I have uploaded images thus far to:
http://flickr.com/photos/85478107@N00/
I will eventually upload the better ones to this site as well. Til then, enjoy. And, thanks to Kate for being a stupendous hostess and having a Cannon camera cord
SO...
It takes about 2.5 days of walking and waiting, 6 hitched rides, and two nights camping next to Autopista truck stops to make it from Paris to Bayonne. Camping was made easier with the full moons, but harder due to lack of a tent. The cafe/soup machines at the truck stops are the most ingenious and addicting contraptions ever. Baguettes and hot, automated fluids fueled the journey.
The second to last ride was by far the best. A trucker named Rafael picked me up about 30 minutes south of Tours and took me all the way to Pau. This was my first time in a rig, so I was thoroughly amazed. He has two beds, a TV, a stove and refrigerator, and a really flaky stereo. By talking in a mix of Spanish/English we got to know each other: he drinks 1 liter of milk a day and next week is his last of driving as he will soon be operating a crane (so he can have a home and girlfriends). I told him about my circumnavigational plans. He bought me a huge trucker lunch including oysters!
Last night I was happy to find myself in a tiny room at the Hotel Paris-Madrid, "decorated with flare." In this room I discovered that I can now in fact SQUAT! For those who may not know, about two years ago I was baffled to find out that I could not and have been trying with stretching and yoga off and on ever since. And low and behold, after hiking/traveling and definitely not doing yoga, I can suddenly do it. This alone makes the trip thus far. I will squat everyday til I die.
Am quickly running out of time at this computer. I HATE paying for internet! Tonight in a hostel in Biarritz, a short bus ride from Bayonne (both in the heart of the Basque country). Sunshine and Atlantic beaches everywhere!! I just fried some Axoa (I think pork?) with carrots and ate some delicious bread shapped like a bird of paradise flower. Will stay in this town another day (did I mention the beaches?) and probably make my way to Bilbao, Spain the day after tomorrow. Yeah Guggenheim!
