Camino de Santiago

June - July 2022
  • Sarah Koch
  • Jon Koch
"All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking."
-Friedrich Nietzsche.
Walking is slow and deliberate. Getting to deep conversations can be too.
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  • Sarah Koch
  • Jon Koch

List of countries

  • Spain Spain
  • France France
  • United States United States
Categories
Backpacking, Culture, Family, Hiking, Self discovery, Spirituality
  • 8.0kkilometers traveled
Means of transport
  • Flight6,723kilometers
  • Walking-kilometers
  • Hiking-kilometers
  • Bicycle-kilometers
  • Motorbike-kilometers
  • Tuk Tuk-kilometers
  • Car-kilometers
  • Train-kilometers
  • Bus-kilometers
  • Camper-kilometers
  • Caravan-kilometers
  • 4x4-kilometers
  • Swimming-kilometers
  • Paddling/Rowing-kilometers
  • Motorboat-kilometers
  • Sailing-kilometers
  • Houseboat-kilometers
  • Ferry-kilometers
  • Cruise ship-kilometers
  • Horse-kilometers
  • Skiing-kilometers
  • Hitchhiking-kilometers
  • Cable car-kilometers
  • Helicopter-kilometers
  • Barefoot-kilometers
  • 26footprints
  • 19days
  • 289photos
  • 87likes
  • On our way

    June 14, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    After a very long day of dividing and conquering a college orientation and a trip to Illinois to drop off Daisy Dog at “grandma camp” and then a long drive ahead of the storms down to Indy for a short night of rest…we are now off! (That was a long sentence.) Aiden met a few classmates and has his classes set for next year. I enjoyed the trip down memory lane and Jon got to see his mom for a quick lunch before we leave. (We owe her a huge mound of thanks for taking the dog for us so that poor Daisy doesn’t have to sit in a kennel for three weeks.) Our cat, on the other hand, may end up feral by the time we return. (Don’t worry, we have a neighbor girl who said she’d keep him fed.)Read more

  • Arrive in Paris

    June 15, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    We arrived in Paris after about 5 hours of sleep in the past three days. (The flight put us in Paris at 2am Indy time but 7 am Paris time- since it is pretty hard to sleep on a plane and I was distracted by the plane’s trivia game (I felt the need to smoke PJ whoever that was) none of us slept that night and the check in for our room was 3pm. That meant we had the whole day with all our stuff to wander. Aiden got an A on his test on French public transportation and he proved it by confidently getting us into the city. Since the point of the trip is to walk with all we need for the trip on our backs I decided we couldn’t really complain. But it is HOT in Paris and always crowded. We rented bikes and decided to hit the top sites all around the city since Jon and I decided that popping up from the subway doesn’t give you a good feel for where you are (we’ve done that method of site seeing here before but both times it was winter and cold). The biking seemed like a good idea because Paris is supposed to be a bike friendly town but I felt like cars and pedestrians were just daring me to play chicken with them and I always chickened out. I decided biking around Paris is not as romantic as it sounds. The trail on the Seine is fine but the Champs Elysees by bike is not for the faint of heart (more power to you, Tour de France riders. That’s some bumpy cobblestone!). I had never seen the Arc de Triomphe so close up and it was a lot bigger than I thought! Napoleon is still taking revenge on the foreign cultures because Jon got his ATM card eaten by a machine at Napoleon’s tomb. Now we are a little concerned about how to acquire cash for the little alburgues in Spain. We still have one more but now we are hesitant to use it.

    Aiden and Ollie’s French has been useful to me and especially their knowledge of culture and history. Aiden even understood the significance of the bike locks on the bridge to Sainte Chapelle. I would have missed that detail had he not known. Madame Blaz has done her job! We even ate baguette hot dogs today because Aiden did a presentation on them for school once. Ollie always acts like he doesn’t pay attention in school but he definitely can pick up where Aiden leaves off. He’s pretty sharp.

    We are staying in a hostel because we had to really spread the grant money thin since I did the budget 2 years ago. We have our own room and many families are here but in true French style what they advertised as air conditioning is really just a fan that doesn’t stay on and a window that doesn’t open all the way. It is hot. (Did I mention that?!) The cool breezes of the Pyrenees will be welcome.
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  • Art Day

    June 16, 2022 in France ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We had early morning tickets to see some art so after a lovely breakfast and good strong coffee we hit the bikes again and risked our lives in the Paris streets. We were 30 minutes late for our time slot but Aiden said it was very Parisian of us to be late. It didn’t matter anyway because no one even checked our tickets! (Note to self, just walk in like you belong there and save the dough!) Here’s where Daniel shined. He has read every Rick Riorden book on the planet and really knows his Greek and Roman gods. The Mona Lisa was in the new room which is nice considering the last time we were there she was in a dark hallway. I prefer the big art anyway over her. The Wedding at Cana is more my style.

    Then Saint Chappelle- I heard Daniel walk in and say “whoa!” That says it all.
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  • South toward the trail

    June 17, 2022 in France ⋅ ☀️ 34 °C

    It was a confusing and tense morning of ticket and train matching. What would have been a simple fix in the old days of lots of station masters who can answer questions is now just a guy you wait in line for an hour to talk to who has no power to touch a Eurrail pass. I think God solved the problem for us. I think. 🤔 I activated our passes but according to my app it called my activation date my first day of travel (we get four) That leaves us one day short. I had reservations to get on the train today and I had activated the passes yesterday but my misunderstanding of what “activation” meant has us messed up. They say on the trail “the Way” will provide. The ticket collector was satisfied with the reservation tickets and didn’t actually check my Eurrail pass. That gives us back a day. The Way did provide. (Before you think I’m getting too mystical, read John 14:6. That’s my understanding of The Way.)

    So now we are getting out of the city on the TGV going 300 km/hr for a smaller, slower town. Jon and I have never been to Bordeaux and since the train from Paris to St Jean ran though here anyway we decided to get off and look around. Paris, a city known for style and fashion was hard for me with my three practical zero fashion hiking outfits and no makeup or styling products. I’m sure I looked like a homeless person to them but on the trail I think I’ll fit right in.

    I think the whole world is in a heat wave right now. It’s 104 F in Bordeaux. Yuck. It will cool off before the hike but it will also be rainy. Hmmmmm. Which is better?!

    On the upside, our two rooms in the Hilton are luxurious compared to that one room in the hostel in Paris. (These were way cheaper too!)

    I also saw another couple that was dressed like us- probably other Camino hikers. Slobs unite!

    We went to the old town of Bordeaux which turns out was settled by the Romans. I drank from an ancient Roman well (I’m sure the water was fine) and we stumbled on a cathedral that was built in 800’s. No… not 1800’s! My bucket list thing was to put my 104F feet into the Miroir d eau.

    Considering Europe is known for their lack of ice and tepid beer I’m surviving considerably better than I’d have thought. I just really want an ice cold water though.
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