5-25-10 Taradeau to Carces day 51

5-25-10 Taradeau to Carces day 51

As I attempted to pack up my tent.. and remove the broken pole..the hole that had started tiny tore large.. it just impacted the place where the pole went through not tent itself..so tent itself was still whole and waterproof ...but now I had a bigger prob..torn fabric and broken pole..then I found that my lap top did not seem to have a charge..i worried something was broken but before I left I got to plug it one more time, it was working but somehow the battery had drained overnight.. phew.. I need my baby sitter! camp ground had no coffee or breakfast.. so I got out of there fairly reasonably.. since I knew it would be a walk before I hit anything town-like... and France really is proving to have nothing between towns.. but it would be a hard walking day... my feet hurt early and never really stopped hurting.. I dont know if it is the heat..i definitely felt pouty today...the first town I would pass through was Lorgues it was about 8kms away but it seemed to just take for ever... and I found the car traffic unnerving even though like I said before compared to Italy this was nothing....at one point I had to go seek shelter behind a little locked chapel and I actually cried... I was surprised I was so emotional but later I realized there were hormonal components involved as well... it was my 'sad' day...i think had anyone offered me a ride i would have taken it today...
...the first stretch was on road D10 rolling green hills in the back drop and farm land in the foreground.. mostly wheat and grape.. Towns seem to be not directly on the main roads and Lorgues too, I ended up passing as I switched highways to walk D562, but there was a road side restaurant and finally at lunch I had my coffee and as much food as I could eat to make up for dinner breakfast and now lunch..the road became narrower but mostly less traffic..the landscape again became empty of settlements and had mostly farm land.. it was beautiful..but like I said it was a hard day.. I think more psychological than anything else ... but because there really was no place to stop there was also no excuse I had to keep going... I did try very much to stay on top hydration. Today was a bit breezier and the shade was more frequent so that helped..

I came to Carce around four in the afternoon.. it seemed to have an eye towards tourism.. there were murals painted on a lot of the buildings. I tried to figure out water first and then lodging choices.. one hotel seemed to be defunct.. then a store owner who spoke a little english directed me to the another one.. but no one seemed to answer the door bell.. I had thought i'd seen a camping sign so I headed out of town I asked a man to make sure I was headed in the right direction... he was an older man, he told me I should come with him in his car he would take me.. it was only maybe a km away... but the ride was nice none-the-less...At first I thought he spoke no english but it turned out he'd been to america a few times... New York, Chicago, LA, and Los Vegas is what I remember.. he loved Chicago, because he loved jazz and apparently he was a musician. I got delivered at the camp ground and I said my good byes. The woman there seemed harried and did not seem eager to deal with a late customer.. there was no food here either and no place to even plug in my lap top for a little.. my face must have sunk ..I think she could tell it was my sad day....she then said that there is a european plug I needed to plug in the trailer hook up.. I showed her mine she said now it was different.. then she lend me one, although I could tell she was reluctant about it because it must be expensive, turns out this place had wifi too so she gave me the code for that as well.. and she then lead me to my little site behind a shack and next to neighbors who I never met, but heard, they were futzers and clangers..... I think the place had a pool but even for that I had lost enthusiasm..my sad little dinner was now crumbely little bagette chips and the rest of the olive paste. I had to set up my tent without the rear pole..and I tried to stake it and even recruited my walking stick to see if it would help... it did not.. in the night the dew would get in through the back..which made things a bit chilly but dried in the morning..after my lap top charged I went out of the tent and unplugged things since I was worried my laptop cord and morning dew might not mix.. I saw something in the grass it looked like a tiny white ball.. I was not sure if it was a cat or bunny... I pulled out my camera sure it would run away with all the noise I had been making...i tried to find it in the lense and flashed... I tried it a few times till I got a clear shot.. instead of frightening the animal it seemed to draw it closer... when I looked at the photo I realized it was a bunny...but it kinda looked spooky.. cute and spooky... but I decided that it was a good luck sign... I then retreated to my tent to try some of that sleep... I think sleeping on hard ground with sore feet and hips is hard.. and I woke a lot and turned a lot..and neighbors next door started early and loud so it was not a super long nights sleep...

5-24-10 Le Muy to Taradeau day 50

5-24-10 Le Muy to Taradeau day 50again it would be a day that took a while to get going.. I packed up the normal time..but then thought it a good idea to do just a wee bit more interneting...well by the time I got out of the camp ground it was 11am... along the route... I saw some snack-shacks and decided to have coffee there and a sandwich for brunch..so that took a little time... I had not yet walked through the town of LeMuy so that came up after about a km or so... it had a mideavel feel... things seemed to be closed in it..later I found out it was a holiday... there was a little closed museum in town about liberation day, when the english and americans came to liberate I guess, from the germans.. the church and tourist info were also of course closed. I walked through town briefly but was not sure where the highway connected so walked back the way I came.. then back to highway and it wrapped all around town so I could have walked on through town anyway... then I saw a supermarket.. my tent pole had broke and also there was a tiny tent tear were it had poked out when I tried to remove it.. unless someone had fallen on my tent when I was not there I cant really imagine why it had broken other than it was cheap. I got some electrical tape, because that's all they had and super strong crazy glue (or so the image on the package promised).. then back on the road... if it is not clear there is a theme here.. lots of stops..little progression forward... yup, it would be one of those days... I blame it on the heat.. so I walked along for about half the stretch...it had a bike lane so I could walk on it...but sadly no trees near it's edge.. and there was no breeze.. I kept feeling like I was bordering on a heat head ache... I had a little face towel I kept wetting and applying and I definitely kept on top of hydration... yet somehow the km seemed to take twice as long in coming than I remembered.. there are little yellow markers on the side of the road that let me know..after a place called Les Arcs I switched highways to a smaller one called D 10..it had no bike lane and only little curb...so I had to switch sides periodically depending on what felt safest... I feel over all there is a slight decrease in the amount of cars that need to go fast at all costs.. but still I seem less tolerant of it now.. it's kinda getting my nerves more....i am in no real danger I think but the speeds at which things whip past me.. bugs me...after leaving the LeMuy vicinity I definitely noticed that there were no more road-side snack-bars or cafes, etc, to get water... I had plenty but it was a good warning to plan ahead now that I was in France.. finally I reached a town called Taradeau, again the tourist office was closed here.. I got water at a Tabac, the man there spoke to me in english so I asked him directions to the camping sign i'd seen and also how far away it was... he told me and the distance was 2-3kms from there.. I decided that it had been an unimpressive walking day, it was now around four and I was quite happy to call it a day and find this place... it was slightly off my path but I got there soon enough... the lady there did not speak english but she was very sweet and curious about how long I walked and where I had started.. I tried to put up my slightly broken tent and it was good enough... I found out that they did not have a shop or restaurant.. the water from the taps was safe, and I could buy beer and coke from her, if I wanted... so for dinner I had to either walk more or eat my olive paste and crackers.. I did the later... I did laundry and then I went and swam in their pool..which was not too cold...i discovered they had a Jacuzzi so I went in..it was more luke warm, than hot...but once I figured out how to actually turn it on..i had 15 minutes of hard core massage on my feet and shoulders... I was musing over the contrast of a hard day and no real supper and yet this kind of luxury... after wards I tried to find out if I could plug my lap top in somewhere....the woman then brought me into a room with a giant screen tv and she put on the only english program she new of just for me... and gave me the password to access internet which I did not know they had...so I sat and listened to BBC news programing while interneting and journaling...drinking a coke and beer... I was more sensible about the time and going to bed... I woke a lot since my body is a bit sore from walking and sleeping on hard ground means I have to move a lot....but not too bad a night...

5-23-10 Frejus to Le Muy day 49

5-23-10 Frejus to Le Muy day 49

as usual I took time packing up all my gear from camp ground.. as I left the lady wished me a good journey and gave me three little packets of perfumed towelettes for the road.. I thought it both really sweet and a bit ironic.. I made little jokes in my head.. I might look like a pilgrim it does not mean I have to smell like one...
it was hot... and though my new heel inserts made my heels much happier I was still over all foot sore and not fully motivated...mostly it was about the heat.. I first had to walk back down to highway D N7, it did not really have a sidewalk it did have lots of driveways into parking lots to various businesses and malls... it was sunday and the malls here are closed... this meant it was safe for me to walk parallel to the highway through these parking lots and driveways to keep me off the road... not far into my trip... I came across a McDonalds.. it was open... it had coffee, and why not, an order of fries..also it had air-con and ambient wifi...so I stayed there a wee bit longer than I had meant to... but eventually I remembered about the walking and walked...the landscape eventually emptied of businesses and strip malls and became greener... there were cool hills in the back ground similar to yesterdays coastal walk..

I focused on walking, I was surprised that it was harder to walk now than it had been for a while, in terms of not having speed and wanting to take breaks more often.. Le Muy just seemed so much father away than it should... about one or two kms before it I saw a sign for a camp ground that seemed kind of posh... I decided to check it out... it was high end camper-trailer grounds... the man at the front desk was dutch..he was really friendly and said he wanted to go travel to the USA this year with his girlfriend and asked for some ideas, I would later make him a small list of mostly western american sights.. he in turn told me I was the first american of the year here.. I had to laugh.... it seemed all the customers coming in where dutch... eventually I was clued in, this was a dutch enterprise, RCN, and it was like a little Netherlands somewhere near the Mediterranean... I did hear some french but not much... it had an amazing pool.. in fact it had a completely separate area for the kids pool with slides so the pool I was in was mostly for the grown ups.. it was a bit chilly but not as bad as the day before... in-between I set up tent, did laundry... played on computer with wifi... and eventually tried to get some food at the cafe... apparently a lot of the tables were reserved so finding me a seat was actually a problem.. then this american sounding woman told me I could sit at the table with her and her husband... and of course conversation ensued... the story unfolded.. not in this order but... she is from Indiana... they met on-line first and corresponded for a year, then he insisted she should come visit him... apparently her mother and sister were worried if she went over there he would kill her or sell her to some Sheik... she decided if he wanted to kill anyone, dutch women are probably easier than importing one from the USA , so she went. .. they did get along and decided to marry, she was 52 at the time and both of them where previously widowed, he had some almost adult kids... she had been poor working class in america, at one point she held five jobs simultaneously: choir leader in two groups, beautician part time, voice coach and piano teacher and her full time job was controller in a factory for airplane parts.. she said the job was stressful and required a lot of responsibility, for if she made a mistake it could mean a plane could crash...and for this great responsibility she was paid $13.50 an hour, this was in the 90,s ..apparently a sister factory from the same company that had a union, had double the salaries but was in another state... so she moved to Holland eventually to be with her husband... apparently he would financially support her, but he put down the law as far as the language.. because she was in her 50's and was not working in Holland she was not be required by the country to learn the language... but he said that for six months he would speak english to her but after that he would switch to dutch.. he wanted to make sure she could be independent of him, so she could shop or go to the doctor or handle emergencies, without him having to babysit her all the time.. so in the end it took four months to get into the free language program so he stretched his rule to 9months..but then he stopped speaking english to her.. and now ten years later her dutch is quite good and she is really grateful that he'd laid the law down... it was interesting too, to see how well she had adjusted to a new culture and life which included three grandchildren... they had a camper that they stored in france.. and would drive down and pick it up and go camping from there to various places in france, spain and italy depending on what they wanted to see. He had also taught her to ride bike, she has had some accidents but she bravely goes with him on trips now from this campsite to various places in the area... they were eating giant stack of ribs and I was eating my little veggie lasagna...they seemed a very harmonious couple, it was nice to see that they had made this big cultural leap for each other later in life and they seemed happy with their choices and each other.. they asked me a bit about my walking....the condition of the roads and of course the conversation about feet... after dinner I played late on my computer and went to bed way past sensible... the ground was a bit uneven... I woke up a lot and tried to find a comfortable position..but I always went back to sleep..thankfully... one nice thing about the last few days camping.. my laundry dries easily outside...

5-22-10 Antheor to Freyus day 48

5-22-10 Antheor to Freyus day 48
So I packed up and left the sight around tenish... I could at least get coffee there.. today I would feel the weight of things more... there was of course the foot soreness but also an increase in heat.. Initially the road continued to have the red brown cliffs and mountains in the back-drop looking like something you would expect in Wyoming or the Dakodas..so it was interesting to see them so close to water... at the beginning part I found a small church and stepped in, it was very simple inside.. not as ornate as italian churches. But I also notice a prominence of the female saints being represented here. There were small paintings of the stages of the cross on the wall... and I was surprised that it evoked pretty strong emotions...i think I have heightened empathy right now to physical suffering and of course the stages of the cross are very much about physical suffering and cruelty of man onto man... and that part is what got me... thinking of all the countless beings who before and after Jesus were treated in same ways all because of cruel laws and other unjust systems... anyway, all this seemed much more physically real because of my own physical discomforts... heightened empathy hopefully leads to increased compassion..

the path itself again was not rugged or challenging either with heights of cars.. there has been more or less a side walk or a wide enough shoulder that I dont feel scared. I want to say that the french drivers over all seem a little more careful than the italians.. only ever so often you get a high-speed daredevil who does not seem to think he has to slow at blind curves... I noticed a couple of times, friendly horn beeps from moppet drivers, at me.. it seems as if they are showing their support...
.. it felt like it was taking all day to walk only 14 or so kms into St Raphael... by the time I got into St Raphael I was disparate to look for some sort of sanctuary from the heat, I saw and went for the big church of the town ...dark cool... chairs... I sat in there for a while... I felt over heated again... and I stayed as long as I could till I felt I was back down to normal....

then I walked through town ...which like many had a thriving tourist industry...lots of shops and restaurants... I saw things only peripherally... I found the tourist office and asked for camping information direction to Freyus, I found out Freyus was actually adjacent to St Raphael therefore it was only a block away...but the nearest camping was another 8kms away...she gave me a map and had called the grounds to make sure they had room which was nice...so I started walking inland.. more heat..but now I had a goal.. I think it might have been a bit closer than 8kms.... I got a glimpse of the highway I would be walking along the following day... my heart sank..fast traffic and seemingly no sidewalk... I had to keep going beyond this... like I said it was hot... I took two shade breaks getting there.. . Finally I saw the sign for the campground... I saw a pharmacy and supermarket before it... I stopped at the pharmacy before because I was afraid it might be closed sunday.. I need more ibuprofen... I found out that it was not as exorbitant as in italy... it was less than half the cost...but if your from the USA, buy all pharmacy stuff you need there.. its cheaper than this part of europe... I was kind of checking out various foot insert stuff … since lately I had seriously un-fun heel pain... the pharmacist tried to help me because I could not find my size for one of the products... than he showed me another model and in french described it's finer qualities... it had some sort of rubber middle pad for the heel that acted as a bouncy spring or some such... he demonstrated by bouncing a pen on it... and also it was a lot cheaper than what i'd been looking at... I had tried some stuff in italy but it had not done much to enhance my walking experience.. so I was dubious cuz all this stuff is kind of overpriced... but I did cave into his pen test sales pitch.. .and found out next day..that my heels actually were happier... then I got to the camp ground, the lady running it was jolly and also only spoke french...but yes I could use the pool... and I had to buy a coin to use the showers... she let me know I could pitch my tent anywhere... this was a grassy camp ground near the road...with some trees...and hardly any guests it seemed... the snack bar was not in operation.... so I got into my bathing suite and tried the pool...after such a hot day I was excited...but it was a bit chilly... I did a few laps trying to stretch my feet a bit... I realized that there were bugs floating on the surface, this pool looked like it had not been used today.. I was not sure if they were dead or not... I remember this one young man at a retreat I did in Nepal..he had depression issues so he could only participate half of the time... a lot of the other times he just roamed the monastery grounds which were quite lovely..they had a fountain and in it where always bugs struggling and he would spend time rescuing them and chanting mantras... and others from our group would start to join him during our breaks... so here I was in a pool somewhere in france picking out bugs...some proved to revive...for some it was too late.. I was kind of talking to them and muttering mantras... when some men walked by and totally grinned at me... I think perhaps i've spend too much time alone and in the sun... ha ha... after the rescue mission... I took a hot shower and got dressed... I walked up to the mini-mart and got ready-made salads of beet and cucumber.. a can of artichoke hearts.. a bag of mixed cheese and baget crackers for dinner... it was a pretty buggy place so I went from rescuer to shooer-awayer of bugs, rather quickly... I went to bed a bit earlier and actually slept fairly well.. and long...

5-21-10 Cannes Boca to Antheor day 47

5-21-10 Cannes Boca to Antheor day 47

I got out of my room sometime around 9.30 the day's of breakfast included like in italy are gone.. I saw a church two buildings away.. I went in, a priest was just leaving. He spoke only french and yet we determined I was a pilgrim and would I like my credentials stamped? Yes I would! So he took me to the back room and an old lady got the stamper out, he was telling her I was going direction Compestelo. She looked duly impressed. He then left to do his thing and I sat in the church for a while... ..as the day progressed the landscape became more arid..Initially there were a couple of charming towns each with it's own castle.. I stopped at a tourist office and the woman there said that there would be camping ten kms away in Antheor and that would be the first place.. it was still fairly early so I thought i'd do much more than that... but I would realize her ten was more like 20kms I did get there but it took till six thirty in the eve... but for now I stopped and got lunch at a nice bakery and stayed longer than expected because, hey free ambient internet.. the place did brisk business, these bakeries are amazing.. of course breads and such but also pastries and quiches and pizzas and nice looking sandwiches... the shelves and display cases just stuffed to the rims...but I had to move on... eventually …. there was a very long section between Pic de Cap Roux to Antheor with no shops or anything like that ..so I am glad I planned ahead... occasionally there were signs for beach access in french and english.. it even let you know if it was pebble or sand... not big beaches but free... it seems over all there are much more free beaches here... the landscape here is quite beautiful ..there are peppered throughout expensive looking homes and villas...the rock is red and it contrasts .. .with the blue water bellow and the green of the plants around... even in the section without settlements the landscape though dryer was in contrasts of blues above and bellow and red earth hills in the background..also i think there is in the settled areas more public art, sculptures and murals which are quite charming.

Currently my major body complaint... is deep foot soreness so by the time I did arrive in Atheor I was quite foot sore.. the guy at the camp ground stuffed me between some couples with trailers and some young dudes in tents.. I was camping on gravel I had no real barrier against this... they had a little restaurant attached I had Pizza Marguerite for dinner... and updated my diary and such in the restaurant trying to also charge my lap top batteries... I had done laundry before and it would drip dry outside sort of.. morning mist taking away some of the work... the camp ground, despite the crowds, proofed to be very quiet after ten pm... I had connected with the french woman in a site behind me..they had lent me their mallet unprompted as I had issues getting my stakes in through the gravel ground... she tried to talk to me in french I kind of guessed at what she said but I think one thing was had I walked here, yes! And where had I come from? I think I misunderstood one of her questions she prob wanted to know my country...but little connections like this are still nice... plus it made me feel more comfortable camping there... sleeping... at two the dreaded... having to wake up to go to the bathroom...way over there, while here, warm in tent... after that I had probs sleeping... so I was in a semi daze-douse through morning... and I dont even think it was because of the gravel.. I think it might be the increase lately in sugar and caffeine combined...

5-20-10 Cagnes-sur-Mer to Cannes Bocca day 46

5-20-10 Cagnes-sur-Mer to Cannes Bocca day 46

the evening before I had moved away from the water in order to find cheaper lodging... tourist offices have been warning me about the artificial inflation currently all around because of the Cannes Film Festival and also it is the start of the high season... so now I walked back down towards the water and along it to get to Cannes and hopefully through it... in one day... the sun was warm but along the water there was a nice breeze... the beaches in this area are all pebble... but there seem to be more free beaches than italy... still there are plenty of restaurants with rentable lounge chairs on the beach. I passed a chinese thai restaurant that looked more like a buddhist temple from the outside than a place that served food.. it was funny to see such familiar sight here in france... I took photos... then I would see another restaurant with some buddhas as logos...

by the end of the day i'd seen a number of buddhas and not so much churches... in Antibes I got indian at a semi-fast-food place.... here again the woman was curious about me and talked to me, I found out she was from Goa, I had kind of suspected from the food that it was more southern indian since it was spicier... she was pleased to hear that i'd been to Goa and that I intended to return to india fairly soon since I liked it...she had three boys and was proud to tell me that they spoke french, english goan-hindi, and a language that sounds like candia or some such and is the language of Karnathaka, the neighboring state to Goa... she was kind of shy and curious..and sweet.. I was extra delighted because they offered spicy chutneys with the meal...
then I stopped at tourist office because I did not want to make the mistake of taking the long way again since there was another peninsula.. the girl there was concerned that I would want to walk to Cannes, 'it is really far away'... I thought since i'd been using crappy maps she meant 30km but when she said 12km I was relieved I could do that still... then I stopped finally and got a good map at a book store.. I was a bit uncertain what region I needed but I showed him the list of towns I had jotted down from the internet and he gave me a map... when I had a chance to study it later.. I could have gone back and kissed him... not only was it exactly what I needed it started around St Raphael and continued west, but it also was a map in very good scale for a walker... again I got this sense that French over-all have a better understanding of what I am doing since they themselves do 'hike in the mountains' and in general they go on adventures etc.. he saw things from my perspective... then back to current path,I realized I was going off the mark so I asked a man at a shop, direction Cannes, he showed me and then too told me, 'but it is very far away, 10kms!'they are all making me feel so tough! Ha ha... on I went... I arrived in Cannes around 4pm, there was a lovely garden along the water, Cannes was urban and had little beach to speak of, but where there was it was crowded with sunbathers... the more I walked along the beach front the thicker the crowd started getting... I was arriving in the middle of the festival...

in-between ordinary people there were men both wearing journalist tags and hobbyist, I am guessing, with giant weapon like cameras and even video and sound equipment... also there were young women weaving through the crowds who looked like models and model wanna be's dressed to the nines, in un-sensible but femmie shoes... I speculate some where young actresses perhaps hoping to be discovered... there was some crowd control barriers so it was a bit confusing to walk through, it was entertaining and sometimes a bit annoying as I tried to walk through Cannes... there were some crowds forming outside a few hotels.. again I assume they were waiting for the famous to emerge... it took very long to finish walking through Cannes ...even water was inflated here... .i was tired and my hopes of finding cheap lodging slim... the rail line went towards the beach pushing buildings inland so I took an inner road trying to find anything including camping signs... I went on a fools errand following a sign up into the hills... I walked at least 2kms up...realized that there was nothing... then found another road leading back down... there went another hour of non-forward walking and no hotel... then eventually I did arrive into Cannes Bocca, not a large town... I saw one two star mega hotel and hoped.. but no... price gauging... it was 7.30 and I was done... so I pretended that this was somehow in my budget... trying to ignor the chiseling sounds as the end of my trip was being chiseled away at..meaning I would not travel perhaps as long is I liked since the way I was doing this pilgrimage in general was way over budget... but once I was in my dark room with austrian tv... I was relieved... I went down the road after shower and picked up some cheap chinese take away food... food at least seems a lot cheaper here than in italy and there is more choice...then I went back to my room... woofed down my food while watching 'Asterix and Obelix meets Cleopatra' on austrian tv... it's based on a european comic book that I grew up with so even though it was very silly I thoroughly enjoyed it... I again slept better than I had in a while...

5-19-10 Villefranche-s.-Mer to Cagnes-sur-Mer day 45

5-19-10 Villefranche-s.-Mer to Cagnes-sur-Mer day 45
so I had several wake ups with bad sinus pain but actually despite that slept pretty well.. I think I might have overheated yesterday and in the eve... today I woke up to rain... the woman who ran the front desk was italian and spoke both french and italian..so I used my few simple italian words to get the room and saying good bye as I left. Funny I feel like I have some vague handle on italian now ..

I followed the instructions of the ladies in the tourist office... the words, 'it is protected' ran through my head, in reference to the trail I would face. I've noticed that I think my nerves are a bit raw, because the loud noise of unmuffled motorcycle and moppets is now bothering me more then it should and the constant exposure of heights outside of my comfort zone has made my phobia trigger-happy and it seems to jump up in place where I would not expect... so I started the walk.. like I said it was raining..and I was walking on a rocky path..which would rise up as the cliffs demanded it, and then go up an down along the coastal edge.. sometimes with stairs sometimes little narrow goat trails.. yes, there was a rail and the heights were not as high as I've dealt with... but there was also a few section where the railing hard torn away and the narrow path was eroded by some weather damage... I did not like this.. I did not like the rusty unstable rails in sections.. and some of the steep ascends descends of stairs... or wet rocks.. … there was a first little challenging bit which was about 15 min.. at this point I was ready to head back and almost did.... I would have had to walk quite a bit back into town to hook back up to the main road and then walk along that to the next town... so I had a choice... I decided to continue on... at the same time I was cursing the tourist office lady who made it seem like no problem.. perhaps she did not take into acct that I had a big pack...at one point where the path ended and I had to go under a rail to continue on another path.. I actually had to take the pack off at this point so i could fit under the rail..then on again on the other side... so one thing that was different this time.. was that although I was frequently pushed out of my comfort zone, it was not quite as much, so I was actually trying to work with the situation a bit more... I had noticed that in the past days when I got too hung up on the height fear after wards I be all light headed and then the next challenge I faced was even more overwhelming ..because some how,I had lost my groundedness... so this time the only thing I could think to do was try to focus on my gut region.. it supposedly from hindu tantra is where your will is located... so I tried to tighten it.. even doing an internal growl just to really feel that area vibrate... and every time I got challenged I tried to go back to that place... it was not 100% but it got me through... then right before the end at the bottom of the cliffs near water edge there was a wide open platform.. I took a rest there... and the emotions did hit me... after I calmed down a bit I ate a nice quiche I had bought at a bakery and watched a giant cruise ship full of people come into the harbor..

I was thinking of how me and those people were so close physically, and yet experimentally what they were feeling right now and what I had just experienced alone was so vastly different...and pretty much in the same landscape.. the last bit was a very steep stair climb up in zig zag path,but the view was buffered by craggy rocks sticking out making me fairly safe.. but when I hit the car road above I was ever so relieved... I had only covered a 1.5 km stretch.. .but it had again been dramatic for me... now safely on the road I was able to process some more on the experience... I was proud of myself for really having tried to work with my fear more directly than before and although I would not choose to have this experience again... I was glad that I had done as well as I did... then to keep spinning the story... I decided that the tourist office ladies, who by the way are always pretty here, where semi-wrathful dakinis who had talked me into pushing myself out of my comfort zone so I could have this opportunity to discover how to use my will to work with my fear... during the drama I had kept saying to myself.. 'your will has gotten you here, up to this point, you can also do this...' and those words did have some power... now having a month and half under my belt I felt like I had some valid proof that I had an inner strength I could rely on...as often after a challenging stretch... things seemed fairly tame after, for in this case, the rest of the day.. I would eventually walk through Nice during the mid day... one of the first parts of Nice was the 'antique' part of town...

I walked through the center of it taking photos... I am noticing little differences between french and italians... french themselves are adventures you can find them in all parts of the world...often in places that are quite challenging, if your safety and comfort seeking... they bring this adventuresome spirit back home... there are restaurants from around the world here and the shops in Nice would carry exotic products, such as fabrics from india and art from Haiti...and atmospheric bars reminiscent of places like nepal or thailand... I think the population seems more multi-ethnic but again I am just beginning my journey here and I am definitely walking through one of the more affluent areas of france... although I was getting tired I kept walking out of Nice along a nice wide pedestrian and bike path... which lead out of town past an airport .. it was interesting watching planes beginning to descend right above the ocean onto the airport at the edge of it... at the very end of the airport along this bike pedestrian path.. I saw an old man sitting on one bench, and there was an empty bench next to him.. I was angeling for that when the man spoke to me in french.. I told him I did not speak french, he asked me in french what languages I spoke, I answered in my little french 'German and English'... he perked up when I said german.. he then told me in perfect german to sit next to him and rest for a while,since I looked like I was heavily burdened... he did most of the talking... he had his well-used bike standing next to the bench... he was a round bellied congenial man in his seventies... he told me he is from a region by the german border, it's been french since the 1400's but was briefly conquered mid 18 hundreds by the germans.. his parents where made to go to german speaking schools.. he grew up bilingual but perfected his german through self study.. apparently he has german correspondence who assure him that even his written german is grammatically perfect. And so it seemed to me.. he warned me that once you get into your 50's your mind has a tendency to want to slow down and get sleepy..so you need to exercise it .. he said he could do cross words but then you would not have anything after your done... where-as if you learn a new language you have the benefit of being able to use it.. he was currently teaching himself english with phrase books and dictionaries.. I was impressed, he assured me learning another language was quite difficult... making me feel a little better.. when he heard I intended to walk to santiago... he told me he had thought about doing that when he was younger... he had wanted to do it on a donkey... I laughed, but he was serious... he had looked into it, but realized that what if the animal got sick, and the cost of insuring it would just have been too much so he gave up on the idea.. I asked what about food? He said oh donkey can eat anything...if they run out of grass they eat leaves on trees... I tried to visualize the added complications I would have trying to do this hole thing with a damn donkey..especially since I have no experience at all with such an animal... too funny... he did tell me that he rode his bike all the way from Menton, by the italian border to somewhere near paris... and he had to deal with the regional climate change.. his tent did not dry out as well up north... he also told me that in the 90's he had had a bad accident during which he was in a comma for a while... he lost his apartment.. the man had simply rented it out to someone else... eventually he would get some sort of charity assistance and had gotten an apartment initially for free in Villefranche-s-mer, the place I had just left that morning. Had lived in the old town section.. it was quite nice.. but too many hills not good for bike riding... I was ready to leave and asked his name which was Lucern Helleringer, both first name and last name had a story each.. he had Pere as his legal first name but has never gone by this name.. he has been fighting the state to have all his important mail and documents be changed to the other name... this story was longer in it's original... his last name he said sounds german does it not? But in fact it's been a french name for hundreds of years... in fact his ancestors were originally protestant but then there was an infamous persecution of protestants I think in the 1500's called Batholemew night, he likened it to Krystal nacht, the infamous night where the hate for jews really exploded in Nazi germany and the hard core persecution really started.. he said , see we french are no better than the germans... but I thought, 1500,s is more safely in the past than 1940's germany... anyway he said a lot of protestants were slaughtered... he said a lot of his ancestors fled to germany and settled there and those Hellringers who stayed in France converted back to Catholicism.. he told me his parents were catholic and he was a catholic but had left the church for personal reasons... he then talked about racism in general and how it seems to sleep in every nation.. and sadly once it got ignited genocide would result... he was talking about how currently Gypsies are being persecuted in places like Romania and how they are fleeing to places like France... unable to find work you would find them begging in the streets.. he also talked about how Gypsies suffered as much under Nazis as the Jews...but people seem to like to forget the Gypsies... I heard like... so I begged off at this point... told him if I did not get going soon I would get lazy ... he gave me a heart felt good bye, thanking me for giving him the opportunity to practice his german.. I expressed equal delight in having talked to him... and on my parting he let me know the upcoming terrain in a way only someone who bikes or walks could explain.. .first it goes down, then you have to climb a hill then you have to cross a bridge … and so it was... but the walk would continue longer than that...for I had to find lodging... cheap lodging.. so I walked prob another 1.5 to 2 hrs... I found a small low business hotel with reasonable prices and took the simple room.. the woman there was curious about me and asked me about my walking ...and was surprised that I had not taken public transportation even once since I started.. I asked for a cheap place to eat and she referred me to a small family run restaurant... the menu was in french but the mom and son running it were really sweet, although we did not speak each others language. They ended up getting me a big salad with little baguettes that had melted mozzarella on it and a side of fries.... I was pretty tired after and finished 'my evening chores' and went to bed...and slept well for it had been a longer walking day.. and I was whopped...

5-18-10 Cap-d'Ail to Villefranche-s.-Mer day 44

5-18-10 Cap-d'Ail to Villefranche-s.-Mer day 44

I did not sleep long but I did sleep fairly well... breakfast was over early so I hustled downstairs to make it around 8.30. the irish man and french woman were already outside. She was showing him a photo album and talking about stories of Morocco... it turns out she is a painter, mostly water colors.. and the album contained photos of the paintings she'd made in morocco they seemed very nice... and I got a bit of the story as well making me very curious about the country. She insisted I should go visit it. I am considering heading in that direction after the pilgrimage. The german women came down later and we talked some more about spiritual ideas etc.. she then turned me on to some links and books that she found very inspirational.. she was surprised that I had heard of some of the things.. but I too have been shopping from the spiritual supermarket for a while before I settled on buddhism... and new age stuff is saturating the markets and I def still dip into it sometimes... everyone else was hanging out there for several more days... the fact I was only staying one night seemed odd in this place..but I had to move on... it was kind of hard but I got going.. .first a nice long slow climb up hill then back along the street heading west... I stopped for coffee along the way.. it was a hot day... and I kept craving to stop... first for water than for food then for soda.. it seemed to happen a lot.. I realized I was not feeling all that well.. stomach was a bit off and the heat was making me slow-witted. The road itself was easy … not too crazy heights and there was always a side walk.. I'd been sticking the the coast as a guiding land mark....

and around Bealieu that would be a mistake... I would head into a peninsula called Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat... it had a beautiful walk along the coast and again hidden villas behind great walls... ocean was turquoise here... but when I went into the tourist office there, I discovered my mistake... I needed to turn around and walk all the way back to Bealieu and find the road to Nice... well I decided to stop at a cafe and had raspberry torte...

to make myself feel better... then I headed back to the road... Nice still sounded discouragingly far away but I headed towards it.. but I realized I was not well.. light headed, off stomach, no energy... so I did not walk very far at all that day and already in villefrance-s. -Mer I started looking for a room... I got one and settled in.. it's a bit pricier here even for the less polished rooms I tend to get... I found the tourist office and was told which route to take the following day.. according to them Nice was still 15 kms away.. the maps I am using..little ones from tourist offices are not giving me a sense of distance so I dont know how far things are.. but there was again a coastal walk that I could take that would hook me up to a road which would lead to Nice.. I tried to make clear that I was afraid of heights and I wanted to make sure it was not too steep or scary.. I was told not to worry there was plenty of 'protection'..soothed I went on my way and found ingredients for early dinner at a supermarket, which included artichoke hearts cured in oil, and a pepper couscous salad..which was different from what i've been eating.. then back to the room … everything I was doing I seemed to be doing very slowly... it seemed I had probs focusing.. I did my chores and ate some food...my stomach was a little better again.. and then went to sleep... I woke up twice with a fierce sinus head ache... ibuprofen was not really working... but over all I slept deeper than i've had.. I am not sure if I had just over heated the day before or what...

5-17-10 Menton to Cap-d'Ail day 43

5-17-10 Menton to Cap-d'Ail day 43

I had a bit of a get going prob mostly cuz there was free wifi...but the fact that the place did not have breakfast included was an incentive to move on... I had a sunny day but also a good breeze.. first the road took me into Menton proper, and I got to see the older part of town.. it had lots of tourists and lots of shops for them.. sensing I had arrived into the land of expensive.. I bought a sandwhich from a shop to go and water from a 'potable water' tap in a square and then I headed on.. I did not go into any church here, and wished I had later when I saw none in Monte-Carlo.. I did stop at a tourist office and was told of a coastal walk for only pedestrians that would take me to Monte-Carlo.. I walked to the end of this town and ate my sandwhich on a park bench looking back at the view... I should mention besides of course the ocean, beach front, and buildings, there are also huge cliff walls defining the backdrop of this town, and would do so in all the later ones as well.

Cap Martin is where the walk began and it was very beautiful..therre were some paths off to rocky cliffs bellow for sun bathing but it was not safe for swimming according to the signs.. the path had steps in areas but nothing too challenging.. as I came around the western side of the coast I could see Monte-Carlo in the distance and the rock formations bellow wher stricking.. perfect photo opps.. towards the land on the other side of the path there were hidden villas... all I could see were the garden grounds but not the properties... once the path headed towards the land... it started going along the edge of the train tracks... the path got narrow and there was a railing but of course for me it was a height trigger. The worst part was in two sections... I did the first section very wobbly kneed then came to a rest in an area that was a bit wider... I now felt stuck.. either way I would have to do it again... I watched some other people coming across opposite direction from me.. they were having non of the issues I as.. I marveled at their confidence... one man even leaned over and looked down for a long time...giving me shivers... finally a couple came who were going in my direction... I decided to follow them in hopes that if I just watched their feet and tried to keep up with them it would not be so bad... this trick worked. The very end they got too far ahead but I did it... I thanked them secretly because they had no idea they had helped so much..they were deeply involved in conversation... luckily that was it for the challenge.. I came across a cafe bar and had water and a scoop of ice cream..yikes expensive..clearly Monaco is out of my price range...i think this little coastal excursion might have taken longer than had I stayed on the road...but I did finally arrive in Monaco... there seemed to be roads in three or more tiers here.. I walked a middle one for a while..but it did not seem interesting... just high rise fancy hotels... in fact the whole town from my perspective was just mainly high rises.. and little charm... I moved down to the coastal road.. there was only sections of beach which could be seen the rest and there was not much was swallowed up by high end hotel walls.. I did not really want to spend time here since there was nothing really drawing me, so I walked through.. I followed the coast and got into the harbor area... there seemed to be an excessive amount of construction and road work going on... and the harbor was the most ugly part... I was surprised how much american english I was hearing here, and in Menton.. considering the dollar is weak and america's economy has been hurting for at least a decade..i found it surprising that there would be so many american's in probably one of the most expensive city states in the world..finally I got out of the ugly section..i did come across a little japenese garden and walked through that.. then up and out of town...

there was another public garden near the end and elevators to the main shopping areas...but I just wanted get away from narrow streets and construction noise... and on I went.. I was kinda getting a bit tired and knew what ever town came next i'd probably be looking for a room.... and I was now high above the ocean..and there was a side walk and homes and shops along the way..there was no real gap from Monaco's to the next town which was Cap-d'Ail... I saw a tourist office and went in, I was told that there was a youth hostel at the bottom of this winding road right by the ocean but it would not open till 5.30. I made sure that they would definitely have a room for me because if I had to wait till that long I would loose steam to look for another place and also I would have to climb back up the hill.. I got assurances so went to a near by supermarket and got some water and snacks in case there was nothing down there.. I went into a bar restaurant but found out that they did not serve food in the evenings so I had a drink and just played on my lap top... then I went down hill it was narrow one way winding streets.. there were villas hidden behind big walls on the way down.. I was surprised that a youth hostel could be found in such a posh neighborhood, but sure enough there it was... a young man seemed to be running it single-handedly he had me wait while he finished the laundry folding then I signed in.. it was an impressive old building over looking the water with a pedestrian path right bellow for walking along the coast... it had free internet and did have meals for half price of most restaurants. So I got settled in a large empty dorm room there seemed to be only one other person's stuff in there.. the whole place seemed pretty empty which surprised me... after I showered I sat on the balcony and intereneted etc. while the young man was preparing the evening meal, answering calls, and talking to potential guest who was asking a lot of questions but did not stay. Eventually I would see more and more people trickle in.. he set the plates outside on the balcony for seven or so settings... then I would meet the other guests. A young french couple with child, a german woman from munich, an older irish man, and an older french woman originally from the swiss border. The young couple did not speak english and it seemed slowly got disregarded while everyone else conversed in english... food was salad with mozzarella, french fries, and a meat dish, also a plate of cheese and ice cream bars for desert and of course plenty of bread.. the french couple had a bottle of vodka they tried to offer but I was leery of something that strong. The irish man seems to take regular trips down to this area in france. He was very quiet and seemed very humble he talked about a bad experience with the youth hostel in Nice and the german women seemed to have had the same.. the french woman was fairly quiet but ended up talking mostly to the irish man... the german women would come to dominate the conversation. She had a lot of vitality, is the best way I can put it... It turns out I missed the Grand Prix of Monte Carlo on the day I entered France. The irish man was surprised I could not hear it from Melton, but I think I got there about half hour after the race ended. And for all I know I might have heard the noise of the race in the background to my walking and not recognized it.. Saturday was the qualifying race and the german women described this as the fun day..where the sensation of the noise and vibration in the air and the energy of the audience was quite exciting and powerful..the way she described it made it quite visceral for me... then on sunday she said was the real race and as more and more cars broke down and it came to the final rounds the tension of the audience and the seriousness was so strong that the german woman had to go take a walk away from it all, she said. I was told by the irish man that the race course is the loop through the city and the seats closed to the 'track' where the most expensive, the higher you went into town and the less visibility the cheaper...all the noise construction i'd seen and the weird set of bleachers (grand stand-in proper english) i'd seen in the port were all to do with taking down the various barriers put up for the race... so this was not typical monaco experience I had walked through.. … I had speculated on Monaco and the wealth it attracts, I though from the irish man's initial description that was similar to how I thought Switzerland used to be known as the secret bank account holder for the rich... but he corrected wryly, he said if your just rich and are avoiding taxes or the money is illegally gotten they will gladly hand you over to the authorities, but if you are very rich like banks then they will gladly protect your interests. Then we talked a bit about why I was traveling alone and I explained that a lot of people my age have mortgages and in america vacation allotments are ungenerous and even if you accumulate five weeks vacation they wont allow you to take it all at once.. therefore I now quite my job after having saved some money and do longer trips. The irish man said the issue with being trapped in mortgages is also now becoming more of a problem especially in england. He said in ireland there are coop options where you can own part of your house and the government owns part.. and if you can you can eventually buy them out.. he himself had built his own house and on a bit of land that was cheap at the time.. he said he is one of the lucky ones in his area... then I spoke with the german lady she is studying a hawaiian spiritual tradition I had never heard of called Huna. She went through a rigorous training program for several years in germany... and eventually did a final retreat in Kauaii. She told me the creator of the program had recently come to Munich and talked to a large auditorium of seekers. I was trying to imagine all these germans studying some obscure hawaiin spiritual path while we americans are oblivious. The retreat in Kauaii was done completely in german.. she also talked about Paulo Coehlo who is one of the reasons I am here and a bit of hindu ie Sai Baba and a bit of buddhist a bit of shaman...and then the problem of relationship and working with it in terms of being true to your spiritual practice... I stayed up way too late...the french woman made us all a fresh mint tea moroccon style she even poured it from high so that a lot of oxygen would get trapped in the water to enhance the flavor... she apparently lives in morocco part time but I did not have a chance to talk to her about it.. at the end in the dorm room, the german woman played a cd on her computer which was suppose to be a healing mantra chant sung by the Dalia Lama. Apparently you can not buy this cd, it can only be given to you as a gift. It was very beautiful...but it did not sound quite like I remember Dalai Lama's voice from the few times i'd heard him teach in tibetan and english.. and also not that I am an expert on mantras or sanskrit but the mantra sounded a bit more hindu than buddhist... but I fell asleep to it's healing qualities.. touched by the fact that she put it on specially for me because I was a buddhist.. the next day I googled dalai lama healing mantra and found out that it was mistakenly attributed to him, that it was in fact a dutch yogi who chanted the mantra and it was indeed hindu, but it has been attributed to many healing stories, so what ever tradition, it seems to work http://www.yoga-ez.com/gayatri-mantra.html#Anchor_47858 I kept this information to myself.

5-16-10 Ospedaletti to Menton (France) day 42

5-16-10 Ospedaletti to Menton (France) day 42

so I slept well, which would help the walk day... I walked out of the small town of Ospedaletti and once I got far enough away I could see how it would become a pretty harbor town once the construction was done..i would have another day of side walks and the few places where I did get height challenged, I just stepped off the sidewalk into the street, but there were only two sections like that and early in the day..a few times I saw the pilgrim emblem attached to the wall along which I was walking, signs like that just really feel great.. The weather was sunny and at times muggy..so I had to watch the hydration.. as I was walking through the few towns remaining of italy, I felt a bit melancholic.. the way people drive aside, the italians are great to deal with as a visitor... people are helpful, they dont make you feel bad about the language barrier...and will help enable any sort of communication possible.. it was an expensive country for restaurants and I paid more for lodging at times than I would have liked..but I was also still learning the ropes of walking by foot..from a buddhist perspective, when you travel, you really get a strong sense on having to rely on the kindness of others, because i need help with directions, help ordering food, having someone prepare it for you...trust that the place your staying is made safe by the host and cleaned..yes there is money exchanging hands often...but without the help of local people..

i could not travel at all..and in italy i felt safe in their hands. Ventimiglia was the last big town in italy.. it did have a pretty historic core going up into a hill.. I walked along the coast around it.. but realized I got stuck... so I had to spiral up through it to get to the street that would get me into france.. the people that I asked directions here, spoke only french or italian nothing else... there was something forlorn feeling about the town... so in that way I thought it was like a border town. I had a final stop in a place called Latte to get water and then through a bunch of car tunnels..with side walks!

And before I knew it I crossed into france, it was around 4pm. There was the old Border Post but it was no longer manned, borders are now open.. instead the parking lot seemed to be a place for trailers now.. Menton as I approached looked quite affluent.. there was a sign saying in french that it was the Pearl of France...it had modern high rises but also again an old charming part of town.. on my entry I approached the yacht harbor... which housed a big collection of fancy looking boats... the water here, perhaps because it is more shallow had a beautiful turquoise color... I started looking for a room... I was a little dubious because it did not seem to have anything cheaper looking. I ended up going to what looked like more of a chain hotel and the other customers did not look too wealthy, but here too there was sticker shock... realizing I was not getting anything cheaper... I accepted the room.. the man who ran it spoke great english so my fears of language issues at least the first night where not a problem...the lobby had free wifi, and I managed to get two of my friends from Seattle on skype, again my wifi bars were low so the video did stop working... but not before I got to see the proffered cats... they were drinking coffee in the morning, and off to a cheese fest and I was off for a beer and bed.. I stopped at a little bar for snack and beer and then off to my room again... and it was a good night sleep..

5-15-10 Santo Stefano al Mare to Ospedaletti day 41

5-15-10 Santo Stefano al Mare to Ospedaletti day 41
the eve before I had done a joke request to lady chaos that she might provide safe foot paths for at least a couple of days, i did so on twitter... well apparently making your request in writing and in public seems to have worked for this day anyway...after getting breakfast, packed and out on the road I hooked back on to the bike-pedestrian path i'd been walking.. it first lead into Santo Stefano proper and then to my pleasant surprise onwards...i was thinking praises to who ever came up with this great idea.. also there were plenty of pretty plants and flowers to look at some wild some planted ...also the principle applies 'you will build it and they will come'...this path was used by grandmas pushing their grandchildren in strollers, joggers, leisurely walkers, and lots of bikers, both the racing kind and the wobbly clunky bike, inexperienced kind...whole families were out on bikes, and that's just the locals then there were bike rentals at towns and tourists were also taking advantage of this..i was thinking of all the sections of scary road I had been on and wondered how much more foot and bike traffic those areas would have if it where safe.. the reason I bring this up, is because I think there is this sense that if you have a car road leading through a town that's all you need, it's the modern age of convenience...but clearly the reason you don't see pedestrians in those areas is not because people don't enjoy walking there just aren't options.. I was day dreaming of a world were all the best roads were dedicated to just bicycles and pedestrians... and all the crappy ones for those stinky cars..In seattle we also have a bike-walking trail that used to be the old rail line called Burk-Gillman trail it too gets a lot of usage, the only issue I have with that, is that it does not serve the most central part of the city so I only get to use it for leisure riding on weekends...what we need is dedicated road through the center of seattle so we can safely bike to work.. there are bike lanes but in the down town area cars do not know how to respect them.....

in Taggia there was a section under construction so I thought maybe it had ended.. the day before my watch had stopped I was not sure it was broken or needed new batteries... figuring out what to do about that is always a bit fun and messy when you don't get the local system... the back of my watch had tiny screws so I could not change the battery myself if that was even the problem, I lacked the tools... I thought i'd find a cheap watch somewhere and tried little knickknack stores but no luck..then I found a small department store, they sold no watches..but the lady there directed me to what I thought was a jewelers.. on the way out an old lady who had problems speaking, because of some neurological issues, or so it seemed, tried to talk to me, at first I could not understand.. but then I realized she was just trying to determine if I was indeed a pilgrim and whether I was in direction Rome or Compostela.. I let her know I was and headed towards Spain.. she shook my hand and wished me well. I was moved. Then I did find jewelers he had to buss me in..he redirected me again to a watch repair shop... I was basically going back and forth on the same street several times and kinda amused by the mess.. then I found the actual shop and yes, he thought it was just the battery he not only replaced it, he set the time and date for me, and tried to help me get my pack on and held the door... wow... I was most delighted to have a functioning watch again... it is definitely part of my core gear and I had not realized until it stopped working.. now I could get a coffee and treat for a well accomplished mission, at the cafe too everyone was really friendly.... then I did actually do that whole walking thing again... the bike-walk trail did mercifully continue all the way into SanRemo..again I found that an older lady was trying to catch my eye, she then gave me a really warm smile when we did connect, it was clear she was pleased for me being a pilgrim.. SanRemo did not seem too urban from what i'd expected on the map but it sure was long.. I found a cafe near it's beginning and had a sandwich for lunch.. then again without examining it's core I kept walking along the trail it looked brand new in some places like the paint was still drying on the road markings. On the way out of town I heard what sounded like giant angry hornets... there was some sort of mini race car race... happening right by the water.. it sure was loud... I dont know what kind of race cars they were but the looked kid size but adults were driving them.. they were racing on a track with hay stack barriers.. I hurried past this mostly to get away from noise.. I checked at a bike rental place, sadly the path I was on came to an end and I had to get back on the main road, but he promised a side walk.. and there was.. I wanted to get just a little further for the day.. the road climbed and then rapped around a turn in the cliff, but there was indeed a side walk.. and not the sheer drop offs.. I walked till I hit the small town of Ospedaletti, it looked like a tourist town still under construction.. they were still building the board walk and later I would see signs of the future harbor. It looked like this town was hoping to attract tourist business by building a harbor for yacht anchorage since it had no real beach.. I found a small hotel and checked in.. there was a little supermarket next door so I got my dinner ingredients there including bread, cheese, canned fava beans and cured in oil veggies... I was determent to sleep well that night and luckily my body was in consensus so I did sleep well...

5-14-10 Marina di Andora to Santo Stefano al Mare day 40

5-14-10 Marina di Andora to Santo Stefano al Mare day 40

I had a bit of a morning miracle.... my laundry from the night before was all dry...except the very tips of a pair of socks..considering that in the last two plus days every time I did laundry things felt almost as wet as the night before.. this was a nice change, also there was some heat in the room perhaps too much... ..i am trying to speculate on why I have had problems some nights with sleep.. sometimes in the singles I have the skinny beds.. and I cant really roll around in them perhaps the way my body wants... perhaps fear of falling if I move around too much... I thought half joking.. is this what my pilgrimage theme will be? Fear of falling (of cliffs and out of bed) and fear of heights?...  a sarcasm to the rescue! ..the other morning miracle... I found out that the hotel room was actually ten euro cheaper than I thought I heard, and then after the man talked to me for a bit he ended up knocking another 7 off the bill... i've  never had the price drop right before I payed.. nice...I asked the man about my impending road conditions, what i'd be facing..He told me that again the first stretch is narrow winding and not that great for pedestrians because there was no side walk but once I hit Cervo things would improve and I could walk along the a secondary road and or beach walk all the way to Imperia.. He also said that they are planning on moving the rail tracks closer inland and the old rail line will be converted to pedestrian and bike paths...which is prob good tourist business for several of the towns ive passed yesterday that had little beach because of the rail... and the former rail path will be converted into the longest coastal foot path anywhere in europe... he said they are saying in the next five years... I looked at my watch jokingly and said I was too early... but I rejoice in all the future pilgrims or other travelers by foot who dont have to face the same obstacles, i've been dealing with....

Today It would be a very windy at times but sunny day....So the first stretch was as he had said, no real sidewalk but actually more forgiving than some paths since there was a generous curb, so I was not as frightened as i'd been..then as promised safe sidewalks and beach front walks.. I then interrupted my pilgrimage for a hair cut.. this place had photos up front of fairly decent looking short hair cuts for both men and women and though I had  no guarantees I decided it was time to take that chance... the price was the same in euro as I would pay in dollars at home..so more expensive...the woman tried to talk me into blond streaks in my hair... I begged off... she seemed pretty easy going with my request to have it short hair and look more like a boy  cut than a girls and she accommodated by giving me something inbetween which once I got the hair product washed out I quite liked.. so I got lucky.. the reason I hesitated is I had some bad experiences in thailand and the usa and I am still pretty new to not having dread locks and dont know what to demand for my hair... I felt a little self concious as she spend a lot of time and care, blow drying, styling and gelling my hair.. I dont think pilgrims usually sport that much hair product...then I decided I should probably do that walking thing again.. I would pass through Imperia today, it seemed to be in two sections the newer part first which was more on the straight part of the coast ..it had a large walking path in.. a few cranes in the harbor and pastel painted buildings quite typical for Ligurie...the energy seemed very relaxed for a bigger town...i did not explore the inner core where the small tourist magnetizing charming shops where.. I stayed along the coast, the second section was around the coast curve and rose in tiers with church tower top, again I walked around the harbor edge bellow.. and took photos in passing... I dont seem to be hungry during the lunch hour at all so other than the hair cut I took small breaks.. I wanted to get more distance under my feet today too since I felt like I was slowing down again in the last few days... once I left Imperia behind, unfortunately my only option for walking was S1 and to quote a discripter from a friend... it was 'crap-tastic' … the usual blind turns... no safe rail on the cliff side.. I walked against the wall..cars seemed to get too close.. this was not at all for pedestrians.. I got really emotional again... I thought I would find lodging in San Lorenzo... but once there, there was not beach front to walk along.so even in town no side walk... and the port turn off I took dead ended.. I just stopped sat on some rocks looking at water and reigned myself in and try to calm a bit..... but decided to moved on when  this couple came along walking on the beach, bitterly snarking at each other.. I tried to see if I could walk from the port to the town avoiding S1 but no, the road was under construction  so I head to back to unforgiving S1 on the way out of the port area I saw another younger couple having a spat... clearly the  discursive energy I was feeling was a shared phenomina... so I still had to walk on the highway but forturnatly because it was a town they had to obey lower speeds..but I was really surprized that even in the town there was no side walk.. the only tourism here seemed to be harbors for yachts.. I found finally a turn off into the town itself.. it was small, I was hopeful because there were some tourist restuarants and a bike rental shop but I found no sign of lodging.. so I asked the bike rental man... and although he told me lodging would be another 8kms away... roughly two hours walk for me.. which at five thirty was not the best news... when I found out I was at the beginning of a walking bike trail from converted rail lines... I almost yelped with joy... I don't care how foot sore I was I could do it... the first section was an impressively long tunnel of approximately 2kms...then open air with coast bellow.. pretty flowers which I could actually enjoy and then best news still I either walked faster than I thought, which I doubt or there was a hotel before what the man at the bike store had predicted.. I was not crazy about the price... but it was that or more walking so I took... I had proper dinner at its restaurant since I was living off of cheese-dough-caffeine too much again..their veggie options where very limited.. I did have a good tasting soup that had artichoke in it, grilled veggies, a common side dish, and mixed salad..so no protein but greens non the less.. then off too room... sadly even with a normal sized bed still not great sleep with lots of wake ups.. and no clue why...

5-13-10 Albenga to Marina di Andora day 39

5-13-10 Albenga to Marina di Andora day 39

the camp ground was at the beginning of Albenga so I had not finished walking into town yet.. my hostess wished me well and I left my little trailer... the sun was out.. I could not see beach for a while because the raised rail line was still blocking the view, but there were flower farms and artichoke farms to look at the other side... eventually I entered Albenga it was a subdued town not as geared towards tourism... I did get to walk along side walk for a while..but of course that changed as I approached another windy cliff area on S1 again I chose to walk on the inside lane with traffic and I was still unnerved at how close they drive to you and with blind turns I doubted their ability to react in time if they were driving the turn too quick.. I noticed that fear was replaced by anger its pretty much same coin.. as one buddhist teacher pointed out.. if you look under your anger there is fear, if you look under that fear, there is more anger and again under that more fear... so I knew I was just trying to pump up courage which anger seems to sometimes call forth... but again too, this section came to an end...and again I went into the opposite realm of comfortable stroll along a beach-front town, Alassio...

I dont know what kind of magic Alassio had but it so far seemed the most affluent of the beach towns and beach going here was already in season... lots of tourists from northern europe out on lounges absorbing the 'sun cure'.... as I noticed the increase of wealth so too i noticed, my judgment rising up to greet it.. Apparently my inner socialist awoke and became the inner critic questioning the excessive wealth and the character of those who had it...i noticed my judgment and tried to just open..but I am still a judger of this... I found a little church and sat in it for a while..then along the beach through another town, now less affluent... but they still figured out how to attract some tourist dollars .. I saw para-sailing and windsurfing, and even two surfers trying to ride not very big waves.. it was fairly windy which also makes the sections along the cliff more scary because the wind gets strong up there.. My feet were sore early today.. and I seem to be forgetting that my mission was walking.. I felt distracted... on longer meditation retreats although they are always different.. I definitely go through a pattern of being diligent and discipline for a while...but then my endurance kind of breaks down for a while and I start almost forgetting why I am there and I have to keep reminding myself to get back to the task at hand.. it is a form of laziness to do with avoidance... this is kind of how I would describe where I was at the last two days.. it was kind of comforting to realize that in some ways this pilgrimage followed the familier patterrns of my mind on retreat.. I know how to work with that....at the end of Marina di Andora, a place I decided to stay for the night, I found a bar with free wifi so I had lunch-dinner there, giant salad with cheese, corn, tomatoes and all sorts of greens..it attracted teen agers so it was a bit noisy ..but I sat and interneted before even getting a room... getting too comfident perhaps... then around seven I tried one of the hotels.. no rooms, because some sports team seemed to be staying there. Then I headed back towards town hoping I had not been stupid wasting so much time lounging.. but I found another hotel.. I thought it was a bit high for the place but decided I should stay..later I realized I had misheard the price..and it was cheaper... sadly again I woke up and was awake for a long time before going to bed again.. so not a full nights sleep..

5-12-10 Finale Ligure to Albenga day 38

5-12-10 Finale Ligure to Albenga day 38

the hotel's breakfast was on the top floor... it definitely was a senior club...older people talking loudly to each other. There were also two younger couples with kids running around... the breakfast was real simple I just had roles and butter because everything else was sweet pastries and sadly a weird coffee from a machine..i'd remedied that later... I got packed and on the road.. I did the one thing I needed to, to clear my conscience... I used the hotels computer behind the counter with permission from the lady to look up the address of the hotel I stayed at in Arenzano, then I left looking for the local post office, which with help I found.. and I mailed back the keys i'd mistakenly taken, back to the hotel...that made me feel better.. I stopped by the church and set my intention, then hit the road..It would be an under-ambitious day.. I was not really that focused on the task of walking... I did not have to face the dangerous stretches I had to the day before.. and anyway now I was firmly committed to not using scary sidewalks if walking inside along the rock side was possible..i had two tunnels to negotiate with no real side walk but that was the worst of it...mostly it was along the beach with towns replacing each other... I decided to get lunch early I had not eaten real restaurant food in a while and I was craving greens. I found a chinese restaurant and ordered a lot of food: stir-fry veggies and tofu.. ironic I know.. in asia I grew tired of rice and asian style foods and craved things like italian. Now in italy I started craving stir fry and tofu, which at home is my usual food..it was delicious and there was someone's open wifi I could access.. when I take breaks I often whip out my lap top to journal a bit and I check if there is any ambient wifi to pirate.. today there was... a friend back home, was on the same time I was and I was able to skype to america and talk to her and briefly see her and her little boy who was bopping up and down in the back ground before the video stopped working.. this was a nice unexpected perk to my little lunch... sometimes technology is just cool... fortified I hit the road again.. As I continued to walk along beach towns I would see the palm treed walkways and beaches being prepared for the season...in italy one sees a lot of grand parents tending the children and walking the strollers down the promenades.. I tried to get some km's under my feet because I had such a slow morning stroll... the rail runs along the coast too and somewhere before Albenga it switched sides it now ran directly along the coast..and beaches had to be accessed by going bellow the train tracks through periodic tunnels... no more walkways along the beach... also the area started becoming less touristy probably because of this and to the other side of the coast, farms producing mostly flowers started propping up.. I was feeling the need to find a place to stay... again there was a choice of camp grounds... some I could not find out, who was running them and the office was closed so I kept walking.. some I just did not like the vibe... eventually I stopped at this one... the women running it were a little bit distant. They did not have tent space but I could rent a small trailer for the night, it was basically a trailer park.. the price was cheaper than hotel and more than camping .. I thought: why not....since it looked like this was the last site for a while... the women running it were a gay couple, they kind of insular and self protective like you would expect in a place were being gay is still a problem..the older woman warmed to me a bit and chatted, the other one just kind of marked her territory...adjusting her girlfriends necklace while we were talking. the trailer park had it's charms there were plenty of pretty plants everywhere and nice tacky spray painted sculptures of cherubs or aphrodite type statuary... my little trailer had electricity, tv, a toilet, and outside of it a little kitchen area... I was still pretty full from lunch so I went to the little cafe and got coins for the shower and water for the night... it was a very quiet park..hardly anyone was here .... early I had seen a what I thought was a gay-boy-couple going off to the far end of the trailer park.. so I decided that I had found the 'gay trailer park of Ligurie' I am sure it said it somewhere on a sign in italian... just kidding... the trailer inside was a little dark and old and it was awfully quiet and in the middle of no-where... despite some doubts I ended up sleeping like a baby...