One day to go

It was a depressingly foggy, cold morning first thing. The thought of "two weeks of this" was not good - but as I headed out for a final long walk after breakfast, the mists cleared to a cold but sunny day.

I headed to the first part of the St Jacques trail and climbed out of Le Puy for a couple of kilometers.



Did I mention that it's quite hilly here? There is symbolism everywhere. Note the yellow mark on the right of the picture. Or bigger still:



Then back into town to climb to the top of St Michel d'Aiguilhe, built by Bishop Godescalc in 951AD after his Santiago pilgrimage. An amazing piece of volcanic geology with a chapel stuck on top:


Finally back to the cathedral - tomorrow's start line - to collect my "creanciale" and get it stamped. This is my pilgrim's passport to prove that I've completed the journey:


I said my goodbyes to St Jacques...


and now I'm just about ready to go...