Walking the Camino de Santiago
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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Just after 10:30 that morning, I was walking down a dirt road through a forest that gave me serious Mirkwood vibes – all spindly trees wrapped in thick, gray-green moss – when I suddenly realized that I had left my Camino shell medal at the gîte this morning. I was so upset and angry at myself that I actually texted […]
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The little village church of Notre Dame des Noyeraies de Cras (Our Lady of the Walnut Groves in Cras) was unfortunately locked up tight. The heat outside was already fierce, and we certainly could have used a few moments of rest inside the cool air of the church. Instead, we had to settle for the shade of the porch and […]
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Bruno and I arrived in the village of Cras at about 9:45. No café, and even the church was locked up. It was a little early for lunch, but we stopped on the church steps for some cookies. Anne passed us as we sat, and I left Bruno sitting at the church as I went to find water. Cras isn’t […]
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