Day Two- Montbonnet to Montistrol d'Allier

Typing quickly as we have limited wifi here in France. Purchasing a coffee enables you to set up a nice little time to catch up on email etc....

This stage was the perfect Camino day! We desperately needed it after yesterday. The sun did not let up, this has been our sky the past two days ...

 

Thankfully I had bought us all umbrellas before we left, they have been worth their weight in gold to protect us from the sun. Thankfully, my engineering sons have figured out how to attach mine from my back vs front of pack so I can walk hands free and see where I am going. Stage One left little chance of shade, Stage Two was all we want to see in our Camino; woodsy paths, climbs, descents, cows on parade from stall to pasture (or back in the evening), dogs, cats, snails and slugs. 

This morning before our walk we woke in a pasture right near the small chapel that is 1,000 years old. We heard the buzz of what I thought was flies over manure but realized they were bees. None seemed to want to harm us in fact I am pretty convinced they hovered over us with curiosity. We ate in Montbonnet last night, sandwiches for the boys and salads for the girls. The bar (keep in mind a simple roadside mom and pop restaurant is called a bar) had a fire attached, the couple was super sweet to us, supplying us fresh water before we left and assuring us that we were totally fine to "wild camp" in this area. On our way out of town a lady stopped Reichen and offered to fill our water bottles for us. This simple act of kindness is worth it's weight in gold and much appreciated!

We had two nice breaks today, one for about 45 minutes where we are our lunch the other in a charming town called Saint Privat d'Allier. 

We hung out about an hour and half waiting for the Boulangerie to open ( Bread/ Pastry). During this time four French men, appeared to be friends spending several days together on trail got to talking to us. They insisted on us joining them for a drink and treated us to a Coke. They stayed in that town and we kept moving but it was wonderful to have their company and conversation.

Merci!!!!!!

Here is a picture of us loaded with our bread.... Karsh is keeping track of how many baguettes we eat (French bread)...

 

Tonight we ended in Monistrol d' Allier, a shorter distance than planned but a wonderful stop with a river. We took in a swim in a wonderful spot. We ate at a splendid restaurant called Pain du Sucre, Sugar Loaf, named after a rock in the mountain.  It is owned by a wonderful man and true friend of pilgrims, Peter. The children had pizzas and I had a salad that I will never forget! 

Aynsleigh got a bloody nose but kept on trekking!

Our path...rocky down hill

A home I loved...

Another precious building. They are all like this...

So inviting....and makes me think of Trevor, our friend who built our deck and makes dreamy tables...

On every public picnic table..

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Dog on the blog, we loved this girl and she loved Karsh!

Dog on the blog with bread

The Camino/ Chemin- Day One ( Le Puy to Montbonnet)

Exhausted!!! Not a cloud in the sky. Following the guidance of David who wrote the Ciccerone Norte guide. He has shared via email with me his advice for this Camino! I'm a huge fan of his book and appreciate his guidance.

All the kiddos kicked bootie, our packs are way heavier than I would have wanted them to be, but we must pack for four months, that takes us thru winter months. Also our nights are very cold, our days are very hot. We are so tired and are now in Montbonnet at a small cafe ( called a " bar" here, but trust me far from a bar!).


These restaurants are called bars but offer simple sandwiches, simple drinks and ice cream.

We had little sleep night, hammock camped the past two nights in a formal and wonderful campground. There are two near Le Puy, we chose the one North of Le Puy, the staff was superb!

We got up this morning at four thirty, not typical however we wanted to attend mass in Le Puy for the Pilgrim's blessing. This is very special! Mass was at 0700.

Note the Camino shell marker...

The pilgrims office, what a great crew to greet us!

The Cathedral nun giving the kids their first stamp in their pilgrims passport...

Chapels on the way...left open for pilgrims to go in...

Cows on parade! I love this in Europe I think they are being escorted back from the fields, a dog always supervising! Just walking through the streets...

This sweet German couple just joined us at dinner, they won't be going to Santiago but are covering a great distance. We passed them earlier, they sleep in the grass while the horses were eating grass. These are some spoiled horses, everything that touches their body is lined with fleece ( sheep skin)

Le Puy en Velay

Although Neve had an overly stressful and exciting adventure Monday,  she and the kiddos hiked 15.90 miles today (8/23/2016).  Way to go!

Camping in LE PUY, we start our Camino tomorrow

We are settled for a total of two nights outside of Le Puy in the most wonderful campground, one hour walk into Le Puy in what is called " the greenway". Natalie is an angel in the office and helped the family much during yesterday's fiasco!

As I type this the kids are swimming and playing soccer and we will spend the afternoon together embracing Le Puy.

Tomorrow we plan to get up at 0500, pack down the hammocks, walk into Le Puy and attend mass at 0700 for a Pilgrims blessing. This will add two miles to our day, I think, but the comfort of this campsite makes it worth it!