in good shape, neck not stuck in one place, and most important of all: I am able to bend forward to tie my boots! This pilgrim passed the retired physical exam with flying color!

Saugues has a nice little plaza, with a small vegetable shop. I picked up all kinds of fruit for our walk today: figs, green gage plums, grapes, flat peach. There is also a small grocery store called “casino”. We got some artisanal cheese of the region and some more dried sausage. Ed picked a small bottle of verveine. If we have to climb again today, we might as well climb drunk to forget our leg pain!

I am all good with my clothing so far, doing a wash every afternoon as I get in. Ed had a problem, his shorts got ripped yesterday so we have to pick up a new pair of shorts for him. All the climbing, rocks and tree trunks and sitting down randomly for a rest or a picnic in the field sometimes can cause damage to our clothing. We luckily were able to get Ed some nice shorts in the right size as Saugues is a somewhat larger village that we came upon. The largest so far. It has a nice shoes store for hikers and also carries other outdoor clothing.

Also worth mentioning in Saugues is the cult of the “penitents blancs”, the white penitents. Their history goes back to their original formation in 1652. The were a group of pious souls that practiced absolution of their sins by mortification and penance.

In 1792 the cult was officially dissolved but some members continue to practice in secrecy. In 1801 the group became official again and to this day there are about 50 members practicing in the Saugues region. Group members today live their lives in the parish, perform funeral mass and carry the cross in the front of the funeral procession to the cemetery. Their highlight of the year is the saint week and Thursday saint day procession where they walk barefoot, some of them carrying the cross, some wearing all red signifying Christ’s blood.

We had a great breakfast, the usual bread, jam, croissant, coffee, juice, hot chocolate, ham, cheese, boiled eggs. The standard fare. We packed some fresh baked baguettes for the day’s picnic.

We left Saugues and walked on. The exit out of town was simple, the trail straight forward. No tricky bridges to pass. We walked through fields of hay and densely forested pathway, with a gradual continuos up hill all the way. The weather is perfect. We are very lucky with the weather. It is actually very very cold in the morning before 8 am. 50 degrees. I was concerned about my light jacket not giving me enough warmth. I could also use a pair of gloves. I read on the internet before we left that he weather will be in the 90! I thought we will be sweating out. I did not expect this cold front in the morning. At about 8:30 am to 9 am the sun is way out and the climb helped keep us warm. Soon I had to take my jacket off.

Today we walked on the “route de la lait”, which is the “milk route”. Milk it is indeed! Lots of cows in the fields. Lots of cows being moved from one field to the next or just being moved from the milking barn back to the field, their cow bells making beautiful chimes in the morning sun. As we approach the first hamlet, La Clauze, there was a tall stone tower which was the only remnant of the 12 th century castle. Then we moved on for 3 more km to get to the small hamlet of Le Falzet. Right at the entrance of town, there is a nice beautifully kept farm house that pilgrims can stay the nice, garden full of vegetables that are cooked for the pilgrim dinner. The farm also makes its own cheese. The owner has one bull and 4 cows and she has plenty of milk to make her farm cheese. For one euro you can have a warm drink of fresh cows milk in hot chocolate or cappuccino, you can also get a plate of 5 kinds of fresh farm cheese sampler for a couple of euros more. It’s a nice stop for lunch.

This gite is run by 2 former pilgrims. For a small price we could have a room, with dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow and it says it has wifi. Today Ed has a lot of work. A few consultation on skype and a meeting with another doctor office. We decided to break for the day.

Our plan for this trip was to start out slowly, get our body adjusted to the time zone, get over the jet lag, get use to the altitude as we come from sea level in Florida, and get our legs in shape. Then we will add the mileage on later on. Today is the last day of easing in. Tomorrow we have a big walk day and the start of all full walk day with a lot of mileage. If you have not heard me complaint about aches and pains, well it’s coming soon after we arrive tomorrow! That’s on the schedule.

We checked in to the gite. Inside the gite, it’s sparkling clean. The place shines with pride. I can tell. We were a bit early for check in but the owner kindly offered us a glass of “sirop”, the French popular cold syrup drink. I choose verveine, Ed choose Anis. All was well and fine. They said we were early and to wait a little bit.

After a little while, the woman who runs the gite came out and told us we can go to our room. So she pointed to a corner with a large bucket, “your walking sticks go here”. She has a certain voice that is very commanding, the kind of voice you just do as she tells you and not ask too many questions. We hesitated a bit as on the camino we don’t have too many possession but everything we have, we need, so we keep an eye on them and we take care of them very carefully. We don’t want to loose our sticks but I think that the rule of the house. We put our stocks into the bucket and followed the woman. She took us down a hallway. “Your shoes go here not in the room”. She pointed to some shelves. Ok that’s something new. Sounds like a Japanese tatami house where we must walk around barefooted. So far everything was in French, Ed just does what I do without asking but he is beginning to be somewhat annoyed. Then she pointed to a locker with a key, ” your bag go into here, you can lock it”. Ok. In goes the bag. At the end of the hall is a washer and dryer. I was looking at it. May be I have a break today I can wash our clothes in the washer and dryer, I thought to myself.

Then she took us upstairs to our room. A nice roomy room with 3 single beds with a private bathroom. That’s a good sign. The question is: will we have a third person? No she assured us, just the two of us. Ok, that’s good. We both snore like train wrecks, not a good idea to have a third person in the room but it does not hurt to ask. But we can’t come inside the room yet, wait. There’s more instruction: we have to put everything on the bench set outside the room, we have as many basket as we want but we must put our stuff into the baskets and bring the baskets into the room. Our backpack must stay on the bench. No bag inside the room. Why? Bed bugs. Bags bring in bed bugs and it’s a big problem. So they are very strict. By now, Ed is very confused. He just look at me, look at the bench, the baskets, the woman. No shoes, no sticks, locker, he does not know what’s going on. I told him to just stay calm. We can sort this out. He said ” I thought she’s telling you how to run the washing machine, how many scoop of detergent and what is the water temperature. I did not know they have so many rules. I don’t do very well with rules.” I told him it’s ok, we can handle this. It’s not bad. Don’t worry. So we proceeded with taking off our shoes. Put them on the shelf, put our valuable belonging inside the locker. Lock it up. Go upstairs, unload things from our bag into baskets and bring baskets into the room. There. Done. Easier said than done. Of course Ed was complaining. This is all way too complicated and unnecessary. Then the woman came back and showed me a printout literature of bed bugs. I must read this. Ok I said.

After we get somewhat settled in,,I have to make the bed. The place is sparkling clean. Very very clean. But you have to put on the white pillow case and the bed sheets yourself. Very nice all white linen but some work to do. Forget about doing the laundry today. I will take a break. And forget about asking about the washing machine I saw in the hall way. She probably will tell me I have to wear gloves, wash with hot water, rinse 5 cycles, do 5 handstand then fold clothes in the kitchen, do 5 push ups then I can put my clean clothes in more baskets before I can bring them to my room.

Next Ed ask about Internet. Ed must have Internet. He has to work today. Ok, Internet is on only between 2 pm and 10 pm. Only for 45 minutes. You need to put in an email address. After 45 minutes, it shuts off. I can see the pain on Ed’s face. His consultation is usually one hour. So I asked Ed “can you do them for 45 minutes today?”. He rolled his eyes and gave me the look. It’s not going to work!

Ok after all this checking in, we are not going to pack everything up and leave and walk another 4 hours to the next sleeping place. I am kind of done for the day. I am trying to find a solution. Ed says “I will pay for the Internet”. No that’s not how it works. More discussion. Lots of French. Ed speaking lots of English. The man who runs the place said simply : I don’t understand English. Done. If you don’t speak French, you’re toasted! After some more asking I figured out its 45 minutes per email address. So you can enter another email address and get another 45 minutes. Ah I see. I think they just want to collect email addresses. That’s not a problem. We will just give them email addresses! So there. Done. All worked out.

So aperitif will be served at 6:45 pm. And the pilgrim song will be taught to all of us. Then dinner served at 7 pm. Breakfast tomorrow at 7 Am. I said we plan to leave early tomorrow as it is going to be a long walk day for us. He said no problem, they will have hot coffee for us and a packed breakfast we can carry out. How nice.

We get settled into put very nice, comfortable and very clean room. I think we did great by staying here. It’s a bit complicated but nothing we can’t handle.

We took a short rest. Tomorrow will be a “ball buster” walk day. To use Ed’s exact words. We are also doubling our mileage tomorrow so no hope to come in early!

I got myself settled and washed up. I changed my mind about the washing machine. I have been hand washing our sweaty clothes every day now for 5 days, I think I am going down to face the commandant woman and ask her how to run the washing machine. First she showed me the double sink with plastic tubs. I said no, I don’t want to hand wash. I want to use the washing machine. It will cost me 2 euros. Ok I am good for 2 euros. She put the load of clothes in. Detergent in. Push a button. Voila 36 minutes. Then I can also dry by machine? Yes of course she said. I have a big smile. That was easy. I kind of got use to the hand washing but I am telling you, this washing machine thing makes life so much easier. A lot easier. Trust me. Now I can go up to my room and rest or rather watch Ed fuss with the Internet for his work. In a bigger town it’s not as bad. If we end up in the middle of nowhere like we are today, it’s always a big problem with the Internet. The connect is either bad or very very bad. Sure enough Ed was breaking up so bad nobody can hear him back in the U.S. He walked around with his head set yelling “can you hear me? Can you hear me now?” He reminds me of the verizon commercial. He’s just trying to find a spot where the Internet would work. It was tough. He basically walked all around the building going up and down stairs trying to look for a good spot but that did not happen.

We have another 3 hours before dinner so we took out a piece of cheese to snack on. The cheese in this region is so good it’s beyond words. The food here is just too good to describe. Even for us walkers that usually have a very big appetite, the portion is rather big, and a meal usually comes with a salad or appetizer, the main course, then cheese then desert and some wine, we always are very full by the end of the meal. Every body eat that way yet nobody is obese or even fat around us. Ed calls this the French paradox.

The French eat their dinner at either 7 pm or 7:30 pm. They never rush through dinner. Take their time. The service is at time very slow and unhurried. They never rush you. Most Americans usually find the service too slow.

Last night at dinner, a person near by our table was too impatient with the service and called the waiter over to ask where her desert is, the waiter just tell her “la gare est par la, Madame” meaning “the train station is over this way, Madame”. That’s their polite way of telling you to go take a hike. Desert will come when it’s ready. They are preparing it so don’t rush them. If you don’t rush them, you get treated with the most amazing dishes! So well prepared, eye pleasing presentation, flawless and perfect.

Another thing the French are very annoyed is the order in which things are being eaten. Cheese are almost always eaten as desert. Right before the sweet desert like pie or ice cream. A man that came in very very hungry and sat down for dinner. Definitely a foreigner. Most definitely American. He ordered his food. In English of course. While the cheese cart is being pushed out for other tables that were ready for their cheese course, this man stopped the waiter and asked for a plate of cheese, even before his meal is served. Oh what a catastrophe! He of course also got sent to the train station!

The cheese course in the restaurant is often served on a pushed cart. There were about 30 different kinds of cheese on it. Or may be more. They do have a little sticky label on top to let you know what they are. The server gets a clean plate and asked us what do we like. “Sec ou blanc”. Dry or white? Dry cheese is the usual kind of cheese we get. Last night I choose dry. I asked him nicely to get me what’s the best of the region. He got me a blue cheese, a cheese made with goat milk, one with lamb milk, one with cow milk and a special one that has the look of fine lace. Tiny little holes through out, not big holes like a Swiss cheese. They were all from the region, all artisanal, meaning small farm traditionally made by the local farmers. Ed has a dry cheese also with another set of offerings but they are all very very good.

If you want the blanc or white option for your cheese course, it’s often a soft wet type of cheese almost like a yogurt that you can add some sugar or not, it’s up to you. I like the dry kind, sometime they give you a bit of a salty taste, then it makes you really want a taste of the sweetness of the desert that’s served right after the cheese.

On our trip so farm, we stay at a mix of farm house, small inn with a small restaurant on the first floor of the inn, or bed and breakfast where the owner would cook the dinner for you. It’s all included in one price, the night stay, dinner and breakfast the next day. For walking pilgrim, it’s the most convenient thing to do. Once you have arrived, you want to take shower to clean up all the sweat, get into something comfortable and just eat right there. It’s tough to be walking around looking for food. Then after dinner we just want to get to the room quickly and crash for the night.

Our clothes was done after 1 hour, nice soft smelling good for 2 euros! The best 2 Euros I have paid so far! By 6:40 pm I came out to the main room of the gite. The long table was set for 20 people. The whole place smells really really good. There are a dozen bottles of assorted local French syrup, from lemon to anis to verveine to chestnut …. A glass of rose wine is poured by each setting. We are getting ready for the pre-diner apperitif then pilgrim singing. Baguettes and butter are brought out.

The bells are rung. It’s time for pilgrims singing. The host played the guitar and guided us to a simple but beautiful pilgrim song. We all sang along with him. Then he showed us how to clap our hands. At the end we had a beautiful chorus of 20 “French Idol” belting out the very nice and very deep meaningful pilgrim song.

Then diner is served. Shredded carrot salad with corn and tuna and olives with half cut hard boiled eggs. We both had double servings as we were very hungry. Then a baked zucchini with salmon with melted cheese on top. Delicious! Then comes the cheese course. A feast for the eyes. 20 different kinds of cheese that the host explained which is which. We learned that blue cheese is often eaten with something sweet like honey or jelly, there is a soft cheese that was made with garlic and almanac that the host warned if you are a couple and wish to try this then both must eat this cheese or else there will be problem sleeping together tonight. The garlic is very strong. Then after the cheese course came a nice apricot tart. Coffee and hot tea rounded out the dinner. It was a wonderful feast.

In between dinner courses, we introduced ourselves at table. The group is a mix of a few walking for only a few days and a couple of long walker. 2 couples walking all the way from Le Puy to Santiago. Wow that’s 1000 miles! We were the only two from the U.S. Ed was the only non French speaking person. While we were half way through dinner, a young 20 years old showed up and asked for shelter. It’s completely full. There were actually 26 people for dinner already after everybody showed up. Some had to sit behind the main table. The young man does not speak French. Only German. It’s ok the host said. Come in and rest and sit down and eat. He has to sleep here the night somehow. The next shelter is too far to walk and it’s almost 8 pm now. He told us he has walked from Austria over to here! And going onward to Santiago. Wow! I don’t even know how many miles that makes. 2000 miles? He’s one of those that followed the classic old tradition of walking out of one’s door and get on the way and walk all the way over to Santiago no matter how far or how long it takes. He speaks only German and could not share too much of his life story to us.

After dinner the host and his wife shared 2 more pilgrim songs that they sang beautifully. The host is a great guitar player. Then he put his guitar down. He’s done for the day. Now it’s every body else’s turn to contribute to the evening entertainment. We went around the table, introduced ourselves one by one and we all must either sing or dance or tell a joke or a story. We all learned a little bit about each other, why we decided to do the pilgrimage. Lots of sharing of experiences. Some of us sang, some told a story, some sang and danced. When it came to us, I pointed to Ed. That’s my usual automatic reflex. When we are in a bad situation it’s his fault. When we are in a jam, he has to unstuck us. So Ed obliged and he sung a song!!!! He did very well. He got himself a big round of applause. I would not go as far as saying he got a standing ovation and a 30 minutes round of applause but his participation was very well received!!! Good job Eddie. There again he saved both of us!!!! Please don’t ask me what he sang. It was close to twinkle twinkle little star, only better, because it was a little song his grandma used to sing to him in Lithuanian. Those in the family sure knows what I am talking about. He did sing it in Lithuanian, with hand gestures and all. We all had great fun.

After dinner, the host proposed he can take us all into the village to show us the church. A short stroll. Those whose legs are in too much pain can go to sleep. That’s just about describe us. Half the group took the walk. The other half went up to rest for the night.

We got settled in for the night. Ed has one more thing to do for the day. Many people had sent in their petition for us to pray for them on the pilgrimage. We have received many many requests. Of note is one mother requesting a prayer for her daughter to find a nice suitable husband. And another mother requesting a prayer for her forty something son to find a nice suitable wife. I was wondering if we could match make the two single people? I am not sure what their age ranges are. I was just thinking ….

Then I got to thinking some more. We have our youngest son preparing for his wedding next summer. And the rest of the boys, 4 of them, may be we should be praying for each of the boy to find a nice wife too. I am just thinking ….

I am in excellent health, no known condition of any sort, I am going on this pilgrimage not praying for anything for myself but I do pray every night for somebody else that is very close to me. Praying for his good health and that he will live for a long time so he can go on many more pilgrimage with me. He knows who he is. I don’t need to spell out his name. I am just saying …..

Ed has a long list of prayers he has to read every night. It keeps him busy. And that’s good for him. His mother would always say: keep him busy. It’s good for him. It keeps him off the street.

Speaking of prayers, Ed is reading through them every night like he had said. One thing about the prayers that got sent in, they really really touch us. We pray for other people but they make us appreciate how lucky we are. With out good health, with our simple life, we are very happy. We don’t wish for anything more. There are so many other people out there in need of so much help with their lives. One elderly lady living alone prays for her eye sight so she can be independent, many cancer patients praying for a successful treatment, parents praying for children born with problems …. Ed would often look over at me and says: we are so lucky, we have our good health, we are together, what else do we want? Nothing more, I say. Our life is full.