I’m not gonna lie, I stopped for the night to stay in Oloron because of chocolate. As evidenced by a picture posted on FB of me childishly inhaling a croissant slathered with Nutella, sometimes chocolate just hits the spot. Now, as a guy, I don’t actually live and die for it, like some females in my life, but I gotta tell you, after hiking 29 miles through the mountains with 28lbs on my back, the thought of staying almost immediately adjacent to a famous chocolate factory in Lindt, (just outside of Oloron-Ste.Marie) was irresistible. Besides there’s just something different, deeper, creamier, richer, more chocolaty without being bitter about European chocolate. I could smell it for over a kilometer, and as I approached, the fragrance almost made me dizzy, I was so hungry. Reflecting over lots of stuff, it’s probably more likely that chocolate just reminds me of my wife Sharon. I haven’t seen or talked with her (except by whatsapp text) in five days, and I still feel pretty bad about that whole Mother’s Day thing. I’m really beginning to feel a bit lonesome and miss my family. May 17th is their darkest day also. Perhaps traveling halfway across the world is no longer about discovery, and grief, and recovery. Perhaps I’m becoming what I hated most about my first marriage. Maybe this is all about me. To answer the obvious question, “No, I didn’t get a tour of the Chocolate factory.” They were closed and wouldn’t open until long after I would leave the next day. But the odor of that hot vat of choco next door is hard to describe. Not that any of that is even vaguely relevant to the spiritual things I often write about on my blogs, but it seems important now! A much needed shower, a quick bite to eat, and write a few words. I’ll post these notes later, because I’m finding functioning WiFi as scarce in rural France as it was in Spain. It will be an early day tomorrow, because I’m looking forward to staying in Arudy, as it was one of the few places in this segment between SJPP and Lourdes even mentioned in the Camino Forums.
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