surprise, i’m in france!

In Lyon, to be exact, but not for long!

A few months ago, I left my job. Between two cross-country moves, family stuff, an aggressive product launch, and the pandemic, the last two years have been rather a lot to manage, and I needed a break.

My sister gave it two weeks. I figured I would take a couple of months off and be back at work – somewhere – by the beginning of July.

But it’s September now, and not only am I not back at work, I’m embarking on an adventure that pushes a whole lot of edges of my comfort zone.

I arrived in Lyon yesterday afternoon, and tomorrow I’ll take a train to Le Puy-en-Velay, where I will begin walking Le Chemin du Puy!

Also known as the Via Podiensis, the Chemin du Puy is one of four routes through France that are part of the Camino de Santiago. At close to 750 km, it is also the longest route through France, stretching from Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the French side of the Pyrenees. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is the starting point of the Camino Frances route through Spain to Santiago de Compostela.

Yeah, I’m going to walk 750 km or so. If all goes to plan, it will take 38 days and I’ll reach Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port the last week of October. What happens then is still up in the air.

If you know me, you’ll know how big this is. I like day hikes, but this is day hikes for 38 consecutive days! I’ve never been very good at taking vacations. My French is… let’s say “lapsed,” though one of my reasons for doing the Chemin is to improve it.

In the interest of not spending all my time on social media, I decided to go old school and blog the journey. I’ll be posting pictures and journal entries here, and answering comments here only. Don’t be too surprised if I’m slow to post or respond!