The Three Sufferings of Pilgrimage

Leaving Aigle. How beautiful is this?

Aigle to St-Maurice

Via Francigena #6 of 20

I woke up this morning to the Three Sufferings of Pilgrimage: constipation, hunger and blisters. Forget muscle fatigue. It doesn’t even rate here.

I won’t go into the intimate details of constipation other than to say this rancorous malady of human existence renders me unable to eat.

Regardless, a challenge for the pilgrim is that grocery stores and many restaurants do not open on Sunday. If they happen to do so, they close by 6:00pm at which time they’re outta there. Timing is everything.

Which takes me to blisters. Yesterday’s walk was long, 32Km, and hot, high 80’s. Not particularly challenging, until the last hour.

It is simply bad and wrong to send pilgrims up an 18% grade at the end of a stage unless there is some major bonus at the top. Give me the view of a lifetime. How about an old church with a famous painting by a Renaissance master? Something. But don’t give me nothing but Vintners who clearly lobbied the map maker into creating a loop off an easy route along the valley floor, forcing the sad pilgrim through Dante’s Inferno and adding an hour of hiking onto an already long day. Besides exhibiting a lack of humanity, this was particularly cruel because THEY WERE ALL CLOSED. IT’S BLOODY SUNDAY.

In that last hour I developed more blisters on my feet than during my entire 5-week walk on the Camino de Santiago. This also put us in town well after 6:00pm, and finally to this morning, with no provisions.

It was nonetheless a beautiful walk despite the Three Sufferings of Pilgrimage, and rain, and hills.

The first town on the route had an open restaurant even though it’s Monday and the rules that apply to grocery stores and restaurants still apply. After a spectacular infusion of caffeine and, shall we say, a moment of levity, I’m able to eat half a tuna sandwich:

“OMG. This is shit’n delicious!”

Interesting acknowledgement of both ends of the gastrointestinal tract in that statement, and something only a starving sufferer of constipation would utter upon finally being able to eat.

Tomorrow’s forecast is for heavy rain, and indeed we have thunder and lightning now. We are in the Alps and have decided it wise to take a Rest & All You Can Beer Day tomorrow, to wait out the storm and let my feet recover.

See below for photos of wondrous alpine beauty with captions.

©Theresa Elliott, All Rights Reserved

Someone got the crazy good idea to use umbrellas for rain instead of waterproof jackets that turn into saunas.

Someone else got the even crazier idea to use the umbrellas for shade.

An example of why you send someone up a steep hill; for a spectacular view. In the middle of this photo is a low point and passage way between the mountains to our destination, St-Maurice.

Coming down into the valley.

I left Sandy in this photo because it helps give a feel for how steep a hill the vineyards are. And because I like him

This is a Monday Lunch Special. We couldn’t find anyone open after our great luck with breakfast, but a sweet restaurateur was willing to serve us drinks and threw in some potato chips. Score!

This, dear reader, is a Bat-mobile Rumba for the lawn.

St-Maurice.

This isn’t Leavenworth. It’s the real thing.

Heart rate to prove the 18% grade through Dante’s Inferno.