Day 57 Does a Worm Have a Mouth?

As we were walking along today Noël asked, “Does a worm have a mouth?” I nearly doubled over in laughter. This is the kind of question that can pop in your head when you walk for hours on end in silence. 🪱

We started our walk today along the canal next to the loire river. As we walked along we noticed lots of different types of tracks. They weren’t clear enough to use the app. But after 10 kms in the mud and a little unsure of the tracks we decided to take an alternate route. It was a good decision.

We found a couple of places to eat sandwiches out of the wind. We also just sat down on the path because it was time to stop and rest. Did I mention that we had to carry dinner and lunch for two days? It made our packs a bit heavier for today. But at least we have food.

BIG NEWS: we were able to get a stamp from the city hall in a small town called Luneau. And the woman working says she has worked there for 15 years and we are the first pilgrims who have ever asked for a stamp. Very cool!! And we found an open church.

And the answer to the question: “yes worms have strong, muscular mouths but no teeth.”

Hope you all are well.

Day 56 a rest day

Today was a quiet day. We did errands. And made some adjustments.

We walked to the cathedral and the mairie where we. Hope to get a stamp. But no luck.

We said to to woman at the Mairie…We are pilgrims. We have walked over 1000 kms from The Netherlands to Digoin. We are on our way to Santiago de Compostela. We have enjoyed getting stamps at Mairies in small villages and big towns.

Today we were refused. We were told to go to the church, which we had already been to and there was no where to get a stamp. The receptionist was actually very rude. Everywhere we have been we have been welcomed, asked questions, encouraged on our adventure until today. “We don’t do that” was the response. It was very disappointing and sad.

So looking forward to more camino like experiences. After this bad experience we encountered this…

Day 55 unpack…let go…repack!

I didn’t take many pictures today because there wasn’t much to see. It was pretty cloudy all day so a bit gray the entire day!!! But no rain until the last 15 minutes!

We walked along the Loire River most of the day. It was so quiet that it allowed lots of time to ponder…what we are doing. And talk about plans and how we proceed.

Caminos, long walks are great ways to process so much…for me there is a lot of opportunity to let go (or lose) much of what weighs you down.

It’s interesting that you carry your pack and everything you need on your back. Every once and awhile we take stock of what we are carrying on our backs, physically and decide we don’t need certain things.

And you also carry a lot of emotional and mental baggage everyday. Learning to take the stones of regret, anger, hurt, disappointment, frustration, pain, etc out of your emotional and mental backpack provides a freedom like you have never known.