Walking with Angels Col Saint Bernard

KGoing to the dogs. Today is a rest day. We were completely exhausted after reaching the top yesterday. It was a combination of thin air and nine hours of continually climbing to 8100 feet. We walked around the lake for exercise in the afternoon after the sun came out. You will see the picture of Charlotte holding onto chains in an especially tricky spot. The morning was completely socked in with a cold strong wind blowing. In the morning we paid our senior rate of 8chf each and went through the museum which also had about a dozen Saint Bernard dogs in their kennels. The museum has items going back many hundreds of years and was very interesting. The road through the pass was started by the emperor Augustus in 12 BC and there was always someone in control of the pass demanding passage money. We attended prayers at 6:15pm and there were about 20 of us. It was held in the depths of the basement in a chapel like setting. There were three priests there and one did most of the singing. There were about two dozen for dinner all around a long table with benches. I had paid our bill in the afternoon. I spread out all our chf including the coin and asked Father Fredricho if there was enough for wine at supper. After much deliberation he showed us how much wine by indicating on a glass decanter. We have finally got over our jet lag and are anxious to get walking again. This pass is approximately half way between Canterbury and Rome. We met Alison Raju an author of one of our guide books. She just arrived there to serve as a volunteer. All the help other than the chef are volunteers. One of the young women there was from Russia.

Walking with Angels Orsieres to Col Saint Bernard

We enjoyed a good breakfast with Madame in the Hotel Terminus.There was ham and cheese so we made sandwiches to take with us. The weather was great and we took are time and left about 8am. Our plan was to walk about 4 hours to Bourg Saint Pierre and then the next day walk to GSB at the pass. Well we reached Bourg St. Pierre about noon and after talking it over, decided to walk all the way to the pass at 8100 feet since the weather was so good. Well it took us another five hours to make it to Grand Saint Bernard. To say we were exhausted is putting it mildly. Around every corner there was more elevation. Charlotte's ears kept popping with the increased elevation. Our legs were getting like rubber and the footing on the stone paths was not great. This nine hour steady walk with no break other ten minutes for sandwiches started to take its toll. As we kept going up we had to stop every so often to catch our breath and give our legs a break. In the last hour we were stopping every five minutes or so. As we were getting close to the top it took all our resolve to make the last bit. They were not expecting us until tomorrow but they sat us down in a dining room and brought us a large pot of tea with honey. We were both de-hydrated and the tea was fantastic Eventually the priest came and he kept saying that our reservation was for tomorrow. I said perhaps we could go back down and walk up again tomorrow. He went away and came back with a paper with our room number and prayer and mass times as well as when meals are served. We agreed on full board for two days. That will include the room, lunch, dinner and breakfast for 140 chf per day. After getting to our room we collapsed onto the beds and slept. The heavy duty bell was rung at 6:15 for prayers but we didn't have the strength to go, perhaps tomorrow. We still haven't met any other pilgrims and there was only five of us for supper.

Two were French speaking volunteers and the other was a young German on a retreat and doing some local walking. 

Walking With Angels September 17

Another different kind of day. Neither one of us slept very well last night. The two young men that were with us in the six bunk room were very nice. They were perhaps in their let teens or early 20s. They were out camping in the Alps as an adventure but when the weather turned they retreated into the cheapest accommodations available. There were other young Brits there either playing house while biking Europe or other such travel methods. They were all having a good time, no doubt. We too remember our youth and all the issues that went along with every new generation. After trying to get Charlotte into the upper third bunk with no ladder and just the two of us in the room, we decided on each of us taking the middle bunk. So with the young men on each lower bunk we hunkered down in our refuge. Neither of us kept well and with our headlamps on we were up at 6:15 am and down to th bike shop at 7 for coffee and cruisants with sandwiches to go. There was wind and rain all night but just light rain in the morning. With the iPad enclosed in my kayak clear map case and  open to the guide book, we picked our way through the city on to the trail. In short order we were into the woods on the IDE of the mountain with Charlotte in the lead. I hadn't informed Charlotte that this was the portion of the trail that some had deemed too dangerous to cross with inclement weather. There were several places with chains into the rock with a very narrow path suspended several hundred feet above  the river. The going was slow as we picked our way over ricks and roots trying to keep from slipping on the wrt surface. Our poles were almost essential for balance and stability. This is where we come to  the Good news, Bad news, situation. There was a lot of large flat rock we were going across when my boot slipped out from under me and I although I tried to dig my pole in, it was on a rock surface, and down I went. Charlotte turned around when she heard the commotion and her first reaction was, you broke your pole. I laid there for a few minutes to determine if I was okay or not. Well I could see that the pole lower section was broken but fortunately I wasn't. With no damage done other than I now have just one pole to navigate with for the next six or seven weeks. After an hour or so I found a suitable wood stick that took the place of my missing pole. Charlotte did comment that there was nothing much to navigating along the side of the mountain. We took the high road from Sembrancher and the views were most stunning. You don't see this on a cruise. There is much new snow on the mountains and at quite a low level, shades of the next two days travel to come. My knee has become an issue over the last few days and developing into a limp after 3 or 4 hours. The validity of the anti-inflammatory cream from the physician is definitely suspect. After encouragement from Charlotte I downed a couple of her stash of Advil and lo and behold, I went 61/2 hours with no problem. We dug into our Swiss francs for tonight's accommodation to the tune of 120chf. We have a double room with no bunks beds or other company, and a duvet a foot thick. Instead of going out to a restaurant, we went to the local grocery, Hungary of course, and came back to the room with local cheese, wine and fruit. Plus a bake shop Goodee. Another very good day and Charlotte is more than keeping up due to her gym and paddling conditioning prior to coming. Because of the altitude increase tomorrow, we have decided to half the eight or nine hour day and stay half way at Bourge St. Pierre. We do not know when we will run into this snow we see ahead of us, or if we will, but now we can go a little slower and enjoy the mountain views knowing we don't have to push too hard to get there. Francis had given us a phone and we got a Swiss SIM card for it, but it doesn't seem to want to work for us so we ask others to make the calls for us. Charlotte has drawn clothes washing duty again tonight.

Walking With Angels September 16

We were very spoiled wraith our bedroom in the Abbae last night. We had duvets on the bed that were a foot thick and cool air coming through the window. Needless to say we had our first good sleep with no jet lag. The priest was waiting for us at the door at precisely 7:30am when he said breakfast would be ready. We were taken to the same private room where there were breads, raspberry  jam and cheese. He brought in a silver jug of coffee as well. After eating as much as we could I took Charlottes picture with him and we left, stopping at the bakery on the way out of town. Yesterday was a cake walk in comparison to the day before and today was a reasonably easy walking as well. We had rain today at times fairly heavy, but reached Martigny quite easily. After a number of inquiries we found the campground. We were a little surprised to see that we were booked into a dorm. I must say Charlotte was more surprised than I was. Anyway we are in with two young guys from the UK who are out walking in the Alps. We had a nice spaghetti dinner with beers tonight. Tomorrow we are off to Orsieres which is uphill for about six hours. Gradually we are heading for the top.

Walking With Angels Sunday September 15

Wow, Harry at Harry's Haven in Bouveret he produced a great English breakfast. It was a great stay and we hit the bake shop in town and got sandwiches for the road. There was a light rain falling and i had the iPad open to the map and enclosed in the clear plastic kayak map case in front of me. We followed the canal and then the Rhone river, passing a number of power plants and Re-cycling plants.

We walked with our tunes on today and time passed quickly

We arrived in Saint Maurice after 5 1/2 hours and found the Abbaye. After trying a number of doors we found the reception area and met Father Joseph who fortunately speaks English. He was most welcoming and introduced us to another, elderly priest, who looks after the rooms etc. He showed us to our room and showed us where things are. Charlotte practised what she was going to say, and went back to the reception area and spoke to the woman there. I fell asleep under the duvet with the window open. After awhile I heard my name coming from somewhere. I looked out the indie and down below Charlotte was standing there calling my name. She couldn't get the outside door open and didn't know what to do. Tonight we have Vespers at 6pm and le souper at 6:25pm.

We went to Vespers at 6pm and it lasted until 6:20pm. There were about 20 priests and their chanting and singing echoed throughout the large stone sanctuary. At 6:25pm we showed up for le souper and were greeted at the door by the host priest. He showed us to a private room where there were two settings for dinner. In a few minutes madam arrived with a Turin of soup. There were bottles of white and red wine, juices and water. Later a dish appeared with an egg omelette and potatoes with salad.

Father Joseph joined us for desert and when I inquired about the possibility of a tour, he said yes, cme with me. In 2015 it will be 1500 years that there has been an operational church at this location. The longest in Europe. He took us down through tunnels built by the Romans in the first century. There are excavations going on revealing fifth century graves. It was a wonderfully tour and with the benefit of being done in English. There are 40 priests living here. They service quite a number of parishes in the surrounding areas. They also run a school here as well. They have outreach schools bring run in Kahzadstan and Congo from this parish as well. This excavation is absolutely a world heritage type site with the excavated graves sites lined with stone and the foundations exposed of a number of churches all under tremendous roof constructed of fibreglass suspended from the mountain of stone over the complete excavation. All this within a hundred metres or so of the main rail line between Rome and Paris with a 165 trains running daily. there was not a crack in the church construction, alluding to the good engineering and solid construction. All this was started because of the burial of Saint Maurice in the first century.

It is truly awe inspiring. Think of the hundreds of stone warriors exposed in China. And people wonder why we walk. You don't see or experience this on a cruise.

Tomorrow Martigny. 

One day at a time.

Walking with Angels Saturday September 14th

  The day started around 8am after we left Saint Amedee in Lausanne. Our sleep was broken up due to the jet lag and perhaps a few other things. We locked up our room and the building when we left this morning and put the key and chf in an envelope and then into the parish mailbox outside. Charlotte guided us to a patiserie she had spotted the night before. Cafe au lait and some fresh baking made our first meal in 24 hours. Off we went with the iPad downloaded map for Vevey about 25 Kim's down the lake. I put my poles on the pack and followed all the turns through the city for almost 2hours before 

We were out of town and climbing into the vineyards high above lake Geneva. We had added considerable water to our camel backs because of the warm weather and distance. This was good except it also added considerable weight to both our packs and since we were going up hill a lot we were slowed right down to 1 or 2 kms an hour. The views of the lake and Alps is stunning with glimpses of snow on the higher elevations. After a pretty arduous trek up and down the vineyards we finally got into Vevey around 2pm, a little shop worn and aiming for the first food and drink source. After a few drafts and a sandwich at a roadside stand we found the TO office who confirmed our reservation in Bouveret. We loaded up on a few more chf as most things are expensive. We caught the 4 o'clock ferry from Vevey that makes a number if stops before taking us across the lake to Bouveret.

Our host picked us up at the ferry dock in his car and brought us to his house where we got the superior room with a shared bath for 125 chf. We scoped out our route for the morning and had a nice pasta dinner in town. That was a pretty rough day for us climbing the hills but I have a feeling it is just the start. Tomorrow we follow a valley along the Rhone river to St.Maurice, perhaps 25 kms. We will be staying at an Abbae with dinner and petit de jejune included for $70 chf. Someone also told us along the way that the pass we are heading to is expecting a big dump of snow in a couple of days.

Walking with Angels

Well, what a day. Lets start near the end of it. I am sitting at a bus stop in Lausanne. Charlotte has gone down the street in search of food and drink. It is 6:30pm and we were supposed to be at this address around 5pm in order for us to have a bed. It is Saint Amedee and the priest is nowhere to be found. However, the trusty iPad has the reply we received from the secretary saying we are expected.

After two or three tries I got a French speaking young man to phone the contact number and talk to who ever answers. He talked a long time and then got the bus driver who happened to stop, translate into English. The gist of it is we should wait until 7pm. We followed the original route from Cossonay along a river to Lausanne, about six hours with our packs. I originally had planned to walk a shorter route to our sleeping place. We had virtually no sleep on the plane so we were walking on adrenalin and Cliff energy bars. We still have 15 minutes until 7pm. The night might not be over yet. Along the way when we neared Lausanne I heard someone shout, COMPESTELLE. They left with a God Bless You directed at us. The priest showed up and is now trying to find a key to let us in the bedroom. Both our legs are wiped out with little if any sleep. We now have our room. It is very pilgrim like. For our first day we are exhausted and going to bed with no lunch or supper, but there is a bakery down the road for morning on our way to Vevey to hopefully catch the ferry boat across lake Geneve to Bouveret.

To top off the day we are being serenaded by an orchestra practice next door. It ain't gourmet.

It was nice to see a Camino shell outside on the building. Cost 5 chf each for tonight.

Francis had picked us up at Geneva and taken us to the same square we left off at last year in Cossonay.