The French Evolution

My first time in Paris was 35 or so years ago.  I was doing the (what was deemed back then) obligatory backpack through Europe after college.  On the bus from Calais to Paris, I met a Canadian doctor who lived in Paris.  He said that he knew of a pension-type hotel (more of a boarding house) that was run by an old lady.  The old lady was picky about whom she let stay there (particularly didn't cater to Americans) but that he could speak to her (being from Montreal he was fluent in French) and get me a room.  The room was great.  Big old bed with a beautiful wood bed frame.  It had a little balcony with a view over some Parisian rooftops. The WC was down the hall, but that was OK.   The real Paris I  thought.  And extremely cheap.  After running around Italy I came back to Paris and stayed there again.  I had found "my" place to stay in Paris and it was the "real" Paris.  Up around the Parc Chaumont-Buttes, long before Lonely Planet or Time Out had done any articles about this hidden gem of the "real" Paris.  At the time I thought that I would be returning to Europe every 3-5 years for sure so this was a great find.

But it was 9 years before I returned to Europe and Paris.  Then with the dollar at almost 8 francs and traveling with a wife that might not have been so intrigued with the real Paris, a four star hotel on the Champs-Elysee was a better choice.

Then it was another 21 years before I returned to Europe.  On this trip, once again Paris was the hub of my travels.  I ended up staying in a hotel in the NE part of Paris near where the old rooming house was.  Not a bad place, but the attitude there was not good and the neighborhood lacked the same feel.   The bed was small and the street noise was apparent (maybe not loud, but it was there).   While there, whereever I went I looked for the old hotel to no avail.

Two years later I was back in Europe.  Again, Paris was the hub of my travels.  This time I searched the internet sites to find a neat little "Parisian" hotel for my stay in "authentic" Paris.  I stayed in what was called a "boutique" hotel in the trendy Oberkampf area.  Boutique obviously is French for small, cramped, noisy and expensive.  While not in the pricey range for Paris hotels, what you got for 75 euros was not worth it.  While roaming the NE part of Paris one day I found my old "gem".  Incredibly run down.  Probably the cheapest room in Paris at 30 euros w/o bath but it looked like a very uninviting place.  And Parc Chaumont-Buttes was trashy and full of "real" Parisians.

So this time I tried a new strategy.  Forget the "real" Paris.  The left bank may be more touristy but I thought it really more Parisian also.  So this time, I went on Priceline and bid on the left bank hotels listed there that cater to the tourist crowd.  So here I am in the Marriott Rive Gauche.  $135/night ( I may bid lower next time).  Big air-conditioned room with a king-size bed and view of the city (or at least the Pantheon, St. Sulpice, and in the distance the spire of Notre Dame).  This is obviously the way to go.  Everyone speaks English and at least "acts" like they don't have disdain for Americans.  Internet is outrageously expensive.  Maybe in the future getting  a prepaid USB modem from SFR would be a smart thing if you were going to stay here 3 or more days.

So this is what I have evolved into, the American tourist.  I would have never thought it but for a little more than the trendy but terribly uncomfortable boutique hotels, you can get a great room in Paris.  While I have tasted the "real" Paris, I doubt I'll ever return.

Leaving Chamartin station

A couple of things about Madrid that I noticed-

At the left luggage at Chamartin station I noticed that you can leave your luggage for 15 days!  I would assume that it's the same at Atocha.

The Don Pio hotel was 70 euros but still a good deal.  Huge room with big double bed and jacuzzi bath.  Neat old hotel with atrium as the center of the hotel.  A little north of town but not bad location.

Took the "tren hotel" train from Madrid to Paris.  Most uncomfortable train ride ever.  Throw in the Spaniard women that talked constantly behind me not a good trip.

This is not a blog

View of Toledo

I'm in Toledo for a few days.  I had hoped that I had seen the worst of my foot problems.  Not so.  Skipped a few of the stages of the camino and made my way to Toledo for rest.  Stayed in Madrid for a day on the way here.  Pretty low key but made it to the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (highly recommended).  While it has been somewhat criticized for not having a focus or any outstanding specialized area or any great masterpieces,  it has the feel of someone's private collection (someone with untold fortunes to spend).  Plenty of works by masters and some paintings that I thought I sort of recognized.  But the neat thing for me was that it had early works of masters like Van Gogh and Kandinsky (could he be called a master?)  that were very informing about their other work.  Kandinsky is a guy that I never liked and thought he was an overrated talentless hack.  But this museum had early works of his when he was with the Fauves  and I liked what I saw.  I still don't like his later stuff and think he's overrated, but talentless hack, no.  Lots of Impressionists that I was not familiar with.  Plenty of other early Italian art.  I would say try to spend more that the 3.5 hours I spent.  I ended up running through a bunch and wished I had spent more time.  Also, try to avoid the weekends.  There were a good number of people but you could still browse pretty much without being crowded.  But it would have been even nicer with fewer people.

Next I'm off to Paris for a few days for the first couple of days of the French Open.  This is the only scheduled part of my trip.  Comes at a good time too.

This is not a blog, but a place for me to jot down my thoughts.  So now some random thoughts about the Spanish economy.

 I was last in Spain in the fall of 2008, the start of the financial crisis and Spain was one of the countries at the center of it.  Three and a half years later, it still is at the center of the European crisis, being one of the PIGS.  Before I arrived in 2008 I had no real preconceived notions about Spain or the Spanish people.  I had read through the popular press that Spain had a new energy and had become a successful, hard-working people.  An hour in the country and one would wonder if the writers of those pieces ever set foot in the country.

Now Spain is mired in depression (supposedly) with 25% unemployment.  On the surface, I can see no difference between now and then.  It certainly doesn't seem to be mired in a depression.  But the few people I have had conversations with about this say things are quite dire.  A woman who runs a laundromat in Valencia, The L@undryStop (highly recommended), says that the winter was very hard but she is trying to hold on.  This is one of the few laundromats in Spain.  She also has computers with internet that are coin operated ( a unique thing in Spain).  She is very nice, speaks fluent English (and I think I heard her speak German too) and runs a great service while caring about pleasing her customers.  AND SHE'S GOING UNDER!  It's bizarre.  One of the things that amazes me is how few people in the "hospitality" industries speak English.  The hotel I am staying in now in Toledo is quite nice but my Spanish is better than the English of the people that run the place.  And there are many English speaking tourists in Toledo believe me.  Anway, she said that the political scene in Spain was abysmal.  Sounds the same everywhere.  As she said it's hard to tell who the politicians are representing.

There are plenty of stories in the papers of the corruption of the leading figures in politics and business.  Today I read that the head of the Santander Bank, the biggest in Spain, and the biggest culprit in their housing crisis, was exonerated of any illegalities for siphoning off most of his fortune to Swiss bank accounts.  Stories like this are in the paper every day.  There was a story in the IHT recently about how the debt in Spain is mostly corporate debt, different from the other PIGS who have mostly government debt.  So these corporations are selling off assets and "down-sizing" in hopes of making it through.  Not good in an economy with 25% unemployment.  Today the OECD came out and predicted that the Spanish economy will not see any growth until at least 2014.

But while you hear all these horrible reports,  I don't see any big difference.  Spaniards still crowd the bars and restaurants.  The shopping malls are packed with Spaniards.  Spaniards still run their little cars up and down the road night and day.  I'm sure things are bad.  But no one has told the Spaniards.

I was in a Phone House store in Valencia buying a cell phone (I was finding it hard to do anything without a Spanish phone number, for some reason it's very important for people if you are making reservations).  A nice girl was helping me.  She spoke English somewhat (at least better than my Spanish).  While she was setting up my phone, a huge demonstration came by outside.  I asked her what it was about.  She said that it was Basques.  I thought that they were probably demonstrating for their independence or something.  No.  She said, "They didn't get paid."  She sort of sneered when she said it.  I think that that is what goes on in Spain.  Folks are happy as long as "they get paid."  I don't know what or how the government pays Spaniards, but I think I would be shocked.  And for people that are working and doing a good job, it's got to be annoying.  Or people that are running a good business with a unique service and having trouble making it, it's got to be irritating.  But from my perspective, those people are a minority in Spain.

While I've been hiking, I've come along huge 80 foot wide unpaved roads through the countryside going from one little town to some other little town a ways away.  These projects are now totally abandoned.  Their only use is for me to use as my own personal camino to walk down (Muchas gracias,  Presidente Zapatero!)  One wonders what people were thinking when they started these projects.  There are also huge new highways right beside other highways.  There are rarely any cars going down the new highways.  When I took the train from Barcelona to Valencia, we passed whole towns that had been recently built along the coast.  All totally vacant and for sale.  The thoughtless construction and "development" is everywhere.

From the moment I came to Spain, I have wondered how you can run a modern-day economy the way that the Spaniards do.  The stores are open 5 or 6 hours a day.  Closed most of the weekend.  There are fiestas all the time where the stores shut down.  The inefficiences of their economy are everywhere and trying to do commerce in Spain an be very annoying (and you're trying to give them money). The stores that are open at decent hours,  the American-style department stores and grocery stores do a bang-up business.   It doesn't take Paul Krugman to see how their economy could get going.  But it's not going to happen.  Spaniards wouldn't keep there stores open at decent hours for consumers.  They are not going to suddenly start manning their hospitality businesses with well-trained, customer-friendly, English-speaking people.  Even though tourism is their biggest industry.

It's easy to see how fascism could rear it's little Spanish head again.  The influence of corporations is not hard to glean.  The way that the corporate malfeasance is officially white-washed is appalling.  The ineffectual political system makes one wonder "who they are representing".  The incredibly conservative, conformist, macho culture.   All could combine to bring about some kind of neo-Francoist movement.  And my guess it would be alright with Spaniards as long as "they got paid."

Chozo city

La Roda -->  San Clemente

Lots of chozos (stone sheperd's huts) on this section.  Even had sort of chozo compounds.  But did not see any livestock herds on this section.  Are the chozos for show?

Stayed in a hotel in San Clemente (not a nice town) that should have been a great experience.  Beautiful old house with an atrium inside.  Had a swimming pool (very modern design).  But when I went for a swim, the old man (it was an older couple running the place) came around to clean the pool.  Couldn't you do that before I went for a swim?  The bed was uncomfortable and there was no AC.  The weird thing was that I was the only guest and they still put me in this room by the street.  Of course, there were people talking and loud cars and motorscooters running up and down the road all night.  Hardly slept.  It did have internet.

Then when I went to check out this morning, no one was around and all the doors locked by key.  I finally figured out how to unlock one door and rung the reception bell from the outside.  The old man appeared in his bathrobe, smoking a cigarette (not too early to smoke but too early to check out the guest).  He had kept my passport overnight (why?).  Turned out to be a poor experience.

San Clemente -->  Las Pedroneras  24 km

Took off down the trail.  The road that the hotel was on was actually the  camino and it almost immediately turned into a farm road out into the countryside.  And what beautiful countryside it was.  Almost an English type of landscape (but maybe a bit flatter).  After a couple of hours I crossed a road that a yellow arrow said to follow.  For the next 7 or 8 miles there were no waymarks at all.  After a while the road had turned into a farm track and then into a more obscure farm track.  I ended up taking my compass out for the first time.  It looked like I was headed in the right direction.  There was a man plowing in his vineyard.  I stopped him to ask if  I was on the camino.  He said no but pointed to the even more obscure track on the other side of the vineyard that I had decided couldn't be the camino.  I showed him my map and he took it and properly oriented it and recognized some of the landmarks and pointed to where they were.  He then told me to go down the path on the other side of the vineyard, down the hill and cross the river (or at least I think that's what he said).   As annoying as Spaniards can be, they sure can be helpful when you need help.   I took off and very unsurely followed his directions (as I understood them), through some very suspect paths, through some woods even (the first woods I have come across).  Came out by a bridge across what I guess would pass for a river in Spain.  Started down the (now more clearly maintained) farm road and had decided that I was, in fact, going the right way.  Then some roads and intersections appeared that weren't on my map, so I started questioning my position again.  I stopped a man and his son on a tractor coming down the road and asked them if this was the camino.  They said no and said something I totally didn't understand.  I showed them my map.  Where the other farmer took it and properly oriented it,  I saw right away that these guys were not going to make any progress orienting it.  It was like handing a football to a couple of monkeys, they had no clue what to do with it.  Then I showed them the next map with the town I was going to on it and said that that was where I wanted to go.  All of a sudden they perked up "Todo recto, Todo recto! they said pointing down the road.  OK I was going the right way.  A little while later I walked into the town of  Las Pedroneras.  I had been on the camino the whole time.  But no waymarks for miles through the most suspect part of the trail so far.  As helpful as Spaniards can be I can't rely on them the whole trail.  I hope that the markings improve.  But if you are going to get lost, the area between San Clemente and Las Pedroneras is a great place for it.  It is gorgeous.

Anyway,  I realized right away that I didn't want to stay in that stinking town.  The only place to stay was a dump on the highway and there were just general bad vibes.  So I asked for directions to the bus station.

Now I remember the bus system of Spain to be very good, very cheap, and very confusing.  I had no idea.  Made to the bus station that was a nice new modern building (with solar panels even) but it was totally closed up.  The bus schedule was posted on a big sign outside though.  I figured by the direction of the next bus (they didn't actually list the stops) that it would go to Moto del Cuervo, a town a bit down the camino with an actual hotel.  Then a guy driving a street sweeping truck comes up shaking his hand and his index finger.  He says that this is not the bus station.  It has moved to another part of town.  He pulls out a map of the stinking little town of  Las Pedroneras and shows me where it is and gives me the map.  I ask him if he knew if the bus stopped at Moto del Cuervo and walked over and took one of my hiking poles and used it as a pointer and showed my on the sign the time and bus that would go to Moto.  Spaniards can be helpful.

Walked over to the new bus station (that was just a stop).  Here they hadn't listed the bus that was supposed to come according to the other sign. But I waited and thought I'll just take the next bus even if I have to wait all afternoon.  But about that time a bus comes along but it is from another bus company and the sign on the bus says that it was going from Madrid to San Clemente, the wrong way (back where I had just walked from).  But I asked the bus driver anyway if he was going to Moto del Cuervo and he said YES.  Weirder and weirder.  I get on the bus and head on down to Moto.  And I'm glad I did.  The hotel is fairly nice. Has internet and AC.  Turned out to be a good idea.

Boundless horizons

Before I leave La Mancha, I think that my computer is going to "learn" to autofill that term whenever I touch the B key.

Albacete --> La Roda 39.3 km  10.5 hrs

Tried to get an early start.  Left the hotel at 7.  But it took 2 hours to get even somewhat out of Albacete.  I had to walk all the way across the city and then I hit a huge disorienting road building/construction project that made my map obsolete and had destroyed any waymarks (if there ever were any).  I kept trying to figure out navigational directions,  looking at my map, totally confused.  I noticed that there was a big highway leaving the city way over on the left but I finally concluded that the road that was getting paved was the road that I should follow and took off.  Then all the paving and construction trucks behind me working on the road started honking their horns and the workers were yelling.  I turned around to see what the hay was going on and they were yelling "Alli!  Alli!" at me and waving and pointing at the road way over to the left.  OK that settles that.  As annoying as Spaniards can be,  they really can be helpful when you need help.

I made my way over to the road far away but within sight (due to, you know, those boundless horizons),   zig zagging down roads and farm tracks until I finally found a yellow arrow.  Put my head down and just walked out into the flat treeless plains.  Not my favorite area even though it was actually pretty nice.  Just reminded me too much of an Illinois type scene (although I don't remember ever seeing mountains on the horizon in IL).  Made it to La Gineta in 3 hours.  Good time.  Stopped to have lunch in a park there.  Then on to La Roda.  This section was much nicer.  More trees.  Beautiful grain fields with the wind swaying them back and forth.  The mountains had come in a little closer so it felt a bit less wide open space.  Made it to La Roda about 5:30.

Two discoveries while in Albacete.  One good, one not good.

 I couldn't find a laundromat (because they hardly exist in Spain) so I let the hotel's laundry service send out my little bag of smelly, stained hiking clothes to be cleaned.  The charge ended up being 31 euros.  About 40 bucks to have my shoddy stuff cleaned.  So never use a hotel's laundry service in Spain.  Lesson learned.

The other thing was that I had been thinking that it would be great to find some Gatorade in Spain.  Maybe alleviate some of the heat and dehydration effects.  I had tried to keep an eye open but had never found any.  Then I was in the Mercadona and happen to notice that they had  a sports drink in their own Hacendado brand.  Tried it and it's pretty good.

But sports drink or no, 25 miles is just too long to hike on a warm day with a pack.  Today more blisters showed up and I personally couldn't have found any places on my feet to fit any more.

The 8th stage

Chinchilla -->  Albacete   17.5 km 3.5 hrs +  Upper 80's  a bit of wind

The walk from Chinchilla is mostly through grain fields.  More of the olive greens and sepia tones in patchwork patterns that are the palette of the Spanish landscape for me.  Very much the boundless horizons of La Mancha.  You could see Albacete from Chinchilla.   You might have thought that it would be an hour's walk.  You'd be wrong.   Plenty of  mountain bikers out (all male).  Some actually friendly and helpful.  I needed a shorter day.  And I needed Albacete I think.  A city that on the surface is not all that appealing.  Mostly just the modern box skyline mixed with some Spanish style buildings.  But it has El Corte Ingles and Mercadona and maybe other things for supplies and comfort.

I had made reservations at Hotel Univerisdad on the internet a couple of days ago.  Glad I did.   Seems to be a great place.  And at 42 euros a night,  a good deal.  Had lunch in the restaurant and it was excellent.  A good break from my camp food of the last few days.  At 13 euros it was kind of high for the typical menu del dia.  But still a great value.  Mixed salad (or what passes for a mixed salad in Spain),  salmon (almost more than I could eat),  potatoes and a vegetable medley thing.  Postre was ice cream.  All top notch.

I'm here for two nights.  Today being Sunday, Spain is closed.  So tomorrow I will shop and hopefully do laundry (badly needed).  And wander the town.

I think I need to endorse booking.com.  Their reviews seem to be accurate and their prices are cheaper than the listed prices.  And the rooms I got have been good.  I'll amend this recommendation if things change.

My first pilgrim sighting

A chozo - a shepherd's hut (you come across these sporadically)

Higuererla -->  Chinchilla  28.8 km  9.5 hrs  88 F

Another sunny day with no wind.  The windmills of La Mancha were at a stand still.  There certainly is something about the Spanish sun baking you that can zap your energy.  Not super hot but unrelenting.

The landscape once again was gorgeous.  Great trail to either look at the countryside or get lost in your thoughts and just walk.

Walked in Tevas.  At lunch, I put some molefoam on and taped the troubled areas of my feet.  Seemed to help (or at least not exacerbate)  the problems.  I actually ran into some hikers.  A older German couple were looking exhausted as I walked into Hoya Gonzolo.  They were only going short distances but they looked to be on death's door.  They had actually called the bar that they were going to stay at to have someone to come pick them at the edge of town.  They couldn't even make it to the bar.  And Hoya Gonzolo is a little bitty town of about 700 people.  I have a feeling I might not be seeing those guys again.  But I understand their plight.  The long distances and the sun are a combination that will test you (me).

Stayed at the Hostal Penon in  Chinchilla.  Very much your typical room over the bar.  25 euros seems like a ripoff.  No wifi and plenty of Spaniards reveling all night.  But with earplugs and exhaustion I slept very well.

I think the thing to do would be to camp in before getting to Chinchilla.  Plenty of areas to do that.

Man of La Mancha

Almansa --> Higueruela  38.4 Km  9.5 hrs

Back on the camino today after taking about 6 days off to let my feet heal.  Going 25 miles the first day back put my feet to the test.  It was a beautiful sun-drenched manchegan day.  And also the most spectacular day of hiking I can remember outside of Banff.  The landscape was incredible. The orange groves that had turned into olive orchards are now vineyards.   Really France met Spain today.  You could just walk down the road and let your thoughts go while experiencing the scenery. And I had it all to myself. I did not see or pass one soul.

I had taped my feet this morning. Might have helped.  Feeling some hot spots.  Tomorrow will tell me how well things have really healed.

The castle at Almansa

The camino in La Mancha

Bunkers from the Spanish Civil War

WWDQD?  The modern day windmills of La Mancha

OK! I get it! I'm in Spain!

On my first trip to Spain, I kept thinking " How can you have an economy that runs like this?".  This was October 2008.  The beginning of the real efffects of the crisis.  I had read some books about the new business-efficient Europe and how even Spain, yes Spain, was a country full of workaholics.   I have no idea where these people were getting this information.  Stores are only open 4 or 5 hours a day.  Closed most of the weekend.  Forget trying to get anything on a Sunday.   Discussing Spain with a couple of American college students in Salamanca, they said that they had no idea that a country could be so "laidback" (euphemistically speaking).  

Yesterday was the day that it hit me.  I'm in Spain.  And I don't mean that it a good way.  Tried buying a prepaid cell phone for emergencies and making reservations and such.  Better forget that idea.  Even at the Phone House (where I've had good luck before) I couldn't get anyone to help me.  The only way that the two guys working there bothered to respond to a customer was when one of them set off an alarm.

Then it was on to buy my train ticket to Almansa for tomorrow.  I went to the main station where I had arrived when I came from Almansa.  The ticket guy said that I had to go to another train station in Valencia to buy my ticket.  When I said that I had arrived at that station when I came from Almansa, he said that I would leave from that station but I would have to buy my ticket at the other station.  When I looked totally confused, he just shrugged his shoulders and smiled to say "You're in Spain.  Deal with it."

And deal with it I shall.  I will try to overcome the idiosyncrasies of  the Spanish economic system (or so it's called) and continue on my walk Friday.  Tomorrow I will return to Almansa.   My feet are better.  Not completely healed but at least weird stuff isn't oozing out of them.  Hopefully, I can bandage them and maybe walk in Tevas to keep them from getting too bad.  I sent a box on to Toledo today that was 3.6 Kg ( 7 or 8 pounds), so my pack will be a bit lighter also.  Hopefully, make it to Toledo in a coulple of weeks.  I have to say that the trail has been nice so I hope that I can enjoy it a bit more with a little less pain and carrying a little less weight.

Am I a walker or a tourist?

I'm back in Valencia.  After five stages of the camino, my feet turned into hamburger.  After reaching Almansa, I decided it was time to take some days off to let my feet heal.  I have taken an apartment at 40 flats (highly recommended) and have just been hanging out here, walking as little as possible and have already seen improvement after a couple of days.  Hopefully, all will be well in a few days and I can continue the walk.

While I won't do a total pack explosion, I hope to whittle things down to mostly necessities and send other stuff on to Toledo.  For example, my camera and all its cables and chargers can be sent on.  I can take photos with the lousy camera on the ipod if I need to.  After all, am I a tourist or am I a walker?

About the walk.  I've been meaning to do posts after each stage or two so my thoughts would be fresh.  However, either internet is not reliable or I'm just too tired to write or think.  So here is a capsule of the stages so far.

Valencia -- Algemesi 38 km 10 hrs

Flat.  Goes through a lot of industrial parks. While that is not the most scenic route, at least these areas are pretty deserted at a result of the depressed Spanish economy.  The walk got better the farther from Valencia I got.  The problem that I had (and have had the entire trip) is that any waymarks disappear in the towns.  The maps in the guidebook are very poor for the towns.  The streets and the layout of the little Spanish towns are confusing.  There are no street signs for the streets in the towns (I guess everyone in the town knows where to go so there's no need for them).   As a result it takes up an inordinate amount of time to get through the towns.   When I ask people about the Camino they are likely to not know anything about it.  However,  Spaniards tend to be helpful, so I can eventually make my way out of town.


Left Paula and Paco's apartment about 8:30.  Took the wrong way when I got to the "Camino" and headed into Valencia instead of out of it.  Wasted about 30 minutes with that debacle.  Walk got better in the afternoon.  Went through miles of orange groves in bloom so I was engulfed by the bouquet of orange blossoms.  Had my first dog incident.  Some idiot redneck Spaniard had his pitbullmixmongrel dog running loose on the road outside of a complex of buildings out in the middle of nowhere.  When I asked some people in the front of the buildings if it was their dog, they said no and pointed to buildings in back.  I noticed that they were inside a locked fence.  Their reaction seem to reveal their exasperation with the dog owner.  A universal truth I guess is that mean-ass rednecks can intimidate anyone they please and decent people just have to try and live with it.

It rained and lighteninged (?) for the last two hours of the walk.  Finally made it to Algemesi and found a room over a bar (seemingly the only rooms in town).  Paid like 16 euros so it was OK.  Not real clean.  There was a confused rooster outside that kept crowing ( or croaking as the case may be) all night, his voice raspy either from overuse or having to breath the second-hand smoke that spewed from the bar.  And of course the local band that cranked up about the time I was nodding off.  I swear that I've heard dozens of these bands and none are even as good as any little podunk junior high band.  But they get an A for the non-stop effort they can put out though.  With ear plugs (and exhaustion) I got a decent night's sleep.

A weird thing happened while I was waiting in the bar for my room.  Of course, nobody spoke English.  They had a Spanish radio station playing.  Then all of a sudden, James Taylor comes on the radio singing "Carolina in My Mind."   First I thought, how nice of the Algemesi spaniards.  How did they know that was one of my favorites?  But it turned out to be an ad for a James Taylor concert somewhere in Spain.  He seems to be touring Europe.  Ainslie Perlmutt had gone to see him in Italy.

Learned a lesson along the way.  The young Spanish girls seem to be the best people to ask directions.  They are helpful and like to practice their English.

Algemesi -- Xativa  30.4 km  9 hrs

Looking out at Xativa

Castle above Xativa

Nicer walk, once again saturated in the scent of orange blossoms.  In Xativa, it turned out that my hotel was up on the side of a mountain.  Not exactly a pleasant surprise.  But the payoff for the climb was worth it.  From the ridiculous to the sublime or from the prosaic to the poetic.  For 73 euros, it was the most I had ever paid for a room in Spain but maybe the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in.  The Hotel Mont Sant is small with only 11 rooms (although I only saw 5).  Had a good (but expensive) dinner in the restaurant.  The room had a nice private patio with a view of the mountaintop castle and a jacuzzi.  I ended up staying two nights thinking that my feet would heal enough to not bother me.  Didn't happen because ...

Xativa -- Moixent 27.9 km

Moixent -- La Font de la Figuera  17.6 km

La Font de la Figuera -- Almansa  26.6 km

Ended up combining these three stages into two days.  Didn't mean to but it turns out that the hotel that I thought was in Moixent was 10 km past Moixent.  The hotel (Mas de Monserrat) was a casa rurales out in the middle of nowhere.  But in a beautiful area.  The women who ran the hotel said it was "como Toscana".  Maybe a bit of oversell, but not much.  Should have camped in this area.  If you had water it would be perfect.

Next day, decided to head on to Almansa and think about a respite from walking.  Another beautiful walk.  Made it into what I thought was just another little Spanish town.  But it surprised me.  I walked into the town center to see about getting some water.  Ran into a farmer's market going on in the town square.  As I was walking along, a guy walking the other way pointed up in the direction of the ayuntamiento where I could get the key to the algergue.  I just said thanks instead of explaining that I wasn't staying in town.  Saw that he had stopped the policeman to tell him that I was going to need the key to the algergue.  Went into the market and found a stall selling fruit.  2 apples, 2 oranges, 2 plums: all for 1.35 euros.  And all were great.  I was sitting on the town fountain eating lunch when the policeman drove by and stopped and asked if  I needed the key to the albergue.  I explained that I was continuing on to Almansa.  He rolled his eyes and sort of shook his hand and looked like I was crazy and said something about 30 kms more.

While I was sitting there eating lunch, a couple of old ladies walked up and said that they were members of the Valencia Association of Amigos.  While talking, I found out the answer to why I hadn't seen any other pilgrims (only 1 on a bike).  Although I was pilgrim number 1044 this year.  that is for all caminos.  I had thought that was only for the Camino de Levante.  Obviously,  90% or more will do the Camino Frances.

When leaving town, I asked a woman with a baby carriage for directions.  She gave me directions in broken English.  Then the policeman came driving by and I asked him for directions and he got out, drew a map and gave my directions.  I followed his directions (or what I thought he said) and all was perfect.  A little confusion actually finding the trail due to all the (now deserted)  highway building (more on that later).  Then on my way to Almansa.  Beautiful walk.  Had the countryside to myself.  Was dead by the time I got to Almansa.  Back to back 25 mile days is idiotic and maybe life-threatening (or so it seems).

Stayed in an overpriced modern hotel the first night in Almansa.  The next night found a very nice hostal run by a very nice (English-speaking) woman.  Almansa was in the middle of a fiesta celebrating the wars between Moors and Christians (looking around not sure who won).  Lots of interesting costumes.  But frustrating because the Mercadona (and everything else) had closed by the time I made it there.  This was the first time that Spain had beat me.  I'm sure it won't be the last.

Near Monserrat

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