Training, more training

Today I only walked 7km, but yesterday I did a bit over 13km, might have been 14 or so.
Yesterday the weather wasn't great, quite cloudy, but pleasantly warm with a light breeze. The ideal weather to walk. Not too hot, not too cold.
So I walked a big tour around the house, and I realised how beautiful it is everywhere around here.
I was walking mostly on the top of hills, and had an amazing view on the hills, little forests, vineyards and fields of cereal on both sides. I even saw a falcon and its baby hovering over a field. I wished I had taken my binoculars with me, but I became acutely aware today, when I tried to walk with a heavier bag, that every gram counts when I have to carry it.
The wheat is still green but already high in the fields. It feels like the whole of nature is blooming.
I could feel my heart singing as I was walking, almost flying, taking in the scenery and atmosphere around me. By the end of the walk I was still singing, but rather to give myself the courage to get over the last two or three kilometers. I think I will sing a lot while I walk towards Santiago. :-)
Today I just went to the next village, but even though I walked about half the distance of yesterday, my bag was heavier and it was harder.
We'll see how I feel tomorrow and what I'll do. I will just go with the flow. I have to buy the last few things I need for the trip, e.g. first aid stuff and so. Then I will have to really screen through absolutely everything I put in the rucksack.
Well, all that preparation is fun in a way. I can feel that a bit adventure is in front of me, and I am excited and scared at the same time.
The good thing is, I don't think anymore about not being grounded or being in a transition. I have a purpose, and nothing else matters much...

New beginnings

So Nicolas Sarkozy won the presidential elections in France today. That is a major new page starting for France.
We'll see what comes from that. It felt like a lot of people really didn't know who to vote for. It was a tough one. And as usual, it is very difficult to know how he will actually lead the country.
So we'll wait and see I suppose. An incredible high number of people voted anyway so that's an interesting change. French people used to be disenchanted about politics, and it is amazing to see that over 84% of people voted.

In the meantime, I feel that I have settled a bit.
I haven't unpacked much, don't really feel like it yet. But I am not anxious about it anymore.
I have even started to go walking every day to train for the pilgrimage.
Yesterday I walked 7km, today 10km. I hope to get to 20km by the end of the week, as it is what I am going to walk most days for a month. So far so good, my feet are OK, even if I know I have to be careful with them, choose the socks wisely and find some good foot cream. I will start to train with the rucksack in a couple of days, and will load it so I know how I manage the weight on my back.
I am back into feeling joyful and thankful for exactly where I am.
Oh yeah, and my car has been sold in Ireland. I received a text message from my friend who was taking care of it for me in Ireland yesterday. So little by little, the last ties with Ireland are dissolving, making way for new adventures.

Wrecked

So I am back in France.
Tired.
Can barely keep my eyes open and yet it is not even 11pm.
It feels like I haven't slept in days.
I probably have slept, but maybe it is a post-traumatic something I am going through. After all it is kind of a big change to suddenly leave everything I had built for myself and all my friends and come back to my parents.
I am not going to leave for the Santiago pilgrimage straight away. I can feel I need to settle down first, rest and ground myself a bit again.
Maybe I'll leave in a week or ten days or so.
I only arrived home last night, and today went to Bordeaux for the whole day to buy all the equipment I need for Santiago. I found everything I wanted but obviously it tired me.
And it is just weird to be here in a small room where there are already some things in the cupboards, trying to fit my stuff when I had my own place for so long. And then on top of it having people sleeping in my room with me when all other rooms are taken.
I miss my space.
I am sure I will sort out something with my parents so that I can settle and feel good, but in the meantime it just feels weird. It is completely different to be here with all my stuff and nowhere else to do, than to be here on holidays for a couple of weeks before going back home somewhere else.
I will adjust to it I am sure.
But for now, I'll go to bed and hope tomorrow will be a bit closer to me being more centered, grounded and back to normal.

That's it folks!

Well, this is it.
Last day.
Tomorrow morning, alarm set at 6am.
Brushing teeth, eating breakfast, putting the last few things away, the last bags in the car, leaving the keys behind (how strange is that, I'll have no keys of mine anymore...).
And then setting off before 8am for Rosslare Harbour, where the ferry will be bringing us to Cherbourg the next day.
Bye bye Ireland.
My car is in Claregalway with a friend who agreed to play the middle man to sell it. Ads are in the Galway Advertiser for the next two weeks, and in the Buy and Sell too.
I can feel it will get sold soon.
It will be just fine, as usual.
And now what?
A feeling of emptiness but also excitement.
Sadness, grief and also joy.
The path to Santiago is calling me.
California is calling me.
Adventure is calling me.
Now it is past midnight, I'd better get to bed if I don't want to be wrecked for the big day tomorrow.
I wonder if I'll sleep...

Last days...

It feels a bit strange today.
I went into town, to the market, with my dad and my aunt, and it felt like there was something special in the air. As if there was a festival or so.
Yes, there were people from twin city Lorient who organised a breton market, and there was also Celtic music and dancing, but there wasn't as much people around it as there would be in a real festival.
No really, maybe it was just the feeling of summer, with the sun shining and relative heat around (20 degrees Celsius today, summer temperature for Ireland!!). Or maybe it just felt special because I am leaving and I knew it would be my last time on the market.
Or at least my last time as a resident in Ireland.
Since the barbecue on Thursday, with all the people I said goodbye to, it really feels like I am leaving, and I am not quite sure what to make of it.
Obviously there are mixed feelings, after all, I spent seven and a half years of my life here, which means it is where I spent most of my adult life. I was 21 when I arrived.
A seven-year-cycle later, here I am, almost leaving.
I really have no idea what to make of it.
Well, tonight I will finish all my bottles of alcohol with my dad, aunt and landlord and landlady. Don't be scared, there isn't that much left.
But it will be fun, and less to bring back.
And I am sure I will be fine tomorrow :-)