In the last walk, in April and May, I had foot troubles the like of which I have never known before. Anyway, I managed the blisters and only had to take one day of rest in the middle to give them time to settle down. In the end I got to Orthez, and then headed to Bayonne and thence home.

Since then, I have had a spectacular bout of plantar fasciitis in my right foot. Very painful, and it took me longer than it should have for me to realise what was going on. Now I have insoles to help and do stretching exercises several times a day. I am planning to set off on the next stretch on 5th September, two and a half weeks hence. I can’t honestly say that my foot is completely better yet, but it is improving day by day. I am moderately confident that I will be in good enough shape to walk daily.

What I am not sure about is how far I will be able to walk (especially in the sense of walk today, and then repeat tomorrow and the day after etc. etc.). I need to build in flexibility – so that if I think I have had enough for one day, I can find accommodation for that night. The Vézelay Camino has been one where there have been patches with little accommodation – so one was obliged to walk 20-25 kms in order to have a roof over one’s head. The consequence of this consideration is that I have revised my plans significantly. I toyed with starting again in Bayonne and walking the Camino de Baztan over the Pyrenees to Pamplona. Then I thought about going from Bayonne again but walking the ancient Camino del Vasco Intérior – a Roman route that links Bayonne and Burgos. But neither of these are very much travelled, and therefore they have the same relative scarcity of facilities that the Vézelay route had.

So I have decided to go back to Orthez in Béarn and continue the Vézelay route to Saint Jean Pied-de-Port, and then join the classic Camino Francés, which goes over the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles, and thence to Pamplona and on towards Burgos. This will give me four days of walking before I have to do a big climb, which is going to be a help. It also means that there are plentiful options of accommodation all along the road.

My inner introvert has absolutely loved the solitude of the road so far, days and days of seeing hardly anyone at all, and just drinking in my surroundings. I now have to get myself into a more sociable frame of mind. The busiest period of July and August is past, but the Camino in September will be still fairly well-populated. It will be good for me to learn to be a bit more communal in my peregrination, and it will be salutary, because of my condition, to remember that this is not a race, and everyone does it at their own pace. Mine may be slower than I might think it ought to be – but it is my mental attitude that needs to change and not my speed!

As you can tell, because I am writing this two weeks out from my departure, I am excited at the prospect of getting on the road again.