Day 36m: on Angels well-met … (05/20/2019)
The path remained steep, stony, and slippery (though the way had begun to once again go up instead of down — a gift to my hips, which climbed far more joyfully than they descended) as the day progressed, and a chilly rain began to mist down upon me as I slowly stumbled somewhat exhausted into the town of Chaumont. And what should greet me as I entered the village’s outskirts but a sign directing me toward a “Gite d’Etape” — essentially a local, state-run pilgrim’s hostel, the likes of which being quite receptive (or so I had heard) to mendicant travelers like myself ( :O ) … And what should greet me when I finally arrived at that same quaint refuge and opened its door than two fellow pilgrims (Jennifer & Juergen) already resting therein — the same two pilgrims, as it turns out, who had unknowingly sung to me in Charly’s chapel earlier that same morning, and the same two pilgrims who, after hearing about my Walk (both its why’s as well as its how’s), offered to pay for my stay there that same evening! :O :O 😀
“To fly mightily, you must simply head to the edge of any steep cliff, jump off its edge, and then build your wings on the way down.” ~ via Ray Bradbury
*P.S. Just as lovely a person was Natalie (pictured next to me in the image below), the volunteer ward who tended this particular hostel — making sure that it was clean and well-stocked every morning, and warm-heartedly greeting the pilgrims who arrived each night.
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