YVES
Just met a man called Yves…he is in his 70s…this is his 3rd camino from Le Puy to Santiago (1500km) he walks with his back pack and he has parkinsons disease…..loves his beer and wine and smokes 2 cigarettes a day…he is teaching me french but I cannot seem to pronounce anything properly even though I sound exactly the same as him…..bloody french. ..but he is amazing!!! He wrote a book about his first camino and has had parkinsons for the last 10 years. He keeps a blog of his journey and is head of the Parkinsons community association in France…..bloody legend, although I’m not sure how that would translate in French!
Asterix and Obelix
There are two gents who sometimes walk together and when I see them they remind me of this french comic book. Thierry is small and doesn’t necessarily look like asterix but is from Brittany and is very french and a very proud Bretton with the flag on pack. Pascale is abou 6’4 and a former french rugby player. He has a huge pack and often walks with his hands behind his back supporting it, so he looks like the cartoon character. Neither speak much english but Asterix was super happy when I taught him how to say ‘cheers’ when having a wine or beer! Oblelix seems to have a wicked sense of humour because whenever he says something everyone seems to laugh. Both of them love to say hello to me and always offer me food beer or wine…although most of the time I have no idea that is happening…its only after I’ve bought my own beer food or wine and smiled like an idiot, that someone else translates that Asterix and Obelix were going to buy it for me anyway!!
The Von Trapps
This is just the only name I could think of for two Austrian women who started their walk in Geneva, and are heading all the way to Santiago in Spain. After having a chat with one of them about speaking english, french and german to get by on this part of the walk, she announced that she speaks a little english but refuses to learn french because she hates the language. She then went on to say she doesn’t really like the people or the country in fact! It reminded me of Captain Von Trapp and haw staunchly Austrian he was in the Sound of Music…..I also thought she was in for a world of pain considering 1000km of her journey was in fact through a country she seemed to hate!
The scandalous two!
So after a long 8 hrs walking 25km in the rain 5 walkers arrived at a lovely house in a tiny village for our night’s rest. The table was set for dinner and a fire was going which was possibly the most comforting thing to see after a being soaked through and freezing. The husband decided that he and the wife MUST be shown to their room to have a shower and coffee before the landlady could have any payment for the room, dinner & breakfast. A very long and heated argument ensued when he was told that normally payment is sorted first (this is normal by the way). The land lady came downstairs, where everyone was else was drying off, crying and very upset from what the husband had been saying to her. In the end husband and wife get their wet weather gear on and head out to find somewhere else to stay about 4km away in the next town. The gossip that ensued when they left was hilarious and I didn’t even understand a word of what went on. I was eventually told that this was not the first time husband had abused a land lady, as the police were called two night previously for husband having an argument about something similar. The camino gossip was that husband had a problem with women and that was not to be tolerated….as peope translated the story to me over the next few days, the consensus was his ass should be kicked if he starts a fight with another land lady while on the camino. No matter what the age or language, everyone loves to gossip…and kick ass!
The swiss toblerone’s
I walked with a girl and guy from Switzerland for a couple of days but they have now kept walking so I may not see them again for a while. They met a few days ago eventhough both of them started in Geneva, 350km before I did. Gabrielle was lovely and spoke excellent english. She is only walking for another 5 days to Conques and works for Victorinox who make the swiss army knives. Dominic is 25 and a man who likes his heavy metal music. He wears t-shirts with pictures of satan on them and finds it hilarious that it is not the typical attire for a pilgrim on traditionally religious walk. He is also carrying a huge 20kg pack with tent and cooking gear which came in handy for a lovely picnic lunch on the side of a mountain. He can walk about 40kms a day so I imagine he will finish a month before I do!! But you never know I might see him somewhere in Spain…scaring little old ladies with his long hair and heavy metal t-shirts.
Davey the Anarchist/Activist
I met Davey in my hostel on the first night. He is from the UK and had started in Geneva. He walked with me for the first 2 days as I was the first native english speaker he met in 3 weeks. In those two days he told me that he was an ex-army man who stationed in Northern Ireland before the ceasefire. When he left the army he became a greenpeace activist and was in Iraq before the 2003 war trying to promote peace. He was a self proclaimed crusty who lived on the dole and had no intention of telling the goverment where he was…although his doctors and pschiatrists thpught that doing the camino was a fantastic idea. He is funding his trip by donations from friends and family and before he finds a hostel or place to camp (he has a tent with him) he must find a bar to drink beer. Davey also told me that he has a 23 yr old gay son who is addicted to buying expensive handbags and enjoys being “the only gay in the village” in the small UK midlands town where he lives. Davey is lovely gentle soul who, from what I gathered, is someone who is walking off some long held demons. I’m looking forward to meeting him as the weeks go by as we are walking different distances each day.
Then This Happened... 