Sunday, June 18, 2017, Le Puy-en-Velay, France In Le Puy-en-Velay, pilgrims are encouraged to begin their journey by attending a pilgrim mass that is offered daily at 7 a.m. Many attend whether they are religious or not.    I climbed the steps to the cathedral at 6:50 a.m. greeted by a smiling David. Fifteen pilgrims…

Despite walking 12-15 miles per day, I have never lost weight while doing a Camino. Dinner last night at the Gite d’Étape LaGrange will help you understand why. Along the Camino routes in France, a pilgrim can stay at “gîtes.” They are privately owned by a local families. Rooms have 2-4 beds in them, but…

Last we left our heroine, she was about to spend her first night in her small cabin on the hill in Le Puy-en-Velay, France. She arrived to find the door more than a few feet in a jar. She walked in and saw that her roommate Isabelle had already gone to sleep, and left the…

Girl leaves Lyon, France to head to her Camino starting point: Le Puy-en-Velay. One train and one un-air-conditioned bus later, she arrives. She hikes up out of the city 15 minutes to her cabin home away from home. She arrives two hours before she planned, and the owners are not there. There is a note…

Girl visits third largest city in France. Decides she wants some nature. And some information. And some company. So signs up for the 1015 tour of the Parc de la Tête d’Or that meets at her hostel.  Only one other person shows up for the tour: Michelle is an American from Colorado traveling Europe solo…

I think the best practice for the Camino is traveling around Europe the week prior. More specifically: Go to Lyon and head towards the Basilica Notre Dame de Fourvière at the top of the hill. See some stairs and think, “They don’t look that bad.” Get to the top of the stairs, and find even…

Things I’ve learned or recently recalled: 1) Do not wear convertible hiking pants through airport security. Zippers. Snaps. Don’t do it. 2) Fly home via Dublin if at all possible. They do US customs at the Dublin airport, so you just walk off the plane as usual when you arrive back in the US. 3)…

I knew the Camino Lois and I set out to walk in the Fall of 2015 would be much different from the one I walked in the Spring of 2012. We’d be walking the same 500+ miles along the exact route I’d walked three years earlier, but I was alone that first time. And those…

Several weeks ago Michael began researching hot tubs. “Just because we rent doesn’t mean we can’t have the things we want,” he told me. Even if such purchases require us to reinforce and extend the deck. So a few days ago when I walked out onto the front porch and saw an outdoor heating lamp, I just…

Michael had heard about the Gingerbread House competition that takes place every year at the Grove Park Inn, but had never been. When he told me this–on the night of my 37th birthday party–I suggested we go together. The gingerbread competition began in 1992 and now has over 200 entries. All of them 100% edible….