Grocery Store
As I mentioned yesterday I needed to find a grocery store to buy food for breakfast tomorrow morning, Tuesday morning, and lunch along the way to Roncesvalles. I got up this morning and as I was walking around St. Jean I found a grocery store.
Grocery store in St. Jean.
This store was definitely a grocery store not a supermarket. There was nothing super about this grocery store. The store had a great selection of wine, not surprising because it’s a French grocery store, but the selection of fresh fruits and vegetables left something to be desired.
This grocery store also had a great selection of baked goods including numerous types of croissants. Again, not a surprise because this is a French grocery store.
Bakery case.
As you can see the baked goods are displayed behind a glass door, or what appears to be a glass door. I spent five minutes trying to figure out how to open this glass door and get a croissant. I finally decided to step back and watch another shopper open the door. It turns out that the door does not open. In order to get a croissant you need to play a game much like the game where you manipulate a claw down into a pile of prizes in order to get the prize you want, then manipulate the claw over to the opening and drop the prize into the opening. In this case the prize was a croissant. You had to take a spatula and thread it through a narrow slit in the glass front of the display case. You then lift your chosen croissant out of the pile of croissants and move it to the left where you see the metal grates. After you place the croissant on the metal grate you then take a pair of tongs, pick up the croissant 🥐, and put it in your bag. It seems like a lot of work for a croissant. But then again the croissants here in France are very good and well worth the effort. I now have yogurt, croissants, nuts, granola bars and bananas for this morning’s breakfast, tomorrow morning’s breakfast and food for the hike on Tuesday.
Marijuana Shop in France
As I was walking back to the apartment from the grocery store I spied a pot shop. This made me a little homesick for Denver.
It is a green cross so it must be a pot shop.
I have been trying to immerse myself in French culture so I decided that a field trip to this pot shop was in order. After an exchange of Bon Joures with the proprietor I asked to see his selection of marijuana. He seemed confused and clearly indicated that he would not help me. After a great deal of palavering back and forth, the proprietor in French and me in English, it became apparent to me that I could not convince the proprietor to help me explore this part of French culture. As I was leaving I told the proprietor that I did not appreciate his incivility and that he would be extended a much warmer welcome if he ever visited a pot shop in my beloved home city of Denver.
Packing
I spent a good part of this morning and early afternoon packing and repacking. I did this at least five times. I am trying to make sure that I take only the essentials and leave behind any excess items. It is hard to determine what is an essential item and what is an excess item. I am trying to carry a fully loaded backpack that weighs no more than 22 pounds.
I think these items have made the final cut and are going are going along on the hike.
Toiletry bag with just the bare essentials to stay reasonably clean, and reasonably clean is a relative term.
Roll of toilet paper. I hope you don’t need me to explain why I decided to include this item.
Sleeping bag liner – This is a very thin micro fiber sleeping bag that provides a little bit of warmth and provides a layer between you and the sheets. I don’t imagine that they have freshly laundered 500 thread count Egyptian Cotton sheets at all the alburgues.
A micro fiber towel. Alburgues generally don’t provide towels.
Cords and charger for the IPhone and Fitbit.
Four pairs of socks. In order to finish the Camino you must take care of your feet.
Asolo Goretex walking shoes, Altra trail runners and a pair of flip flops for the nasty alburgue showers.
Three pairs of quick drying underwear that I will burn at the end of the walk.
Two quick drying short sleeve tee shirts.
One quick drying long sleeve tee shirt.
One pair of light weight hiking pants.
One pair of gym shorts.
One pair of ancient polypropylene long underwear bottoms. I know that I will probably wish I had purchased the SmartWool long underwear bottoms, but I didn’t and I will just have to make due with the old polypropylene ones. As they say in France: “C’est la vie.”
One long sleeve SmartWool long underwear top.
Two pairs of light weight hiking shorts.
A fleece jacket.
A rain jacket and rain pants.
A hat.
Walking poles and gloves.
I would love to eliminate five pounds of gear from my pack, but I believe I can handle my pack’s current weight.
The walk tomorrow.
This is a map of the walk tomorrow. I will be walking the Route Napoleon, through Orrison, that is delineated by the orange dots on the left side of the map. It is the most arduous stage of the Camino. The total distance is 25 kilometers, about 15 miles, with a steep climb in the first half and a steep descent in the last third.
Tonight
I hope I can get some sleep tonight. I am so grateful that I have been given the opportunity and the means and the support to walk the Camino. I am reasonably certain that with God’s help I can do this. I am anxious to wake up to a beautiful French sunrise tomorrow, take the first step on this long journey, and enjoy a beautiful Spanish sunset in Roncesvalles at the end of what I anticipate will be a long and arduous day.
I hope everyone is having a good Monday.
Goodnight from St. Jean Pied de Port.
AbeAndMarkontheCamino 