Media (16)
The real beginning, from Lourdes to Asson.
Night and morning in Lourdes, then departure on foot toward Asson.
In the end I slept lying on a bench, testing the sleeping bag for the first time. I woke up very early, also because I always kept one eye open because of my backpack. I spent the morning around Lourdes and there I decided that, instead of taking a bus toward Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, I would start on foot from there. I had met a group of Italians who had suggested sharing a van to reach Saint-Jean, but I told them: "No, you know what?! I think I'm starting on foot from here." From that moment the route really began: direction Asson. During the walk I found two branches that could work as walking sticks, and I decided to take them. I still did not know that one of them would become my travel companion all the way to Santiago, and that in the end I would even bring it back home with me.
During the route I found two sacks full of books abandoned near some dumpsters: someone was throwing them away. I got curious and told myself I had to take at least one. They were all in French; in the end I chose one and carried it with me for the whole Camino.
The initial plan was to land in Lourdes on June 3 and reach Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port by bus the following day, so I could start the French Camino from its official starting point. I had already bought the return tickets as well, building everything around a little less than forty days overall: in my head that meant about thirty days of walking plus one week set aside for unexpected events. But once I got there, I made a gut decision that I wanted to start walking directly from Lourdes, fully aware that by doing that I would use up the entire week I had kept aside for unexpected events before even reaching the true beginning of the Camino. The reflection was simple: no one was chasing me, I did not have to go back to work, I did not have an impatient girlfriend waiting for me at home, I did not have children depending on me, and I did not have looming responsibilities keeping my mind occupied. There was no point in imposing rigid dates on myself. It was my sabbatical year and I wanted to live it lightly, without imposing constraints, leaving space for improvisation and choices made in the moment.
Actual departure on foot from Lourdes, without bus and without van, first stage toward Asson: 23 km completely alone. At the albergue I met an Italian woman named Maria: up to that moment it was the only encounter with someone who was doing the Camino. And it was Maria herself who gave me a fundamental tip: I still did not know there were trail markers to follow, and that day I had done the whole stretch along the paved road instead of on the trails. She told me to look for the white-and-red signs along the path. It was a revelation. In that moment I realized how recklessly I had started, with no real preparation. And instead of making me feel inadequate, that discovery made me proud: adventure and improvisation are exactly what I look for in an itinerant trip. I do not like leaving with everything planned and fixed; I like discovering things in the moment and making pragmatic decisions along the way. Rain was forecast for the whole next morning, so I knew I was about to face a tough day under the rain, and I would already have to pull out my fluorescent yellow windbreaker, which I had originally bought for another itinerant trip years earlier, cycling from Turin to Barcelona. Who knows, maybe one day I will write the travel diary for that one too!
If reading this diary makes you feel the Camino might be calling you, but you still need to clarify a few things, start with the free guide.
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