Day after the Paris Marathon - The Bells of Bayonne

Monday April 6, 2009
Left Paris in the morning to go by train to Bayonne which is in the southwest of France, on the coast near the Spanish border. The town was my first step in the transition from running in Paris to walking in northern Spain.

I am still floating on air. I cant believe that after all this time the marathon is over. Bayonne was 20 degrees on the day I arrived and only 8 degrees and raining on Tuesday when I left. I guess that is spring in Europe. I figured I needed a few days before commencing the walk so that any marathon soreness in my legs can settle. As it was I pulled up remarkably well after the marathon. Apart from blood blisters on a few toes there was no other noticable damage. I had to keep remind myself that I have just run a marathon. It is the first time in the 10 marathons that I have done that I could walk stairs the next day and not wince. So there is no reason to delay starting the walk. I am very excited and looking forward to actually starting on the Camino. I hav eno idea what to expect. It has been such a long time in my imagination so that now that it is finaly here I feel kind off underprepared.

Apologies to Harvey Krumpet, I am borrowing his book of Fakts and adding some Elma Fakts as they occur to me over the next few weeks of my travels on the Camino.

Elma Fakt 1: Church bells make a beautiful sound.
The church bells of the Bayonne Cathedral ring every few hours. I have forgotten how beautifull this sound is. It always reminds me of being somewhere safe and secure. It creates a real sense of community with shared values. It is not a sound that one hears all that often in a large, busy crowded city.
Elma Fakt 2: Bayonne is famous for its rugby team, ham and chocolates. Enough said.