When I walked the Camino Portugues in 2023 and Camino Del Norte in 2024, I had already spent a month in Portugal with my wife Kelly, acclimating and adapting to European culture. This year, Mark Keating, Mark Dunford, and I are jumping right in.
We flew out of Toronto Friday, March 28, amidst threats of freezing rain in Ontario, and arrived in Ponto Delgado, Azores to see Saturday’s sunrise. After a second go through of security where Mark K’s collapsible walking sticks were still not confiscated, we boarded and departed for Paris, France. We landed early in the afternoon in Paris and made our way to the attached train station where Mark D and I experienced our first high speed train ride. It was very fast! The Lyon speed-train station and airport are one,and it is built a ways out of the city. There would have been public bus options to reach downtown Lyon, but after over 24 hours of planes and trains, we opted for an Uber.
Our first night accommodations, Alter’Hostel, is upstairs in an alley beside a river. It is eclectic, has an eco-friendly vibe, and tonight, a young woman covering English pop tunes. Next door is the Rock and Eat Live Bar with retro punks milling about. I could hear it faintly through the wall.
We walked 200 m from the hostel to Les Tonton’s Burgers and had unique homemade burgers. As we ate, we could feel ourselves crashing from lack of sleep. We finished our meals, returned to the hostel and listened to a few songs, and at 9:30 pm, headed for bed.