Via Lemovicensis: a Tale of Two Towns

Noel is the very epitome of a hospitalero. Breakfast was amazing, and at one point we spontaneously broke out singing “Ultreïa!” He apparently is a friend of Jean-Claude, who wrote the verses and music to the song.

He also gifted each of us with a small wooden Camino shell which I will treasure is a symbol of true hospitality.

Francine absolutely would have loved him, and I like to think that her style as an hospitalera was very similar to his: welcoming, gracious, but also no nonsense.

It was chilly enough for gloves this morning as I walked through the narrow, twisting medieval streets of the town again. I followed the markers for the GR route out of town, rather than the Camino markers, because the GR avoided a stretch on a busy road.

Once out of the town center, the houses were much further apart, with yards and fences. The church rang 8 AM as I crossed the line from the town into the countryside. It seems like I’m leaving later each day!

I crossed the bridge over a stream, and then the busy D 28 highway to rejoin the Camino on a one-lane blacktop. The Camino took me through a short tunnel of trees and into the glorious French farmland under the sky of blue and accompanied by birdsong. A truly beautiful morning in God’s creation!

I sang as I walked, much to the consternation of the cows.

At about 8:20, I passed by another one of those little ponds like those I saw yesterday. A mist rose from it, but I was already so warm I had to take off my gloves.

Shortly thereafter, I passed through the first little hamlet of the day, Le Crochet, and the Camino turned off onto a dirt road into the open countryside.

At about 8:40, the Camino turned onto a one lane blacktop. I startled a duck as my poles clicked onto the road, and then in return the duck very much startled me as it suddenly flew up out of the grass. I could already see the church steeple of my first new village of the day in the distance.

I arrived in the village of Charenton-du-Cher at just about 9 AM. I hoped to have second breakfast here. First I visited the little 11th-century church of Saint Martin. This is a beautiful little church, well maintained and clearly well loved. I was in the church longer than I had intended.

At 9:30, I was sitting down to coffee and croissant in front of the local. As anybody who has walked the Camino knows, second breakfast is probably the most important meal of the day!

It was almost 10 o’clock before I was moving again. Rather too long to sit in the sunshine, but once again my walk today is relatively short. There will be longer days to come, but for now it’s a relatively leisurely walk, filled with contemplation and moments of beauty.

It had warmed up considerably, and the fleece was off. On the way out of town, I crossed the Canal de Berry. Later in the day, this would become a constant companion. For now, I would follow it for a hundred meters or so before veering off into the smooth transition into the next village of Saint-Pierre-les-Étieux.

The church here was truly something to see, with its Romanesque bell tower. Sadly, it was locked.

This little village is quite spread out – the town hall is 3 km from the church! Before too long, though, I was back roadwalking in the open countryside.

When I’m roadwalking, I always wave to the drivers of the cars coming towards me, and often the drivers wave back. Today, though, I had something new – a tiny white haired lady in the passenger seat applauded me as the car passed. 

I’m usually acutely embarrassed to be acknowledged in that way, but in that moment I have to tell you, it put a smile on my face!

One of the things you think about walking on Camino is “why am I doing this?” The Camino has a certain draw for me that I find difficult to put into words. I’ve heard it put this way: our “normal” lives are complicated, but easy; the Camino is simple but difficult. There is definitely something to that. And I am drawn again and again to Saint Augustine’s maxim solvitur ambulando, it is solved by walking.

But beyond that, of course are the reasons for this particular Camino. This Camino at this time.

The most obvious reason is that I promised Francine that I would complete the adventures that we had planned, and that begins here. But I’m also here for reasons of my own, not to exorcize ghosts, but perhaps to learn to carry love disguised as grief.

Somewhere in my musings, the Camino transitioned from asphalt to dirt and crushed stone. I checked the GPS just to make sure I was still on the route, and I was. I don’t like to do this too often, because it really chews through my phone’s battery.

Soon enough, I was walking through the dreaded long grass again. At least it wasn’t wet. Just before 11 o’clock, I was back on asphalt.

Eventually the Camino rejoined the path of the Canal de Berry. This was dug in the early 18th century to facilitate commerce and transportation in this region of France. It was in active use up until the 1950s. Nowadays, each district or municipality is responsible for maintaining their section of the canal. Some don’t. As a result, it’s no longer possible to take a boat from one end to the other.

The section I walked appeared passable enough. It was gloriously tree lined, but the bank in the shade was blocked off from walking. Still, once I got on some more sunscreen, a buff on my neck, and my sunglasses it was a most delightful walk. My path was upon (mostly) short grass, clover, and daisies, and I was surrounded by a cloud of dragonflies and butterflies.

At about 11:30, I came to a little bridge with a nearby house that I think used to belong to whoever managed it. The level of the canal was very different from one side of the bridge to the other, and there wasn’t an obvious lock for a boat to go through, but it’s possible that there used to be one and it was removed at some point.

The Camino left the canal here to go through the little hamlet of Le Moulin de Gâteau, which as the name implies includes an old mill.

Then it was about a kilometer of mud and long grass. Because of course it was.

After a short stretch of roadwalking (including passage through the very modern hamlet of Le Breuil), it was back to the canal, this time on the opposite bank.

Once again, there was a little house (toll station? lockkeeper’s house?) at the bridge, identical to the previous one. Once again, the canal narrowed and dropped in level. This time, the presence of a lock seemed a little more obvious.

Just a little further on, the canal crossed the course of a river, creating an odd four-way water intersection. It was noon, and I was definitely looking forward to a long lunch.

After just a bit of roadwalking, the Camino turned down a long paved bike path next to the canal. A little more sunscreen, and off I went! There were some shady stretches, which was pleasant.

By my count, dog walkers outnumbered cyclists on the path by two to one.

By 12:20, I’d come to another bridge/lock/house. There was also a restaurant here across the street, but it wasn’t open for lunch. The Camino continued on the bike path alongside the canal.

The air was cool, thanks to the wind over the canal, but there was hardly a cloud in the sky and the sun was merciless.

The Camino passed an arched footbridge over the canal, only to cross it a few minutes later on a road bridge. By this time, the number of cyclists had surpassed the number of dog walkers.

Suddenly I was in the town of Saint-Armand-Montrond, which was my destination for the day. By 12:40, I was standing in front of the church of Saint-Armand. 

The first thing I noticed was that the baptistery had been converted to a chapel honoring Saint Joan of Arc. Here were listed the names of the men from the town who had died in the Great War.

This 12th century Romanesque church with its almost Gothic arches filled me with a sense of deep peace. The stained glass windows were modern, but absolutely beautiful.

I sat and prayed there a while. I was going to light a candle for Francine here, but although there were plenty of candles, there was nothing to light them with!

So instead, I went out into the town to see if I could get some lunch and maybe purchase a lighter.

I soon found a Tabac – a sort of a cross between a corner store and a bar – where I was able to purchase a lighter and a beer. While I was there, I looked up the place I had reserved for the night, and discovered to my amazement it was literally across the street.

I decided to finish my beer and then see if I could check in. I could not. Apparently, they were supposed to email me or otherwise send me an electronic code to get into the building, but they did not.

I messaged them, and it could only hope they would respond in a timely fashion.

Meanwhile, I headed back to the church. There I lit a candle for Francine at the altar of Saint Joan of Arc. 

While I was there, two Polish pilgrims came in. I had seen them resting on the side of the road earlier, but I thought that they were locals. They have been walking from Poland, one section at a time over the course of several years. This year they will make it as far as Limoges.

As we were talking, someone from the church came in and we were able to get stamps for our pilgrim passports. This is the first one of these I’ve gotten in a church since Vézelay.

This is a pretty big town, and I was able to find a tourist office. The fellow there was extremely helpful, and he was able to contact the owners of the chambre d’hôtes I was booked into.

They sent me the code, but for whatever reason they said I couldn’t check in until 5 PM. Since it wasn’t even 3 o’clock yet, I decided it might be a good idea to find someplace in the shade with a cool drink to wait it out.

On the way to the tourist office, I had passed a little plaza with any number of likely places, so I headed back there.

I had a lovely Orangina at a sidewalk café. While I was there, I got a text that indicated I could check in immediately. So I finished the Orangina and headed over.

As it turned out, it was literally around the corner from where I was. All’s well that ends well. I took a shower, and then a brief accidental nap before leaving to explore the town.

I’m not sure I will ever get used to wandering around a large town in a foreign country where I don’t really speak the language. The people watching was great, and I did pick up a couple of items from the grocery store to restock my food stash.

With a thousand different dinner options to choose from, I literally went to a pub and got a burger and a beer, because sometimes you just need something familiar. 

Dessert, though, was pistachio crème brûlée.

Date: 17 April 2026

Place: Saint-Armand-Montrond 

Today started: Ainay-le-Château  

Today’s Photos!