The Orsay Museum and Paris Departure Points for Pilgrims on the Camino

Bon jour!

This post is a tad bit delayed as wifi in our Paris hotel was very poor, and there was none on the trains yesterday on our way here to St. Jean Pied de Port. We were in Paris from Friday until Sunday morning.

We enjoyed Paris very much, discovering a very popular park, the Luxumbourg Gardens, which we had never visited though we both had been to Paris several times. Always something new!

The temps were quite hot, in the 90s, and we walked a lot. Even with the high temps, there were many tourists out and about, walking the streets, and Parisians enjoying the park or sitting on the Seine riverbanks trying to stay cool. Hard to believe that just a short while ago there was some terrible flooding in Paris, and especially the towns outside of the city.

We also visited the Orsay museum and I took a bunch of photos for Mrs. Dion's art classes to look at, but they are uploading as I speak and I hope to have them (maybe just some of them) up connected to my google map before we leave St. Jean tomorrow morning.

I also found two departure points for pilgrims on the Camino from Paris. One in from the left-most door of the three main doors of the Notre Dame cathedral (as you look at them). The other was the Saint-Jacques-de-la-Boucherie church (St. James in French), which was unfortunately dismantled just after the French Revolution, in 1797. The church was actually sold as a stone quarry!! However, they saved the main tower which has a larger than life statue of Saint Jacques at the top.

Here is a website that will show you a description and images of the tower. It is in French, so the French teachers (M. Couture, Mme. Hourihane and Mme. Frenette) might show their students the sight, along with a video in French). Here's the sight: http://qr.cornis.fr/stjacques-home.html. You can also choose the different sided (N-S-E-W) and see zoomed photos of the structure, statuary and gargoyles, along with descriptions that I cannot understand! Je ne parle pas frances!

Prendre plaisir!!

Señor Hastings

¿Qué tiene que llevar un peregrino moderno para caminar el Camino de Santiago? Echa un vistazo a mi video pegado en la chincheta de Paris en mi mapa Google. Está escrito todo en español, pero entrances de nuevo, por eso hago este viaje- para que puedas ver, escuchar y eprender. A ver cuánto puedes entendres! ¡Que te diviertas!

What does a modern "peregrino"(pilgrim) need to carry in order to walk the Way of St. James? Take a look at my video in the Paris pin on my Google map. It is all in Spanish, but then again, that's why I'm doing this- so that you might see, listen and learn. See how much you can understand! Enjoy!!

¡Sólo dos semanas más antes de salir!

¡Hola!

¡En dos semanas nos vamos para Europa! Vamos a Paris primero para pasar un ratito visitando museos. Luego, domingo el 28 vamos a tomar el tren a St. Jean Pied de Port en las montañas Pireneos en la frontera de Francia y España. Vamos a pasar 2 noches allí para conocer el pueblo un poco antes de comenzar nuestro camino martes el 30 de agosto, justo cuando los primer años vienen para pasar su primer día.

Hace dos semanas mi esposa y yo practicamos caminar en el parque estatal Bear Brook en Allenstown. Este domingo pasado fui a Pawtuckaway llevando mi mochila bien llena de cosas. Caminé 8-9 millas por senderos muy bonitos, ¡pero había muchos mosquitos que me molestaban mientras yo caminaba!

Esta mañana mi esposa y yo caminamos unas 6 millas en el parque Northwood Meadows, en Northwood, NH. No hacía mucho calor, pero había mucha humedez y unas brisas de cuando en cuando.

Bueno, espero escribir un blog más antes de que nos vayamos. Ojalá vuestros profes os hablen del Camino de Santiago y que yo oiga de vosotros pronto.

¡Hasta pronto!

Señor Hastings