As a general rule, I spent as little time as possible in larger cities during my Walk — primarily due to the fact that the far greater sense of hustle-&-bustle therein (along with the far greater prevalence of those well-known, hyper-selfish siblings: material wealth & greed) tempted most of their residents to glance quickly and quite callously upon mendicant pilgrims like myself (if they happened to look upon us at all).

That having been said, Le Puy was somehow an exception to the same. Even though folks were indeed quite busy as they went about their daily tasks, there was a warmth in this city that I hadn’t felt in any of the larger townships through which I walked before or since.

Of course, those who choose to walk as Peace Pilgrims (like yours truly) are not allowed to decide where or for how long they might linger. Indeed, even if a place is incredibly comfortable or pleasant, the Peace Pilgrim cannot stay there long unless asked to do so. And so it was that I awoke the following morning, said my fond farewells to the hostel staff, and set out again upon The Way — easily following the gold-plated Camino markers that had been sunk smoothly into the city streets, and only pausing briefly on the very edge of town to look back most upon Le Puy with a final heartfelt exuding of thanks … 🙂

“If you are not asking when the road will end, or where the road is going, or when the weather will darken, or what are the dangers up ahead, then you know that you are truly traveling a Great Road. For on any truly Great Road, you never ask such questions. On a truly Great Road, you are only thinking about the beauty that surrounds you or the acts of gentle caring you might offer those you meet — never the when or the where or the what or the how.” ~ inspired by Mehmet Ildan

Filed under: Peace Pilgrimage #02: Walking HOME (2019) by Scaughdt