I arrived in Toulouse after a couple lifts wherein I was able to share some gospel interests as well as some interested in opportunities so I gave them my book. I met Emily at the train station and seeing I didn’t know where I was going she helped me to get to the town center and showed me the points of interest I needed. However, she also invited me to stay with her boyfriend, Sebastian, and herself in their new condo. It was a very nice place and I enjoyed their company immensely.

Sebastian was starting a new business so I helped him to understand marketing a bit more and left him with my marketing coaching program. They were too kind and even gave me a lift back into town. They also told me about Pezenas so I decided to visit this town.

Check out the inside of this Catholic church. The picture doesn't do it justice. This was an incredible edifice.

Look at the pipe organ up high on the wall. This is from the podium looking back toward the entrance.

This may be an old church but look at the wear on the rock steps from the number of people who have traversed these steps over the years.

Here is a bit of creativity I've never seen before. This guy is chipping out a design to make his wood pile look nice.

I got as far as Narbonne and stayed the night in my tent there. I found a field with bushes so I went to one spot and discovered a tent already there. I went to another and a tent also resided so I made a spot crushing down some weeds. The next day I walked some distance until I found a place outside of the town where I could hitch a lift. A young lady picked me up but misunderstood me and took me to a small country town instead of where I needed to go. I ended up walking several miles down a lonely road where cars come by about once every half hour and they don’t pick up hitch hikers. The nail in my shoe, that gave me a flat, worked its way through to my foot so I had to pull it out. Wouldn’t you know (another miracle but this time without asking) about one hundred yards further down the road I found a sealed bag of small screws just the right size to fix the shoe. I finally received a lift from a 19 year old fire fighter and had a nice conversation with him. He dropped me off in Beziers, where I was initially trying to go and from there I got a lift to Pezenas.

Pezanas was an amazing town. If you ever want souvenirs from all over the world, go to Pezenas. They have a ton of artists there making all kinds of crafts and art it was truly amazing. They have an old town there that was preserved since the 16th century and it is full of little shops filled with these artisans and craftsmen and women. If you ever go there, bring plenty of money and an empty suitcase because you will be bringing things home.

As Pezenas is off the beaten path, I had a trial getting a lift having to wait right a roundabout directly going on the freeway. Nobody was stopping and I started dozing off. Yann though I was dead but as his car drove by my wrist turned in time for him to see my thumb and he stopped to pick me up. He took an accidental turn in the wrong direction and when he corrected himself, there I was. Yann took me all the way to Montpilliar and said the next day he was heading for Marseille which is near where my next stop will be at the beginning of the French Riviera. Yann bought me a very nice dinner at an upscale restaurant where they served me an excellent steak and a starter of goose liver (now banned in California because of the way they get it by stuffing a goose with so much food they almost burst). It was so good I couldn’t believe it. Luckily, he told me about it after I tried it. He let me also stay in his hotel room and we will be on our way around 2:00 pm today. What a great guy! He is an engineer and a salesman so I also gave him my training program, book and advice that will hopefully help him in his business future.

Here is a sample of the Pezenas art or creativity. These are old LP's. They bend them to make flower pots, a vase, magazine holder, etc.

Compared to most of France, the prices are not bad here either.

I am so amazed by the people I have met so far on this trip. I have never felt so welcomed in my life by strangers.

I just weighed myself today and had to ask if the scale was correct because it says I have lost a whole 15lbs or 1 stone or 7 kg and I can't believe it. I thought I was getting stronger as it seemed like I was able to carry my bag around easier but now I see it is because I can carry my belly around easier LOL. I haven't seen a mirror or scale since I started a month ago so I never realized I was losing so much weight. I am now the weight I was when I was 22 years old.

There is a water feature in Bordeaux that sprays a mist and bubbles up water for people to play in and this band was playing some fun music in the mist.

Ihave spent a truly lovely weekend with my son’s in-laws in Bordeaux. What a great family!!! Denis took be around on Saturday and again on Monday showing me the city and its history. They have taken very good care of me. On Sunday I went to church with them and their son’s (Alban) fiancé (Chelsea from England) took the time to interpret for me. She and her family were wonderful as well! full of smiles and very friendly. At the end of the Sunday service an elderly man came to me and said I was going home with this family for dinner. I told him I was here with the Poussard family and he said, with surprise, “Oh, I did not know this. We just wanted to make sure you had someone to spend Sunday with.” What a great people.

I must say again, since most of the people reading this may have some reservations or prejudices against the French people, since I have been in the South of France, these people have been great! They are much more welcoming, hospitable and helpful than I ever expected and even more so than most Americans. If you ever go to France go to France and not Paris. There is a world of difference.

I ran into the missionaries in Bayonne and they gave me a few of their cards for contacts. This was quite fortunate because I finally had a good spiritual talk with a woman in Biarritz named Veronica. She was reading a book on the beach when I approached her. I met her the first night I was there in the cove and we talked until after midnight then she wanted to continue the conversation the next day so I stayed another day. As we talked she wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon in French so I gave her the missionaries card and told her they could teach her the basics of the gospel. She is excited to read it.

This is the story behind the little building below.

They had an excursion planned today for the mountains in Spain but it rained all last night so they changed it to visiting the château in Pau (which was on my agenda to do tomorrow as I continued my journey). Too bad this wasn't planned earlier, I could have let them just drop me off and started today, but I'm really trying not to travel on Sunday's and they are already planning for me to leave tomorrow and will have a “picnic” for me, which I believe means a sack lunch to help me on my journey. Are these people great or what?

This is the crew I was working with. The tall man was in charge and he didn't speak a bit of English so never really got to talk but he tried and was a very good guy. The smaller man was a volunteer too and spoke just a bit of English so I mainly spoke with him. He was a good hard worker and at 62 he could keep up with me no problem and even jogged to get things. He was a very good friend here and helped me quite a bit.

Here's the proof I was actually working lol.

Some of the interesting things I've encountered here at Secours Catholique (the Catholic Mission):

Food- For breakfast they served a bowl of either coffee, tea or hot chocolate and bread. There is also butter and jam. They serve it in a bowl for you to dip your bread in. They tend to put the butter on the bread then dip it and eat it then eat their jam with a spoon out of the little container. It was different. Another thing I didn't expect was they had chocolate and what I thought was caramel éclairs. What a maple donut looks like in America is caramel in England and coffee flavored here in France. Since I can't stand the taste of coffee, I didn't want to waste it so I finished it but then went up to get a chocolate one as well :-). The have a coffee machine that makes several types of coffee but also warm milk/cream. I thought it was just milk until I drank it and it burned my mouth so I put ice cubes in it to cool it down. They've served duck, tuna cakes, salmon, hamburger, chicken and various other things that I don't know what they consisted of but everything has been good.

I've told several people here I was Mormon but it didn't seem to phase a one. They have all treated me the same as everyone else and have tried helping me as they have everyone else here. I know they've joked about me at times because they would all look at me and laugh but all I could do was smile with a sheepish grin having no idea what was just said.

Having run out of glue for my shoes, I found some glue specifically for shoes, so hopefully it will hold better, and some nails, which I sank in, which will hopefully help hold them together. However, one of the nails punctured the air compartment of my shoe so I'm walking on one flat ;-).

This is the view from my window where I will be staying until Sunday or Monday.

25 June 2012- I was told of a camp where I could put up my tent for free but it was on the other mountain side of Lourdes. After a long hike up the winding road of the mountain and the soles of my shoes falling off, I finally reached the camp. However, I was told I could not sleep there (at least I think that's what he was saying as he was kicking me out). There was another Catholic camp next to it so I spoke to the reception and told them I do not have money for camping but just need a place to set up my tent. He tried to send me back to the other camp. He finally called a woman who spoke English and after telling her my situation they said I cannot set up a tent but they would give me a room and breakfast for the evening as it was late and getting dark.

It was so nice to sleep in a bed again and not having rocks poking my side as I tried to sleep. I also had a nice shower. It is funny because there is no TV or anything special, just a room with a small bed and a shower but it feels so luxurious to me.

After breakfast I asked if I could help wash dishes or mop the floor to give back for their kindness. They struggled to understand what I meant but knew I wanted to volunteer. They sent me to an office where there was a woman who spoke a little English and she told me I would have to fill in a form for volunteering. She asked if I could do gardening and I said that is fine. After I filled in the form she gave me a key and I asked what this is for. She told me it was for my room. I told her I already spent the night would only be here for the day to help and repay their kindness. She told me I would be here for a week or until Sunday and I will start tomorrow at 8:00 am. I smiled and said okay. So I guess I will be gardening for the rest of the week and there is internet here so I will be online the rest of the week but only in the evenings here in France. I am still amazed over all the people willing to help me on this pilgrimage.

his My shoes are struggling with the heavy pack and all the hiking I'm doing. This will be the 4th time I've glued them in the last 2 weeks. I will try to find some tacks to help hold them together until I can get some money coming in. I've heard I can work picking fruit in Finland for a few weeks at the end of July so if they last until then I will be fine.

This is Lourdes from the Basiliques.

Front of the Basiliques. I saw a sign that said St. Gabriel so that might be the name of it.

The back view of the Basiliques

All the crosses are pilgrimages from different groups.

In the rocks at the bottom is where Bernadette actually saw Mary several times. It is called the Grotte (or pig sty).

Close up of the Grotte.

This is the Crypt where I stayed for Mass (I think it was mass). The acoustics in there were amazing. I thought I was listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 

I spent the night in Foix and this is the Chateau de Foix or the Castle of Foix.

I awoke to the most beautiful song birds I've ever heard. No squawks or caws in the bunch, just a variety of song birds. It was awesome.

23rd June 2012- It has been a long arduous journey but I made it to Lourdes in the evenings. I don’t know how many miles I hiked today but it was a lot as few people would give me a lift. I lost track of the days and didn’t realized it was Saturday so I guess I will spend the Sabbath in Lourdes but I don’t know if there is an LDS church here so I may attend an different on.

I had my first miracle today. In the Book of Mormon there is a prophet named Nephi who was tied up by his brothers. He prayed for the strength to burst the bands. Instead, the Lord loosened the cords so they fell off him. Well, my prescription glasses are just not working for me anymore when I read. I still have to hold my scriptures at arm’s length and the words are yet blurred. This morning I prayed for the Lord to heal my eyes so I could continue to read and study, that my work would not be hampered. While on this long hike a few miles from any town, I found a pair of glasses on the side of the road in perfect condition. I tried them on and I could not see a thing and figured these were not for me. I then saw a piece of trash on the ground and picked it up to see if I could read and I could see even the fine print easily. Now with these glasses I can see things up close and they are huge. The Lord knows our needs and provides in his own way.

20th June 2012- We took the train to the next little town in France then went our different ways. I had to hike over a mile up hill before I got to the top where I could catch a lift. My next destination was Andorra, a small country in the middle of the boarder between Spain and France. I got a lift from several people but one guy had a rented van and was moving. His house was on the way to Andorra so I offered to help him move his things into his house. He was a Christian turned Buddhist and what a great guy. He spoke English so we had a great conversation but also we were driving through the Pyrenes Mountains. It was the first time I've seen mountains in 5 year and what a sight. They were beautiful. However, after he dropped me off I ended up having to hike up those mountains a few miles so they stopped looking so beautiful... just kidding.