Camino Frances

Arzua, Spain
We decided to head straight for the Camino this morning and skip the trek past all the churches in town and up the hill. It only seemed like the thing to do as I'd "been there done that" while exploring town yesterday afternoon. We had a pleasant all downhill jaunt out of town and into the woods by ourselves in the dark. Just as Mike remarked that we had the trail all to ourselves (markers confirmed we were on the right path) we came upon a river and a trio trying to walk across very large, uneven steppingstones. The fellow in front was struggling, and the 2 behind were trying to shine a light to help. The first pilgrim almost made it across before losing his balance and falling off near the end. Turns out he was not with the next 2, and they were a bit abrupt with his lack of adequate lighting and progress. They took off up the hill and we jumped in to see what we could do. The poor fellow was an 81 year old French Canadian man from Quebec who spoke little English or Spanish. We helped him to his feet, got his pack and gear back in order, then took his arm and guided him up the hill. He told us his wife of 35 years had died in April and he had left Canada 5 September to walk the Camino. He was planning on walking all the way to Finisterre, visiting the basilicas along the way. He also hoped to spend time in Madrid and Paris visiting art museums before heading home in November. We walked together until our first coffee stop when he chose to continue after thanking us profusely for our help. Wow, 2 years of high school French really came in handy. We were in desperate need of our first café con leche of the day, plus who could pass by a place named No Camino? Refueled, we hit the trail once more, this time running into Hector and Walesa. We walked together for a while comparing notes. We aren't in a hurry as today is supposed to be a short day, only 14 kilometers, which is like a rest day at this point. We made it to Arzua well before noon and settled in for arrival beverages. When I fired up the phone to locate our lodging, we had a very rude awakening. Seems the place was 4 kilometers north of town and back the way we had come. Those nuns got us again for skipping a hill and church. Mike needs to get a better travel agent as being way out of town and in the wrong direction was not welcome news, especially considering that tomorrow was already slated to be one of our longer days. We located our lodging, dropped off the backpacks and went exploring. Not much out here other than a 17th century historic hospedia across the street that has been lovingly restored into a luxury hotel and restaurant that actually starts serving dinner at 7. That's the Spanish equivalent of the early bird special! We made dinner reservations and headed back to check into our place. A shower and laundry later, we had a quick lunch of salad and grilled scallops before settling in for some rest.Les mer