Yesterday I told you about the trip to New Zealand and Australia. The second trip is for April and May of 2011. It will be almost exactly the opposite of the trip to down under. Alone, on foot, carrying a backpack, very modest accommodation. Those of you who have read my book, A Journey of Days, will recall that in 2007 I walked from Pamplona to Santiago in northwestern Spain, a journey of just over 700 kilometres. This time I plan to walk the “prequel” of my walk on the Camino in 2007. I will walk alone from Le Puy-en-Velay (southwest of Lyon in France) to Pamplona and I will stay mostly in pilgrim hostels (gite d’etapes in France and albergues in Spain). This route is one of the four major medieval pilgrim routes through France which connect to the better-known Camino de Santiago. I found a great web site about this French route, http://www.godesalco.com/plan/podense, which includes a trip planner. I have already been able to make a preliminary plan of how far to walk each day and in which village to stay. The trip of about 850 kilometres should take about 40 days, not including rest days. I will be 74 when I make this walk, so I will have to be physically very well prepared. More later.