Camino de Santiago (Part 5)
September 7, 2024, was day 5 out of 16 on the Camino. I started the day in Conques with the plan to take the bus to Rodez. The first challenge with this plan was getting my bicycle on the bus. The nice people in the Conques tourist office didn’t know the bus company’s policy on bicycles and their calls to the company, which probably went straight to the driver, were never answered.
As I recall, the bus made a pick-up in Conques at 10AM. I honestly had no back-up plan if the driver didn’t accept the bicycle. As a former actuary, I’m big on having contingency plans. Normally I’m not one to leave things up to fate, but this was one of those times. Had the driver refused to take it, I probably would have either given the bike away in Conques and either continued the Camino on foot or given up and gone home.
I showed up at the bus stop well before 10AM. The bus came right on time. I let all the other passengers on first. When it was just me left, I stood there with my bicycle with a desperate look on my face. The driver then started speaking to me in French both loudly and quickly as he pointed to a sticker with a picture a bicycle with a red circle and cross going through it. I asked if anyone could translate to English. Fortunately, a girl I estimate to be about ten years old was able to. She said the driver said that he would reluctantly take it in the luggage area on the other side of the bus, which would have been otherwise empty. I thanked both the girl and driver, but neither seemed to make much of it. However, my whole trip depended on that act of mercy.
By the way, Mark, the old hippy guy I mentioned in part 4, just happened to be there and witnessed the whole thing. His bus wouldn’t arrive for hours later so why he was there I had no idea. I’m normally a very skeptical person, but his “The Camino will Provide” philosophy certainly was truein this instance. It was the last time I saw him. I hope his own Camino went well.
It took the bus about two hours to get to Rodez.The city was in a flat part of France and therefore sunny, as compared to everywhere else I had been in the mountains of France the last four days. This probably was the first time I cast a shadow since leaving Le Puy.
There was a bicycle store conveniently right across the street from the bus station. The only person working there seemed very busy. He sold me some innertubes, but said in French that I would have to fix it myself, which I was happy to do. After having at least one flat tire for two days, my bicycle was finally road ready! I also purchased a multi-took that included allen keys, should I get another flat.
It would have been an option to wait hours to take another bus back to Conques. By the time I got there, it would have been almost dark, necessitating spending another night there. I already had more than enough of Conques and did not want to go back. What I decided to do was take a train from Rodez to Figeac. Figeac was located on the Camino and about 30 miles further west than Conques. Skipping this section didn’t bother me. I already realized at the pace I was going I would have to skip some sections to make it to Santiago by late September. My general plan was to skip the Pyrenees (the mountain range between France and Spain) somehow. What section in particular, I wasn’t sure.
I arrived in Figeac around 3:00 PM. Much like in Conques, I was back in the rain. Fortunately, it was just drizzling on and off, causing many wardrobe adjustments. About two hours later, I came to the small town of Beduer. There was not another town for several miles and Beduer seemed nice, so I decided to seek a place to stay. The only Albergue in town was booked solid. The woman working there recommended I try a house close by.
Despite vague directions, I managed to find the house I was looking for. Although they were supposed to be full, they kindly said they would squeeze me in. I wouldn’t call it an albergue. It was simply someone’s house who let people stay there and fed them well for a modest price. I guess the closest thing in English to describe it would be a bed & breakfast, but it also came with dinner and was like staying in the house of good friends. The other guests were also doing a section of the Camino. I had the impression they did only a short section every day and had their luggage delivered as they went, as many people in France did the Camino.
The couple that lived there took wonderful care of me. They let me put my bicycle in their garage, let me clean up in a nice private bathroom and then let me relax in a nice chair in front of a fireplace with their dog to pet. Dinner was outstanding. The tomato salad included tomatoes just picked from their garden. I don’t remember everything else, but it was one of the best meals I ever had. The only downside to the homemade fresh cooking was I realized that everything I eat back at home tastes like industrial chemicallymodified food by comparison.
That evening, they put out a folding bed in the living room and said the biggest room in the house was all mine. In the morning, we had another delicious but simpler meal. I then packed up and headed west in a slight drizzle.
Stay tuned for more in part 6.
November 14, 2024 Puzzle Question
You are blindfolded and seated at a table. You are informed that the table contains 25 coins, 10 heads up 15 tails up. Your task is to create two piles that contain the same number of heads face up. How can you do it?
November 14, 2024 Puzzle Answer
1. Separate the 25 coins into piles of 10 and 15.
2. Flip over all the coins in the pile of 10.
November 14, 2024 Puzzle Solution
To see why this works, let
Let:
Pile 1 = pile with 10 coins
Pile 2 = pile with 15 coins
h1 = heads in pile 1 initially
t1 = tails in pile 1 initially
h2 = heads in pile 2 initially
t2 = tails in pile 2 initially
Note that:
h1+h2=10 because there are 10 total heads initially
h1+t1=10 because pile 1 has 10 coins
Equating those two equations:
h1+h2 = h1+t1
h2=t1
Initially the piles will be as follows:
Pile 1 = h1 heads, t1 tails
Pile 2 = h2 heads, t2 tails
After flipping all the coins in pile each pile will contain:
Pile 1 = t1 heads, h1 tails
Pile 2 = h2 heads, t2 tails
Recall how t1=h2. So, after the flip, both piles will contain h2 heads.
November 21, 2024 Puzzle Question
In front of you are 12 pearls, 11 being real and one fake. The real ones all weigh the same and the fake one differs in weight from the real ones (may weigh more or less). Using a balance scale three times, how can you weed out the fake one and determine whether it is too heavy or too light?