Time for a rant

If you’re hoping to get an update on the cornfields and the sunflowers you might need to skip today’s post. The last few days have been long and tough and there hasn’t been much happening. Today I walked 30km through 4 little towns that didn’t have cafes or bars. There were a few picnic tables to stop at but not much else. The pilgrims are also a lot fewer in numbers today I counted 6 on the trail. But of there are other people in the Gîtes, but many are catching taxis or buses between the stops.

I have no idea why they do this. It’s possible to break the stages into smaller sections to make them shorter to ease the waking. But I’m not sure why you’d travel through this part of France, it’s not the part to see. My first two weeks, they were spectacular and worth seeing via transport. There are many reasons why people take the transport option, the heat, the rain, the distance. But really the only reason to be here as a visitor is if you’re walking. The motor transport seems to defeat the purpose. I obviously need to let go, let everyone walk their own way and focus on my own walk. Everyone will take the way as they choose to. And I’m making my own choice to walk.

I also had a few run ins with dogs today. There were quite a few agressive dogs barking behind fences, close to the track today. This happens often but particularly prevalent today. Karina and Annie left me with a dog spray that can be used to stop a dog from seeing and remove their smell for 30mins without hurting them. Today a dog that wasn’t behind a fence came running at me, barking and snapping and I didn’t even have time to get the spray out. I started running and the dog gave me a few head butts in the leg but luckily no bites. It then retreated quickly. I was ok but really frightened. I walked quite slowly and steadily after that.

Glad to have arrived in Arthez de Bearn tonight. There were some sunflowers and corn today. Rant is over now and I’ll get back to the scenery tomorrow.