GR653 Via Tolosana, last part: Day 1 Toulouse - Leguevin

You have feet, and if you don’t make use of them it’s a loss and a waste.

 ― Thích Nhất Hạnh, How to Walk

Today we finally started using our feet again!

We crossed the centre of Toulouse, very quiet early on a Saturday morning. 

Le Capitole

Adieu Toulouse ! 

Once out of the city centre we quickly found the "coquille St. Jacques" symbols posted by the local branch of the Amis de Saint Jacques, indicating a more direct route to Léguevin than the GR653, which takes a long and winding route around the city airport and through a forest. Much of today's route was on the sidewalks of paved roads, but it wasn't ugly! 

Natural beauty even amid the concrete

We stopped for a lunch break in Colomiers, home to the Airbus factory.  

Assorted bits of planes outside the Airbus factory

Then the trail took us to a book exchange in a former telephone booth, where we stocked up on reading material - my choice was Cours de Langue et de Civilisation Français, pour les étudiants de tous pays, ouvrage coronné pour l'Academie française, 1963 edition. After drinking all my water and eating an apple to make up for the weight of the book, we resumed our way and passed through the charming village of Pibrac, a pilgrimage destination in its own right with the Basilica of Sainte-Germaine.

From Pibrac we took a grassy path alongside the railroad tracks to Brax and then down the road to Léguevin, where we had read that the Maison Saint-Jacques offered pilgrims a particularly warm welcome. But when we arrived, tired out from a whole day of using our feet - which can be quite a shock to the system on the first day after a long winter of indoor life - we were surprised to find it shut and locked! 

Coming up with an alternative plan

Calling the number on the door, we were told it was closed because of a problem (the exact nature of which my limited French did not allow me to understand). A couple more phone calls revealed there were no alternative accommodations in the vicinity, so we took a bus back to Colomiers, the Airbus town, where we were able to find an inexpensive hotel next to the train and bus station, so we can easily get back to where we left the trail in the morning. 

Toulouse - Leguevin 24.5 km

GR653 Via Tolosana, last part: Back on the road!

I always get to where I'm going by walking away from where I've been.

- Winnie the Pooh

Where I've been, on these Long Walks, is everywhere between Rome and Toulouse on the route linking Rome with Santiago de Compostela. Starting out from my home base in Chiavari.  

First, 600 kilometres from Chiavari to Rome on the Via Francigena, in 28 days, in September and October 2015. 

Then, 294 kilometres from Chiavari to Ventimiglia, just short of the French border, in 25 days in October 2016.

572 kilometres from Ventimiglia to Montpellier, on the toughest of my Walks so far, in 25 days in October 2017.

And 389 kilometres from Montpellier to Toulouse in 18 days, in April and May 2018.

So next, I'm going to pick up the Via Tolosana right where I left off in May 2018. 

It takes thirteen hours on the bus to get back to where I left off: thirteen hours to cover the ground I walked in 58 days. Thirteen hours - or 58 days - to cover 1557 kilometres.

GR653 Via Tolosana: Ready to go!

S'en aller, c'est gagner son procès contre l'habitude.

- Paul Morand, Le voyage (1927)

Boots polished... pack full... first week's accommodations booked... Time to leave routine behind and head for the unknown! 

Hadrian's Wall Path Day 7: Newcastle - Tynemouth (22.5 km)

Another sunny morning! Popped into the cathedral in Newcastle before descending to Quayside and walking eastwards into the morning sun along the north bank of the Tyne.

St. Nicholas' Cathedral, with its 14th century lantern tower

The Millenium Bridge

St. Peter's Marina

Once out of the city, the trail followed Hadrian's Cycle Path (no. 72), passing through suburban parklands and post-industrial wastelands, only some of which have been redeveloped and revitalised like St Peter's Marina. Today's walk may have been less beautiful than many other days on the Hadrian's Wall Path, but it was essential to reach my goal - Wallsend and the North Sea!

And here it is - the end of the Wall!

Right below it is the recently excavated site of ancient Roman baths, a reconstruction of which has been built within the grounds of Segedunum Roman Fort and Museum. 

However, the reconstructed bathhouse, which is supposed to be impressive, was closed because of damage to the roof during last week's windstorm, and several other galleries and "interactive exhibits" in the museum were closed or broken down and awaiting repair, making it a bit of a disappointment for my six pounds. Nevertheless I went up the tower in the glass elevator to look out from the viewpoint over the grounds of the fort and the view of the river and the city in the distance. 

View of Segedunum Roman fort site from the observation tower

View of the observation tower from Segedunum Roman fort site 

One fun exhibit at the museum showed what Hadrian's Wall would look like if it were a metro system. 

Schematic representation of the Wall and associated forts 

Another showed where all the Wall Walkers who visited the museum came from. I stuck my pin in the appropriate spot.

A section of Wall has been reconstructed alongside the remains of the old Wall, to give visitors an idea of how tall it was, how it would have looked, and what it feels like to walk along the top of it.

New and old Wall

Hadrian's Wall - done!

Segedunum marks the end of Hadrian's Wall and the end of Hadrian's Wall Path. But after visiting the site, getting the final stamp on my Hadrian's Wall Path Passport and collecting my certificate of completion, I carried on along Hadrian's Cycle Path for another ten kilometres to Shields, to make it not only a complete Wall walk but a complete coast-to-coast walk, from the Irish Sea to the North Sea!

The South Shields ferry over the River Tyne

The riverfront at South Shields

At North Shields I boarded a ferry across the Tyne, a seven-minute journey to South Shields, site of the Roman fort of Arbeia. The gatehouse of the fort has been reconstructed to give you an idea of what it would have looked like in the days of the Roman Empire, and admission is free.... but sadly the site is only open May through September, and today being the first of October, it was closed. 

Arbeia

I peered at it through the gates and then carried on past "Hadrian's Primary School" and down to the beach at the mouth of the River Tyne on the North Sea, where I finally stopped tracking my walk! 

Newcastle - South Shields 22.5 km

This was the end of my walk, but not of my adventure. I took the ferry back over the river and then a bus into Tynemouth to visit the ruins of Tynemouth Priory, perched on the top of a cliff over the pounding waves of the North Sea. 

Tynemouth Priory, built in 1090

On the beach below the ruined Priory, a woman was drawing concentric circles in the sand.

Land art on the shores of the North Sea

Why?

But then, why did I walk across England?

It makes just about as much sense!

Hadrian's Wall Path Day 6: Heddon-on-the-Wall - Newcastle-upon-Tyne (19 km)

After breakfasting in the company of another walker and the proprietor of Houghton North Farm hostel, Jennifer and I set off at a good pace towards Newcastle - but before we had got very far, we were waylaid by villagers in Heddon-on-the-Wall. First we stopped to look at the longest section of broad Wall (i.e. ten-foot rather than eight-foot Wall) still standing. Before we had been there a minute, a very friendly lady with a small terrier came along and struck up a conversation. She started out talking about her dog, and then about the horses in the adjacent field, but when she got onto the topic of the Royal Family, we knew we were going to have a hard time escaping; luckily a group of cyclists arrived at the site, distracting the terrier and therefore its mistress. We beat a hasty retreat, but shortly thereafter made the mistake of entering the village church, St. Andrew's. It being Sunday morning, a service was about to start, and when we told the attendant at the door we just wanted to take a peek at the church before proceeding on our way along the Wall, he embarked on a personal tour of the church, which he defined as "just a quick look round before the service" but which went into considerably more detail than we had bargained for. However, a crisis arose when a desperate parishioner called to his attention the fact that the priest had failed to arrive for the service, and once again we were able to make an escape, at the price of paying 20 p for a brochure explaining the details of the church architecture and stained glass windows that the attendant hadn't had time to illustrate to us himself. 

A long stretch of broad Wall - with friendly lady & terrier approaching!

Once we finally managed to leave behind the extremely friendly inhabitants of Heddon-on-the-Wall, we were able to proceed towards Newcastle at a reasonably rapid pace, there being little else to distract us along the way. It was a pleasant walk along the north bank of the Tyne, past a golf course, cricket grounds and a rowing club, through parkland on the site of former coal mines, past a fragrant baked goods factory and on into an increasingly urban landscape. At Newcastle Central Station I said goodbye to Jennifer, off to rejoin her family for the working week, and checked into my hostel, where I recovered a small bag of things I had sent ahead care of Hadrian's Haul, did some grocery shopping and bought a waist pouch at the five-pound shop to replace the one with a broken zipper that I had thrown away! 

Golf course/Cricket club

Rowing club

The Tyne

Monument to the collier, with children and pony

The bridges of Newcastle come closer

Grainger Street - on the way to the hostel!

Heddon-on-the-Wall - Newcastle upon Tyne 19 km