Sydney at Christmas

Some sights I have seen in the last couple of weeks in Sydney:

And this was the "Lights of Christmas" on St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney:


Have a Happy Christmas.....

Human lawyers

I see that a US court has decided not to recognize chimpanzees as humans.

I wonder if the Australian, Peter Singer, was involved in this attempt? He is a professor at Princeton University which is not too far away. He was involved in a The Great Ape project to include the rights of apes in the Spanish legal system, so he might have been involved in the US case.

Oh well, better luck next time. Meanwhile I'm going off to the chimpanzee court to be recognized as a monkey. I've always liked bananas.

German language and song

Of the European languages, I find the romance languages such as Italian, French and Spanish very attractive in the way they express thoughts and the way they sound when spoken. In contrast, German can sound a little formal and excessively precise.

However, I much prefer to listen to songs in German.  For some reason, the language  seems to fit musical rhythms and sounds.

More than that, I prefer German tenors, especially in romantic songs. I can't explain this, but I think it has something to do with the fact that many classical German singers resist the temptation to "express themselves" and oversell the song, but instead they hang back a bit and let the song itself carry the emotion. The only way I can express this is by a few examples of tenor arias in German operetta.

For example, a famous tear-jerker "You are my heart's delight" from the Operetta "Land of Smiles" by Franz Lehar.

Here is the version by Luciano Pavarotti:



And by the Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon:



Both very good, but here is Richard Tauber singing this, which became his signature song.
This is an old, scratchy recording with poor sound. Tauber is wearing a ridiculous costume and he, poor fellow, is physically slightly ugly.
But I defy you not to be moved by this song, about a nobleman saying goodbye to the only love of his life, because of duty to his country:






and finally, just because I like it, here is Joseph Schmidt singing his signature song:




Poor Joseph Schmidt looks so cheerful here, but his life was a stressful tragedy, as you can guess from the year of his death, 1942.

Colours of Sydney

This is a video of some sandstone near Balmoral beach in Sydney Harbour. I think these colours of brown, green and blue are very typical of Sydney harbour.

But yesterday I accidentally someone here eating his breakfast who actually knew about the geology of Sydney harbour. According to him, the harbour is a "sunken valley". 7,000 years ago, the coastline was several kilometres East and the harbour was a valley. (note, this is not long ago. I have reached an age where I feel I know some people who were around then!!!). There would have been Aboriginal settlements in this valley. Then over time the sea level rose and flooded the valley, creating Sydney Harbour. That is why the harbour is not like a normal river estuary, which might have a wide mouth surrounded by sand dunes. The mouth of Sydney harbour are cliffs only a couple of hundred metres apart. There are places in the upper reaches of the harbour which are deeper than the water at the mouth of the harbour. Of course the sandstone of this river valley is a sedimentary rock, which was at one time at the bottom of a sea, but this happened millions, not thousands of years ago. So the colours of the harbour are not only beautiful, they have an interesting history.

Just because it's cute

It was a sunny day today, so I had a good walk.
Halfway through I had some breakfast, but a couple of cockatoos were watching...

Death of the movies

In the last couple of months, I have taken two long aeroplane flights. During those I watched many movies on the in-flight entertainment, more than six. OK, I confess I didn't watch any of these movies all the way through, I fast forwarded through the boring bits, of which there were many. In my opinion, all these movies were unimaginative, written to a formula, and it was always a relief to me when any of the dreary characters in the movies was blown to bits. The movies were either "action" movies, which means the plots are exactly the same, with different costumes. (Handsome hero, cute girlfriend, powerful villain who almost, but not quite kills hero, big battle 15 minutes before the end of the movie, happy ending with enough loose ends to allow a sequel if the box office permits.)

Alternatively, the movies were sentimental romantic comedies with awkward hero, stupid behaviour and happy ending etc.

I kept congratulating myself on not having wasted my money paying to watch this nonsense in the movie theatres.

Then I saw that there was an oldies channel showing Bogart and Bergmann in Casablanca.

Bliss.

A movie with interesting ideas, characters you care about, imaginative dialogue and a story which connected to the real lives of the audience.

Then this morning I heard an interview on the radio with the director of the American television series "House of Cards". In his opinion, the real entertainment these days is on television, not in the movies. I can see his point, television has more opportunity to try new things, a series can allow development of the characters, and content can be delivered in many ways, over the internet, on DVD's and is available whenever you want it.

Are movies dying?

Near me, cinemas are closing, and the one successful theatre spends half its time showing live recordings of concerts, operas and plays, and reruns of old classic movies.

Back when TV started, people predicted that it would kill the movie theatres, but it didn't then, but maybe it is finally happening. The only thing the movies provides is a cheap night out of the house, but is that enough to keep the movies alive?

Meanwhile, we will be seeing more and more "blockbuster" movies based on comic books.

Seriously? 

These comics weren't much good when I read them as a child, I refuse to pay to watch them now. Has Gone With The Wind really morphed into Superman?

Or are the movies dying?

Michael Putney

I just heard about this interview with Bishop Michael Putney of Townsville  (which is on the North coast of Queensland, near the tropics).
I first heard about him in a radio programme about meditation. He became interested in this and introduced a period of meditation at the start of every day in the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Townsville,  for all classes, from Kindergarten to year 12.

One of the places in the Diocese is the Aboriginal community of Palm Island, and the meditation in the school on Palm Island was the subject of the radio programme I listened to.

Apparently the meditation was valued by all the students and teachers in the schools, and Bishop Putney observed that the small children in remote areas were in fact praying and meditating in the same way as Medieval monks.

Now, I heard that Bishop Putney has terminal cancer, and he talks about this in this interview:

Among friends

Yesterday I went to the Mass at Matt Talbot hostel, as I have been doing for the last year. I realised then how much I had missed this while I was away. There is a real sense of community with all the people there, even though people come and go regularly.

I also missed talking to some of the men who can always surprise you with the things they know. For example, while I was walking in France, I visited a museum in the town of Figeac which was dedicated to Jean-Francois Champollion, who used the discovery of the Rosetta stone to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. Before seeing this museum, I didn't know who Champollion was, but one of the men knew it.

I also learned yesterday that next month China will be launching a moon lander called Chang'e.

Another astronomical activity is the Mars One project which was started by a Dutchman and plans to send people to colonise Mars. Apparently they have asked for volunteers to make the one-way trip to Mars, and 20,000 people from Australia responded.

The things you hear!!!!

The universe strikes back

Yesterday I was surprised to learn that Miss Venezuela had just been crowned Miss Universe in Moscow:

Don't misunderstand me, I am sure Miss Venezuela is a worthy winner, what surprises me is that the Miss U contest is still going. This is another reminder to me that the certainties of my past often go up in smoke.
When I was growing up in the sixties and seventies, the universal assumption was that beauty pageants were hangovers from the past and would certainly die out. In those days, everyone would have said beauty pageants just did not fit in a modern world and the new role of women in society.

Now, here we are, almost 50 years later, and TV shows are devoted to choosing the dress to be worn by Miss Australia in the contest. Plus ca change, plus la meme chose (excuse my French).

Another example of changes that never happened is the attitude to days like Anzac Day  and November 11. In the sixties and seventies, the universal (there is that word again) opinion was that these were just days for old drunks to glorify war. Anyone who wanted to be modern would mock days like that. I remember a comedy show on ABC TV making a joke of lighting a cigarette from the Eternal flame in an RSL club.
But now, days like this are treated with more reverence than any religious practice. Many more people remember November 11th than November 2nd.

Which one of our "certainties" of today will disappear by 2050?

Hot and humid

It's hot and humid today and everyone is expecting a thunderstorm tonight.

In the meantime, there is a big ship in the overseas terminal of Sydney Harbour.

And a view of the Harbour Bridge behind some old warehouses:

Feet

I can feel a small pain on the sole of my left foot. It feels like a small corn and it started a couple of months ago. Most of the time I can't feel it, but I decided to visit a doctor.

He said it was just an irritation between the skin and bone, due to age and rubbing inside shoes. His poetic, but not so helpful analogy was "it's like you kept opening doors with your nose. Eventually you would have a sore nose".

I have orthotics, but he is an orthotics sceptic. His argument is that the foot is a complex mechanism and should be made to work. Jamming it in with orthotics might not be a good idea, though some conditions might require it. He recommends soft padding in the shoe, and well made shoes. He likes some types of walking boots made in Germany, but they are not imported here. They are however available over the internet.

I think the boots I have fit very well, but the soles are worn out and I don't think it's easy for a bootmaker to replace them.

My kingdom for a shoe!!!

Talking about the weather

I arrived back in Sydney yesterday at 7 in the morning. The weather was cool, around 17 degrees and cloudy.

But now it is 10 degrees warmer, with a bright, blue, cloudless sky...

What next? They are predicting rain for the week end,

Every journey ends with the next step

It is now All Souls' Day and the beginning of my last day here.

This afternoon we will visit again the fine people of the Sant'Egidio Community here to share their enthusiasm and optimism.

Many thanks to Abby and Bart and Joe for their unbounded hospitality.

Thanks to all the people I had the pleasure and honor to meet over the last 2 months.

tot ziens, à tout à l'heure, bis spater, see ya later alligator.......

Yummm

I remember my parents once visiting me in Belgium and saying the strawberries here are delicious, much better than any in Australia.

They still are. Full of flavor and red all the way through, without the tasteless white centre that we get in Oz:

Take your pick

This is a park bench

I've been in Brussels today and noticed these relaxing park benches. Unsurprisingly, they seem to be used often.

The benches are in a park in front of the Cathedral of St Michael and St Gudula.

I had never heard of St Gudula, so I looked up Wikipedia and discovered she was born around 650 in the district around here. If I understand Wikipedia correctly, her Mother was a nun, I suppose things were not the same in 650.

Trams

This is one of the new trams in Bordeaux. They are very convenient and are very heavily used.

Note the absence of overhead power wires. I can't remember, does the tram in Darling Harbour have overhead wires? What are they planning for the new tram through the centre of Sydney?

(PS I am in a mcDonald's here and they just started playing a Johnny Farnham record. It must be his farewell tour.)

Aligot

Aligot is a wholesome food based on potatoes, cheese and cream. It is a local dish in Aubrac which we had in a gite there.

I bought a list of local recipes on the way, so Bart and I had a go at making it. There is a special cheese you are supposed to use, but this can't be found here, we used a mixture of gruyere and Gouda as a replacement. 

The taste was good, but it was not quite the same consistency as the aligot made by the professionals.

Perhaps using a bit more cheese and cutting into smaller pieces would help.

Gezelligheit

There is a Dutch word gezelligheit (thé German equivalent is Gemütlichkeit ) it is difficult to translate, an attempt is "coziness", "cheerfulness".

An example was tonight when Bart took me to a concert in the local church, organised by a local musical society. There was a concert of works by Brahms with 3 distinguished musicians, Alan Weiss (piano), who lives and works in Leuven, and 3 international guests, Michael Flaksman (cello) and Dora Schwartzburg (violin).

After the concert, we (meaning the audience, the soloists and the organizers)  gathered at a bar for some intense and meaningful discussion over a glass or two of Belgian beer.

This is gezelligheit.

I had the good fortune to speak with Michael Flaksman, who is a seriously nice person as well as an excellent musician.

Good intentions

I have been reading the various guide books here and I learn that one of the local boys in Bordeaux was François Mauriac. He writes fairly short books and he won a Nobel Prize, so I invested €1.80 in one of his books which I will make every effort to read.

I also just bought a magazine from a nice African man in a newsagent here and I was lamenting the fact that Sydney was over 30 degrees now. He suggested that I should stay here until Christmas.

This is not possible, but I respect his opinion.

Bordeaux grand cru

I have just finished a plate of coquille saint Jacques in honor of the Camino.

I started a busy day of sightseeing in the laundromat catching up on my washing.

This afternoon I went on an organised tour of two vineyards and a visit to the village of St Emilion:

The village was much better than Roc-Amadour. There were tourists but also a varied history that survives them.

It turns out that Mr Emilion was on a pilgrimage to Santiago around 800 when he stopped here, lived in a cave, started a monastery and a wine industry. According to the guide, he never did make it to Santiago.

Many ways

The more I talk to people, the more pilgrim routes I learn about.

This morning at breakfast in Lourdes I was talking to two women who are walking the Chemin de Piemont Pyrenees. This goes through the foothills of the Pyrenees, through towns such as Narbonne, Montpellier, Carcassonne and Lourdes. There is a guidebook available and there are gites d'etape along the way, so it is very possible to walk this route.

This morning I took the train to Bordeaux, at Bart's suggestion. He is right, the city looks wonderful, clean and well cared for.

I bought a book which describes a walk through Bordeaux for pilgrims to Santiago. This is on the Via Turonesis route, or the way of Tours. It is the most Westerly route through France and was used by pilgrims from Britain and north western parts of Europe. I believe there were periods when pilgrims had to go further east, when England and France were fighting wars over cities like Bordeaux.

Tomorrow I hope to follow the pilgrim route through Bordeaux.

Business

I saw two business news items today:

1) the usage of the TGV, the French fast train, is going down and its cost is going up. SNCF, the French company which runs the TGV has just revised downwards the value of the fast train network.

2) the British government has just signed a deal with a French company to build 2 new nuclear reactors in Somerset. They are planned to come on line in 2023 and it is estimated that they will cause British power bills to fall in 2030.

Perhaps some Australian politicians should take note of both of these and do some sums.

Light

I went to the rosary at the grotto at 3.30. This is broadcast each day on TV and the Internet:

The priest gave a homily afterwards talking about faith and prayer. He said that Bernadette's life was a window into faith. He talked about the parable of the woman who kept confronting the unjust judge (Luke 18).

But, as he said, not many people are cured and in fact Bernadette suffered from asthma all her life and she and her parents led very quiet and simple lives after the apparitions. He said that we are not destroyed by disabilities and suffering, there is always the light and joy we are made for.

Of course this is very difficult for people to accept these days, especially in affluent societies where most people have very easy lives. It is hard to believe in a paradise beyond our difficulties. It's a bit like the character Pinkie in Grahame Greene's novel Brighton Rock. He said he could believe in hell but not heaven. A challenge.

Konsidering the Kitsch

OK, time to talk about kitsch. Everyone who mentions Lourdes these days says there is terrible commercialism that ruins the atmosphere.

I just don't agree.

Sure, there are a couple of streets of shops for tourists. Sure, there are some flashing holy pictures and statues of the Virgin that glow in the dark. 

Sure, there are pubs, I am in one right now. I just watched a rugby match where Clermont-Ferraud best London Harlequins and I am drinking a Belgian beer (Leffe).

But these are a long way from the grotto and the basilica, which are very tranquil places.

Anyway, what is wrong with souvenirs and a pub? I bought some statues myself from what seemed a good shop, called "Jerusalem in Lourdes". It is owned by a Jewish man which I suppose explains why he also sells Torah pointers and wooden camels.

Speaking of rugby, I was told that the man who leads the singing in the nightly candle procession is a former rugby player who had a bad leg injury in a scrum, so changed from rugby to hymn singing.

Emmet Costello SJ

Last week Fr Emmet Costello died. He, along with Fr Kevin King was my French teacher at school.

His funeral is in about 12 hours time, at St Mary's North Sydney. As it happens, I am in Lourdes in France at that time.

May he rest in peace.

Lourdes and a small, small world

I spent this morning in the train traveling from Cahors to Lourdes.

There were not many people at Lourdes railway station so I started walking to the centre of town to the tourist information to find somewhere to stay. Then a helpful German man told me where the "Accueil Jacquaire" is. (Ie the gite for pilgrims walking the Camino.

On the way I saw this view of the fort. I don't know yet what is the history of the fort. (Note the Hotel Antwerp in the foreground).

The gite is very welcoming. Then I found that the German man who guided me to the gite and is staying here met (in Geneva many weeks ago) one of the German people I walked with for a while. Small world eh?

My clothes (and myself) are very smelly by now, so I have been doing washing before going down to the town and the basilica.

By the way, this is the view from the washing line at the gite I am staying in here:

Organs and football

Went to an organ concert last night in St Stephen's church in Cahors. This was the first of a series of concerts, the one last night was performed by Philippe Levebre, who is the "tenured organist of the organ at Notre Dame de Paris"

Had a cup of coffee afterwards and was served by a disloyal waiter. There is a rugby match today between Cahors and Toulouse, but the traitorous waiter supports Toulouse.

Bushfires in Sydney

Temperatures have been very high in Sydney and there are now very bad bushfires:

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-17/homes-destroyed-as-blazes-rip-through-nsw/5030158

A tough life

I'm starting to think that in the past, and maybe the present, life was tough in this region of France. I have heard that the Plateau d'Aubrac and this region along the Lot does not have very fertile soil. Maybe I'm wrong, because there is a well known regional wine in Cahors. However, it is true that most of the villages are small and quiet.

This morning I visited an art gallery in Cahors dedicated to a local artist from the 19th century, Henri Martin. It struck me that his paintings of local villages also made them look bleak, populated by tough and stern people.

Then I have seen statues of St Jean Gabriel Perboyre who was born here:

He was martyred in China in the 19th century, but a book about him talks about his tough life as a child.

Judging by Resistance museum in Cahors, the Maquis (French Resistance) were very active here during the war.

Finally, and maybe this doesn't prove much, this is the part of France which plays rugby.

Saint Cirq Lapopie

I just took the bus to this village on the river Lot which has been voted one of the prettiest villages in France:

It is pretty, but rugged, built on the side of the cliff.

I have noticed here and also yesterday at Rocamadour that there are lot of French and British Grey Nomads in mobile homes here. Is this the French equivalent of Cairns and Alice Springs?

As I said before, there were 3 alternative Camino routes between Figeac and Cahors, and I'm happy that we took the traditional route even if it missed Rocamadour and Saint Cirq Lapopie.

Language

I've learned 2 useful (among many) expressions here:

"Ce n'est pas catholique", which doesn't have much to do with religion. I think it means if you behave badly, like not paying a bill, it isn't catholic.

"C'est un bouge", meaning its a real mess.

Is that right, Bart?

Rocamadour

I took a train (a trip of about an hour) to Rocamadour station.

This turned out to be a sleepy and deserted station 3km from the medieval town. I no longer feel like walking, so fortunately Taxi Pat was available to get me here.

Rocamadour is built on a side of one steep cliff. On the other side is the "Hospitalite" where the medieval pilgrims were fed and housed before walking the last km to the church.

The best view of the church and medieval town is from the Hospitalite, and these are the best I can do from inside the town:

Of course there is a street of souvenir shops, but after lunch I'll take the lift up to the church.

Pilgerweg

There are lots of possibilities. Today I heard about this pilgrim route through the former East Germany: pilgerweg

Cahors

I have a confession to make.

This morning we were preparing for a 22 km walk through the forest to a small gite that was still open. They didn't want to prepare a meal for only 3 people, so we had to cook for ourselves and there were not many shops near the gite. We had to work out what to buy and carry 10 or 20km for dinner. And it was raining.

Then the bus to Cahors appeared.

An uncharacteristically quick decision was made, here I am in Cahors, 2 days earlier than expected. I'm thinking of becoming a tourist and seeing if there are bus trips to Rocamadour and St Cirque Lapopie or other places.

This photo doesn't represent Cahors, it is much bigger than this, but it was taken near the tourist information office and I need to go there now.

Limognes sur Quercy

Today was a little monotonous, partly because of the weather which is damp and misty, and partly because of the long flat tracks along the road and through the forest:

We walked about 18km from the town of Cajac on the river Lot, south to Limognes. In a couple of days the path turns back North to Cahors on the river Lot, before going South again towards the Pyrenees. Between Figeac and Cahors there are several variants, the normal GR65 which I am following, a detour to the scenic village of Rocamadour, or a path on either side of the river Lot. For people who only want to walk part of the path, there is good access by train to Figeac and Cahors.

I think it is time for me to finish. Today was 6 hours of walking through forest tracks and through a couple of very quiet villages. Because everything is damp it is hard to find a place to rest and the only break today was sitting on a damp stone wall in a village square eating some bread rolls and sausage.

There are three of us staying on this gite and we had dinner in a kebab restaurant.it was fine, but it was the only restaurant open because everything else was closed for annual holidays.

Apart from the three of us here, the only people Iet were a Norwegian couple and two Frenchmen walking from Cajac back to Cirque La Popie.

The weather forecast is for the same (20 degrees and drizzle) for the next couple of days, sunshine from Friday to Sunday, then more rain.

I am feeling fit, there are no problems with my knee or feet and today was good physical exercise. However I think it is time to stop and make the visit to Lourdes, I have to work out the details of travel. I will miss the people I have been

Walking with, but you never know, we may meet again.

Cajac

Pretty good weather at the moment but a little cloudy. It is very fine in Spain- the rain in Spain is falling mainly on France.

Passed these rocks, which are part of a prehistoric structure (at least that is what the sign said)

I'm now in Cajac, which is a very pretty town. There are a lot of art galleries here. The woman in the tourist information office said fort president Georges Pompidou had a holiday home here and helped to start one of the galleries because of his interest in art.

Granalou

The weather was misty but not raining this morning and it became sunny in the afternoon. The path was longish (24km) but mostly flat:

Several people are walking from Figeac to Cahors, which is about 80km. This is very practical because they are both large villages/towns and there is a railway station in both. I hope to arrive at Cahors on Thursday. 

I am staying at a small gite which is coveted with paintings by the artist who owns it:

It is getting towards the end of the season. I was told just now that the peak for this part of the Camino is April to June and many gites will close this week.

However I have met some people who are still planning to get to Samtsgo, arriving at the end of November or in December.

Figeac (continued)

It rained all day today here so I stayed in Figeac.

I visited the Musee Champollion. This is based on the work of Jean-Francois Champollion, who used Rosetta Stone to decode the written languages of several ancient peoples. In fact the scope of the museum is wider, covering the development of written languages all over the world, including the Middle East, the Mediterranean, China, the Mayans etc. Fascinating stuff. Is it true that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics were still being used in the time of the Roman Emperor Theododius?

Having said that, I admit to having a beer and a few apple aperitif in the Cafe Champollion opposite the museum, with FX and Artur from Brittany.

Later went to 6.30pm Mass at Notre Dame de Puy and received pilgrim blessing from Fr Christian. This was not a special pilgrim Mass, it was with the local community group.

Figeac

Today I saw the first grapevine. I think this means we are approaching the wine region of Cahors:

I am now in the busy town of Figeac. 

It is a change to be in a town again. Even Conques was small and is a historical monument rather than a real town. Many of the villages I have passed through have been very quiet with very few people around. I think there have been more cows than people in my photos so far.

Figeac is the home town of the person who deciphered the Rosetta Stone and there is a large museum here devoted to that. I'm staying here tomorrow instead of walking, so I might go to that museum, as well as looking at the Saturday market here.

Soon I have to decide how far I can get in the remaining time. It will be either Cahors or Moissac.

In the meantime, I have seen that Chateau Cardboard is alive and well here:

Saint Roch

In a small gite near Decasville. A vegetarian meal last night.

Singing to Conques

I haven't had good Internet access, so this is the first post for a couple of days.

The weather has been good and the tracks have been mostly smooth, so the walking has been easier.

I have been in sync with the same group of about a dozen people and we have been staying at the same gites for the past 3 days. The gites all describe themselves as Christian and the connections are slightly different. One was a "hospitalier", which means it is owned by the local parish, one was private, and now I am in the Abbey in Conques.

This is a photo of the small private one:

Each night they have some form of sing vespers and most of the pilgrims come along. I'm impressed by the musical knowledge of the group of young men from Brittany. One of them sings in a Gregorian choir, but apparently the others picked up hymns, chants and canons from their local churches.

Andra, a German woman is keen on the acoustics of singing in large churches and this evening she was given the chance to sing in Conques cathedral.

Father Jean Daniel played the organ in Conques cathedral tonight and he told me he knows Pastor de la Sala from Sacred Heart Mosman parish well from his visits here.

The low, flat road to Estaing

I stayed at the convent this morning for 10 am Mass:

I was worried that this would make it difficult to get to Estaing, where I had booked a gite for Sunday night.

When I left town, I took a wrong turn and found myself walking beside the D-987 main road instead of the Camino. It happens that this is one of the few places where the Camino and the main road run in parrallel, so I was walking on a flat road instead of the climbs and descents of the Camino. And it is 4km shorter. Is this providence, or what?

I am now completing my lazy Sunday at the Cafe du Lac in Estaing, working my way through their menu of beer, red wine and hot chocolate.

St Come

After the rain yesterday, it was a relief to set out in the dry. There were still clouds and the rain started again for an hour, but it cleared and we were rewarded with the most spectacular views so far:

It was still a long descent to St Come, but much easier without the rain. On the way we met a group of very young Frenchmen walking along to music. One of them told me his name is Sylvain de Fleurieu, and one of his ancestors organised the expedition of La Perouse to Australia. There is apparently a Fleurieu peninsula near Adelaide. He has a website recording his family history:

http://s.claretdefleurieu.free.fr/

I am staying at an Ursuline convent at Malet, near St Come.

 It was good to go to the vespers tonight and meet again the 

Italian boys Diego and Eric, 

as well as Connie, Jennifer and Eden. Andra was there and 

ended up singing in the chapel after dinner here.

Saint-Chely

Today was a tough day. In the morning there was a thick mist as well a a strong wind over the top of the plateau:

I had a few close encounters with the many cows;

Fortunately, the marking of the path is very clear, so there was no chance of getting lost in the mist.

I stopped for lunch at Aubrac:

This was a very chic cafe, although it is used mostly by walkers, including pilgrims. I had a very tasty thick soup of vegetables and cheese, followed by a tart and a hot chocolate.

The woman serving me displayed great savoir faire by ignoring the cow poo on my boots and the fact that I smelled like I had just crawled out of a bog.

After lunch I passed a cross where people had written intentions for their pilgrimage:

Unfortunately, just after this I had my first rain, a heavy downpour for the last 6 km until the gite where I am staying now. This was also a long descent of 500 m over loose rocks, so I was very glad to arrive at the gite.

I could get my clothes washed and dried here and the 6 of us staying here had another excellent meal of soup, a duck gratin and "île flottant" (beaten egg white on a custard and caramel)

I emailed ahead to the convent in St Come that was recommended to me and I now have a booking there. Unfortunately, the weather forecast for tomorrow is not good and it is another 500m descent to the river Lot. However the gite owner tells me the path is better than the one today. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

The gite here has some good magazines about the district and there was a story about a village coming up called Estaing. Apparently a castle there was bought by former French President Valerie Giscard d'Estaing. The gite owner said it was a complicated story: his name was always Estaing, but he bought the castle and the right to add "d'" to his name. He has since sold the castle, but not the name.

After all this trekking over the plateau, it sounds good that we will be walking for a  few days near the river Lot, before climbing up to Conques.