Well, they were all great suggestions but they are closed on Mondays. Picasso Museum, closed but had an interesting door with an interesting sign. Le Marche Des Enfants Rouges, oldest covered market in Paris city since 1628, closed, as were many adjoining shops. Regardless, Le Marais is simply an intriguing district to visit. It has many parks and playgrounds dedicated to whoever; important locals I guess, and a very eclectic range of buildings, restaurants and shops, winding their way through small lanes and busy boulevards. Wandering these areas of Paris, I often consider that, if it wasn’t for Hitler‘s arrogant view that soon it would all be his, this historic, cultural part of the world would probably have been destroyed in his quest for dominance. Today was very cold again, with snow still evident well into ... read more

A little over a week ago I was following yellow arrows in Spain, on the Camino, which was far removed from yesterday, when I was following black arrows in Richmond, in Ikea. Following the black arrows was far more tiring ! Back to the real world. I'm now looking into the Portuguese Camino for 2018. If you're interested in the Camino, give me a call and I might be able to help you avoid the mistakes I made on this one. Bye.... read more

Yesterday 569 people arrived in Santiago. Whether it's by foot, bicycle, pulling a trolley, or on a guided walking tour, that's a lot of people. Of course there are also many directions to approach it from as well, but the Francés Camino is by far the more popular way. A pilgrimage is meant to be a way of renewal in a spiritual or religious sense but these days it is much more than that. People often face their 'demons' along the Way.People spend long periods walking alone, and unless your tuned into music or absorbed by everything around you, you will think and chop and change, and sometimes delve into places that a normal busy life doesn't allow you too. Last night we had dinner with a woman who revealed she cried uncontrollably a few times ... read more

Legal breakfast today and had my room number checked off; obviously looked more legit yesterday. I went shopping and bought some jeans and a shirt. Ken and I crossed paths early and had a coffee and a chat. Lauren and George the German came along, and while Lauren admired my purchases, George wanted to find a sports store. He thinks when he sweats his bright green pants look like he urinated in them; sweat, yeah , right George. Ken was going to mass so I visited a few of the tourist shops and saw the same stuff in every one. It's 6pm and I'm back from the park above the old town. As I looked across at the Cathedral and surrounding buildings, I realised this is fast coming to an end. It's so peaceful, so removed ... read more

I had a terrible sleep last night. Nightclub Titanic across the road was full bore until 5am in the morning, with yelling and fights outside. Combine that with John's midnight return with 15 minutes of organising himself and it was never going to be restful. We met Ken at 7am at a cafe for breakfast ( where the Titanic crew had congregated), and were on the road by 7.30. We walked on roads uphill for about 30 minutes before entering natural tracks and cool, moist smelling forests of eucalyptus trees and ferns. The paths were good but it was a long climb out of Finisterre before it levelled out to undulating paths. At one stage I was walking along a potpourri of pines on one side and eucalyptus on the other, with the ferny undergrowth cooling ... read more