I've been watching the weather forecasts all week to see what it's going to be like on the Aubrac plateau which is somewhere up there after we climb 500 meters or so out of Le Puy. This morning it said there would be about an inch and a half of snow throughout the day on April 2nd - our start date - and another inch and a half over night with a 35kph wind and temperatures below freezing. Brr-r.
I'm happy to say that's been upgraded to rain showers and light rain (not sure of the difference there), temperatures of 4 and 6 degrees centigrade with winds of only 25kph. That still sounds a bit breezy to me but everything else sounds better.....No doubt it will all change again several times before the time comes... It must be really something to be a weather person. I mean unless you're talking about what's happening right now, what you say is pretty much always wrong. Doesn't that get hard to take after awhile?
It's almost time to leave - two more sleeps. I wonder if everyone goes through these strange times just before leaving? Things seem to go wrong, feelings are chaotic, endless last minute jobs that should have been done earlier just have to be done now. A whole variety of barriers seem to jump in the way. It's almost as if there is something at work here testing my resolve to do this. My nasty little interior voice goes on - "Are you sure you want to go and walk with a pack on your back for almost 3 months when the garden needs digging, the flower gardens are a mess, the plants need to be planted, the house needs to be painted, the water filter needs to be changed, the unfinished Christmas project needs to be finished, my granddaughter needs me to be here for her, the new batch of puppies will need someone to look after them etc., etc., you're letting everyone down by not being here." Everyone's details are different but it's amazing how similar the plots to the stories are. Certainly in my case the pressure is not coming from others but oh boy, what a story I tell myself about how much I'm needed. Needing to be needed - hmm - that sounds like an old familiar story!
On another topic that is helpful for anyone planning a trip like this. There's a website with a ton of information on it and also the ability to plan the stages of your own trip on some of the caminos. It's at www.godalesco.com. It includes the elevation profiles for oyur trip which is really helpful for planning the length of your day. Also included are the names of all of the various spots along the way, the # of kilometers between each one and what services are available at each town. I can't say I can really tell what part is the plateau - aren't plateaus usually flat? But no doubt if there's a flat bit up there we'll be sure to notice!
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