It's Monday night and The French and I are back in Paris for an overnight stay before flying to Granada tomorrow and starting the Camino Mozarabe a few days later.
We are staying in Roissy, out near Charles de Gaulle airport, and have just walked back from the village and a scrumptious bistro dinner. Thanks so much for the tip, Martin. Roissy is a great option if you want to be close to the airport. We are looking forward to another walk in the village tomorrow morning - perhaps a final croissant and cafe au lait before heading to Spain. We spied a boulangerie patisserie on our stroll this evening so I'm sure we will be in luck.
This morning we left Martine and Guy after a wonderful few days with them. Those of you who 'followed' The French and I on the Camino Primitivo in northern Spain last year may remember Guy and Martine, a lovely couple we met along The Way. We walked together into Santiago de Compostella and spent a fabulous few days there before Domi and I went on to Barcelona, and they walked on to Finisterre - including a memorable dinner at The Parador.
Martine and Guy live in the village of Englefontaine, about an hour south of Lille. They have a lovely home with a huge garden and are starting to reap the rewards from their fruit trees and vegetable garden. Lots of home made confitures (jams) - just one highlight of a seemingly endless feast of delicious food and wine. I've been in France less than three weeks and already all my clothes feel that much more 'snug'. Thankfully - as you can see from the photos - we spent quite a lot of time walking in the forests surrounding Martine and Guy's home and neighbouring villages. And there is some more strenuous hiking coming up in Spain.
Martine and Guy had a holiday in Australia a few years ago, to visit their daughter Elise who was living there at the time. Elise is getting married in Grenoble in September, to a Frenchman she met in Australia. As Martine and Guy said, 'incroyable' that Elise lived in France all her life but found her French husband-to-be in Byron Bay. I've included photos of the wedding invitation in which Byron Bay and Australia are featured. What a fun invitation.
We had such a lovely catch up with Martine and Guy - such easy company, shared interests and lots of wonderful memories to recall from our time together on the Camino Primitivo. I am sure we will see them again before too long - there's talk of walking in New Zealand so, 'nous verrons ca' - we'll see that!
We also spoke in the last few days of another of our amigos from the Primitivo - our charming and hilarious Irish friend, Maurice. On Saturday I received an email from Maurice who had arrived in Kathmandu the day before, to trek to Everest Base Camp. The email was to let friends and family know that he was ok and unharmed. Such a tragedy in that beautiful country - thousands of lives lost, many others injured and missing, homes and livelihoods destroyed. Another reminder of the randomness of events in life and death. I feel lucky to have the time, resources and good health to enjoy this wonderful adventure with The French. Events in recent days in Nepal, and elsewhere, serve as another reminder to me to take nothing for granted and to be grateful every day.
And I'm also grateful to hear from home, so thanks so much for your emails in recent days - Helen (Mum), Helen C., Helen O'S, Martin, Libby, Connie, Mandi, Amanda, Marian, Jan, Rosanne, Judy P, Judy S, and Audrey.
Time to sign off. Next stop Granada.
Hastaluego
Jenny and The French. x x
Look closely to see the deer
