ibis Hotel - CDG airport

I had to leave VF del Bierzo early to be able to shop at La Tau in Ponferrada before taking the train to Paris. I have now been traveling for over twenty-four hours. I did sleep on the train so I feel somewhat okay. It is a long journey, first the day train from Ponferrada to Hendaya (seven hours) and then two hours after arrival in Hendaya transfer to the sleeper train to Paris Austerlitz (nearly nine hour journey).

It is recommended in some camino guide books to travel home slowly after being on the camino, this is what I am doing. Being along the camino is an intense time, an internal journey of emotional experiences that one does not want to share until ready to do so. Taking time to readjust to the real world is the best that you can do for yourself. If you fly home within hours of the end of your camino journey you may not be ready for the changes. It is best to take this journey slowly.

I am now sitting in the reception area using a free computer while waiting for a room to be available at the ibis Hotel - CDG airport. I am tired and ready for a shower. I will rest today and sightsee Paris tomorrow and Friday - as in other years being a tourist for a day or two helps me to come off the camino.

I did see three pilgrims on the train who had stayed at Ave Fenix while I was there, it was nice to hear the stories of their journeys. I had four German pilgrims sharing my sleeper cabin to Paris, they were very quiet and polite young men about 20 years old.

Sometimes it is hard to understand another persons logic. At Paris Austerlitz there was a cyclist who was having difficulties with his heavy packed bike and paniers. His paniers were taped together and they looked to be very heavy when he carried them. The platform is very long so I offered to stand with his paniers while he carried his bike to the platform entrance, he was happy with this arrangement. He is Estonian and had been in a competition race earlier in June up the Pyrénées to Col de Somport .... I saw this race when I was in Canfranc Estación, Spain. After this competition he then cycled along Camino Aragonés and Camino Francés to Santiago de Compostela. Now, here is what I do not understand ... why did he pack his bike and paniers before arriving at the airport? Life could have been simpler for him if he had continued his camino then when at the airport dismantled his bike, packed it, and then taped his paniers. Spanish and French trains allow bicycles aboard.

I have worked out the way to the airport from the hotel and it will take only minutes to be at at the Continental check-in counter. The train from CDG takes me to the Metro stations, from there I can get around Paris by Metro on a day Pass, it is easy.