Day 0
Today was my jet lag day in St. Jean and I’m so glad I had it. Camino people have a lot of errands to run before they start walking, so it was great to have the day free to do all my pilgrim chores and see the city. Pilgrim chores include standing in line to get your credential, which is a passport type thing that’s used to collect stamps from here to Santiago. The stamps are used to prove you walked the whole route, and folks who have enough miles accounted for in their credential are eligible for a compostella, which is a cool document in Latin. Never had a document in Latin and suddenly I want one. The office where you get your credential is run by volunteers who have done the Camino themselves. They remind you to take a photo as they give you the first stamp, to capture your first moment of pilgrimhood.
Some random observations from today:
Three French bicyclists, in helmet to boot bicycle gear, praying all in a row at the Eglise Norte Dame du Bout du Pont at dawn.
Me buying a 12 euro pair of sun glasses at a gas station so I guess I have got this French glamour thing down now
my hotels towels are scratchy, as they are dried in the sun
the town fortress, now unneeded to defend the city, has been converted into a school and has the coolest basketball court Ive ever seen and also sheep graising in what I assume used to be the moat
Lola the fluffy white hotel dog on Rue de la Citadelle
Am I the only one who has a vague stereotype in my head about the French being standoff ish or rude? Everyone I’ve met here has just been so friendly and happily tolerant of my phrase-book-only French.
The sound of a 500 year old door creaking in the wind