Author: Thom

After going up the valley, the path descended again. And then pretty soon it was uphill again. It was a slow, difficult slog uphill over stones mostly almost the size of my fist, irregular, slippery, and potentially ankle-twisting. The thing that gets me about this is that the stones were obviously placed here on purpose. The people who made the […]

The Way climbed high above the river. From the vantage point near the top, I could see farms and gardens spreading out from the banks, so it appears this rough route was designed to avoid the farmers’ property. I was already dripping with sweat, and the forest was warm and humid. It was only when I came to a bit of […]

After a lovely breakfast with Tony, the gîte owner, and Constance, the injured pilgrim from Brazil, I left about 7:40 into a cool, clear morning. The Camino began practically at the gîte’s front door and proceeded on a long bridge over the Lot River. I had left the Lot River Valley days ago in Figeac, and this far downstream the […]

After Bruno and Anne left, I eventually checked into my gîte, which proved to be charming and lovely. Then I found the local church to pray Vespers. It turned out to be an absolutely luminous place. I prayed with a statue of Saint Joan of Arc – one of Francine’s favourite saints – at my elbow. Date: 03 September 2023 […]

I often say, “always try the local”. In France, I had assumed that in addition to the local cuisine, I’d be drinking the local wine. The fact is, the regions I was walking through were more likely to have a local beer than a local wine. I suspect that will change on the Via Lemovicensis, though. In the area around […]

While I was eager to find my gîte, Bruno and Anne discussed how best to move on; we stopped for a brief conference on this bridge. It was now the hottest part of the day, and the city of Cahors was at least two and a half hours away. And Vers was probably the last place to get supplies or […]

We reached the town of Vers sometime before 1:30 pm. It was beastly hot, but fortunately Vers stands at the confluence of the Vers and Lot rivers: there are many bridges, and there are plenty of shallow spots for taking a dip. Both Bruno and Anne were planning on pushing on from here all the way to Cahors. I, on […]

The Camino ran through the forest alongside a river on my right for a bit, and occasionally there would be impressive stone outcroppings on my left. It was only when I reached a clearing that I could see the full extent of the landscape. The river (and the Camino) ran through the middle of a wide valley, surrounded on both […]

I caught up with Anne at a little stone bridge over a creek. She was putting her shoes on, having sat on a convenient stone and soaking her feet for a bit in the water. This seemed like a capital idea, and I took her spot as she vacated it. The water was cold! But it was like a tonic […]