St. James Way

15th Hiking Day

On the way from Pasturat to the mighty, omnipotent and legendary Cahors, which everyone is talking about. Today the 30 mark (degrees) should be reached again. Really nice evening yesterday. Legs dipped in the pool, also sipped two beers. Then some kind of "Cahors wine" was served for dinner. Mixed with cassis and nut liqueur. And when the bottle was empty, the landlord put a whole new one back on the table. Glasses were always full. Conversations in German, French and English. That's exactly what I want. Incredibly sociable. Just a great moment, difficult to put into words. I'm dreaming again: of an aged Mr. Hüsing and a painful farewell to Ms. Audörsch. Yesterday I checked whether I can still deduce the difference between on-call duty and readiness for work. Still works quite well. It was often fun despite the stress. I see the moon (almost plaine lune) high in the sky. Everything is so far away here. Problems and everyday worries. Once you get used to it: wonderful. This morning the pulse went up briefly when the hostel was complete, but these are problems on a much smaller scale. Life is good to me right now. I hear birds singing. Sometimes a car comes by. Always good food in the evening. Somewhere the water rushes and there is an airplane in the sky above me. By the way, yesterday I saw a snake at least three feet long. You can accept this life and I can still walk a pretty long way. Incidentally, I had forgotten to write down that I had used the most pleasant dry shit house that one could wish for in Sauliac-sur-Célé (La coeur de sens). Everything smelled of fresh wood chips. You could have sat there all day. Well, now I better get faster.

And was it just a dream that I'm waking up from? Is it really the case that a few conversations in English crumbles everything I have planned on my marches? I dread this. I don't want English. I don't want everything to go the same way as before. And lo: it is up to me to decide where I want to put my footsteps. In some things I will not let go. Because a lot was taken from me and a lot I had to let go of. But not here. Julie over the mountains. So be it. France already half way through. So be it. But it is the will that forms. And not the external circumstances that knead the will. There will be ways and means to learn French.

I met so many great French people.