Category: Via Podiensis

You don’t often see road signs on forest trails in France, but when you do, it’s to warn you that the two bridges coming up might be slippery. If you squint, you can just see the first bridge. Both bridges were decked with steel, and yes, they were slippery. Date: 31 August 2023 Place: between Lacapelle-Marival and Gramat, Lot Département, […]

These sorts of cairns may be found everywhere on the Camino. Usually, they’re a small pile of stones. Traditionally, hiking cairns are a navigation aid, a way of marking the correct way on a not-so-well-defined trail. On the Camino, which is typically well-marked, they usually serve a different purpose. There’s a small cairn, and pilgrims will leave a new stone to […]

The Camino path ducked in and out of woodlands that morning, and I kept making wrong turns. Fortunately, I never strayed too far. I want to say it was due to poor signage, but the truth is that I was usually just absorbed in my thoughts and prayers and not paying enough attention. I think this is a particular hazard […]

After leaving the little village of Rudelle, I found myself once again in the countryside. As in days past, the road surface alternated between asphalt, gravel, and dirt. Whenever possible, I introduced myself to the locals, which in this case were of the bovine persuasion. Date: 31 August 2023 Place: between Lacapelle-Marival and Gramat, Lot Département, Region of Occitanie, France […]

The castle-like parish church of Saint-Martial de Rudelle looked stark and ominous against the grey sky as I headed out of the village. Dominique caught up and passed me here, and Ávila and Bruno also arrived. The church bell struck 9 o’clock, a few minutes early by my reckoning. I moved on through the town, which was an odd, though […]

Walking into the castle in Rudelle, you would be forgiven for wondering how you suddenly teleported into a Gothic church. The history of this building is complicated. Rudelle was once a fortified village – a bastide founded about 1250 – and this particular building was the hospital chapel, dating to the second half of the 13th century. It was not […]

After walking through farmland for about an hour, I arrived at the tiny village of Rudelle just before 9 AM. Despite its small size, this village has what looks like a castle keep. It was, once. Then in 1471, the local Cardaillac lord gave it to the inhabitants of the village, provided they kept it in repair at their own […]

The day started off rough. I accidentally left my clothes on the line outside last night, and it rained. Still, are you really a pilgrim if you haven’t walked with clothes clipped to the outside of your backpack as you walked? Breakfast was leisurely, and I only finally left the gîte at about 8 AM. It was cool enough that […]

This was my dinner view: the central portion of Lacapelle-Marival, complete with château. Despite the well-known French proclivity for wine, many of the regions I passed through had good, solid local beers. They tended to be a little on the light side, but quite tasty nonetheless. Date: 30 August 2023 Place: Lacapelle-Marival, Lot Département, Region of Occitanie, France Maps! The […]

As I mentioned yesterday, just as I was finishing Vespers in the grandeur of l’Église de l’Assomption-de-la-Sainte-Vierge de Lacapelle-Marival, a Mass broke out. Weirdly, it wasn’t in the main sanctuary of the church. It wasn’t even in one of the well-appointed side chapels. No, it was in a weird little room at the back, built of rods and curtains and […]