First week on Chemin Le Puy

First of all, I apologize for the lack of updates. Finding wifi to make timely posts has been impossible. I'm sure that if I were more skilled I could have written offline, saved and posted later. The countryside along the Chemin, which is the same as Camino in Spanish or The Way in English, is incredibly beautiful. Unfortunately the rain, temperatures in the low 30's, muddy trails that are under water in many places, detracts from an otherwise great experience. It has been almost impossible to get clothes washed and dried because of the weather and lack of facilities, so some days you just have to wear your muddy clothes. Most of the walkers are French day packers, on holiday,
having their packs transported to their next destination. Have met a few Quebec Canadiens, couple of
Aussies, one German and the rest French, all very nice people. The total miles per day have been much less than on the Camino in Spain last year, but because you are trying to dodge deep mud and avoid slipping and busting your butt, especially when it is steep, it feels like you are walking three times as far. I was remarking on the first couple of days how well the trails were marked, contrary to warnings from others, but then I ran in to several cases where I had to guess. Only got lost a couple of times for a short period. Didn't realize there was a big festival this weekend to celebrate the cows going uo to the high Aubrac plateau for the summer. . Everything was booked for a year in advance, and they are expecting over 30,000 people, which is unmanageable for the French restaurants and hotels. As a result of this and the forecast for snow, I skipped a couple of stages ( a first for me) and found transport to a spot down the trail. After a couple of days fighting the cold and rain and muddy trails, I decided that I had accomplished what I had intended, to get a feel for the French route and move on to Portugal a little earlier.  I'm in Figeac now and will be making train and flight plans to make that happen. Will try to post a few pics if  I can sort out the glitches ( ie my blogging incompetency) .