Never Say Never II

Subtitle: 5,000,000 steps

Vingt-troisième jour – terminer - Thursday 9th July, Larceveau - Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - 19.5 klms (final total approx 425)

Our trekking poles are a little worse for wear, and with just a little hyperbole I made some comment that they had walked a million miles with us. Janet did some quick processing and came up with the assessment that they'd probably walked 5 million steps!!

Now let's not get too precise, but if you think about it, my very first blog was called One Million Steps, my writings of the 800 klm Camino Frances almost 11 years ago, which in turn spawned my book An Impossible Dream. Since then we've walked 300 klms on the Camino Portuguese, 1,000 klms on the Via de la Plata, 800 in total on the Via Podiensis in two stages, plus sundry bits and pieces. So all of a sudden 5,000,000 steps doesn't seem that much of a hyperbolic stretch.

And that also seems like a perfect segue into today’s main title. A few weeks ago I wrote a post Never Say Never, the essence of which was "don't limit yourself because you never know what's around the corner ". Of course I still hold by that, and I think that after 5,000,000 steps I can fairly safely close the door on long distance unsupported treks. Don't get me wrong, on balance I've loved every minute of the last three weeks - yes, on balance, even with the heat and the pain. And it's maybe time to acknowledge that as I approach my 75th year on this planet, that 5,000,000 of these steps will suffice. It's a bit the same as my acceptance that after six high(ish)-altitude treks in the Himalaya I can finish that chapter also.

I've found in the past that the impact of these walks on oneself comes months or even years later. So to leap into too many reflections today would be a little premature. That said, my today assessment is that this will rank just a tad behind the initial CF and the VDLP in terms of enjoyment, satisfaction, achievement. So that's a pretty good assessment start point. Stand by for future learnings.

I'll include a few photos of the day a bit later in the post, but first let me start with the end. Following is us at the Porte Notre-Dame, minutes after we arrived. The end of this journey; the end of the 5,000,000 steps. Now check out the one underneath it.

The beginning of the journey. September 5, 2015. Probably around 7am. Our very first steps out of the Porte Notre-Dame on our way to Santiago de Compostela.

Spot the similarities 😁 ...

One of great benefits of a walk like this is that one is almost forced to spend time thinking about stuff. "Stuff" can be anything of course, but in my case I often seem to be drawn into themes of societal and racial tolerance, which rather seems to be in short supply these days, globally. So I was struck by a piece of graffiti on a power pole today which said Choose 🖤 Over Racism. At the risk of getting a bit heavy, the sign drew back to the current political discussion in Australia about multiculturalism versus the very illdefined notion of monoculturism. Even from far away I cannot help but notice the ongoing commentary in the Aussie press. I'm very concerned that the notion of a monoculture as currently being promoted by a segment of the Australian politico is no more than a façade for racism, regardless of what some folk say.

OK, I had to say that ...

A moment ago I posted an after and before photo set. Not here's a before and after. The first is towards the end of the day, shortly after St Jean-le-Vieux. A bit before midday. The next is at St Jean Pied de Port, about 9pm. Again, spot the difference.

Now to a brief photo commentary of the day. It was another long-ish walk, and it did start to warm up a bit, however nothing particularly remarkable, other than it was the final day, and as ever I found the scenery interesting.

Many of the houses have a construction date engraved above the portal. This one is 1738.

No, not a miliaro 😁, but sort of similar

A typical scene from the day

I mentioned this yesterday. Not only has the non-Basque name been graffitied over, but a stick exhorting the euskara language placed over it. I detect some ongoing divisions

And into St Jean via the 15th C Porte Saint-Jacques

And to close, a couple of stereotypical shots of St Jean. It is largely as I remember it from 2015. I had been concerned that progress may have overtaken it in a less than positive way.

The hotel we are staying at is fab. Right on the main street, with steps out the back which take one up to the top of the ramparts. Probably a very old building; I'll find out.

So that's almost an au revoir. I'm not sure about the immediate future blog status. Probably not daily. Until then ...