Via Lemovicensis: What do you Mean, He’s been Arrested?

It was a cold foggy morning when I left the charming and hospitable Le Coeur du Chemin. I’d had an early breakfast after lauds and said goodbye to the owner, Ruud, as well as pilgrims Joes and Judith. It’s possible I may see Judith in Nevers tomorrow, but unless he changes his mind and takes the Camino Francés rather than the del Norte, I am unlikely to see Joes again unless the timing is just right and we meet in Santiago. He did promise to meet me there – he owes me a beer!

It was cold enough that I was wearing both my gloves and, for the first time, my jacket.

The little one-lane road soon merged onto a larger two-lane blacktop. The terrain was green and golden rolling fields that gradually disappeared into the fog.

I was missing Francine like crazy this morning. We used to sing together as we were doing chores in the house or sometimes when we walk together. We made up the words as we went along, describing what we were doing and how we were feeling. We sometimes referred to this as “Thom and Fran: the musical”. 

After her death, I didn’t sing like that for a long time.

This morning as I walked through the fog, I was singing a silly little song, and I just started tearing up thinking about how much I missed her and how much she would love this walk.

I entered the village of Prémery at about 7:30 AM, but I did not actually get to the village center until almost 8 AM. This is not a small village, more of a town actually.

The Camino route made a little zigzag into the commercial center, but even so I still had to go a few blocks off route to visit the church.

Saint-Marcel is a Romanesque Church with some Gothic flair, built in the 13th through 14th centuries. It was locked, and there was no Mass scheduled for today, Divine Mercy Sunday.

Thanks to parish consolidations in this part of France, the nearest Sunday Mass was in Moussy, a half day’s walk in the other direction. It is for this reason that the various bishops conferences have issued a blanket dispensation from the Sunday obligation to all walking pilgrims.

To be clear: I think the fact of the dispensation is great; I think the need for the dispensation is awful.

Second breakfast was café crème and pain au chocolat in Prémery. There would no cafés from here until the end of my day (and maybe not even then, given it was Sunday). The place was playing a medley of British invasion hits, chorus in English and verses in French.

I left town at about 8:30 AM. If the approach into the village was long, at least it was through a neighborhood. The way out was through a crumbling industrial zone which made it seem longer than it was.

Soon enough, I was back in the foggy French countryside. Road walking, of course, on a one lane asphalt road of a peculiar reddish color you sometimes get here in France. Eventually this transitioned into a broad dirt road.

By 8:45, both the gloves and the jacket had come off. It was proving to be a very pleasant morning’s walk.

Just before 9 o’clock, I passed through the hamlet of Pourcelanges, and the Camino briefly became gravelly tire ruts in the tall, green grass before reverting to asphalt.

The road entered a cool, green forest, and once again the air was full of birdsong. As in previous days, the rolling terrain alternated between forest and field for much of the day. At about 9:20, I passed through a hamlet with the rather ambitious name of Le Grand Rigny. I presume “Le Petit Rigny” is a single farmhouse somewhere over the hill.

At about 9:45 AM, I passed what appeared to be an old government building or perhaps a château in the middle of nowhere, slowly falling into ruin. It seemed like it was quite a grand structure at one time. On my map it is designated as Les Verdillats.

A few minutes later, I passed a proper château, which I believe is called Les Creuses. 

Although this was road walking, there was often a soft shoulder of dirt about a meter wide beside the road. 

At about 10:15, the Camino turned off this road onto a much rougher one of asphalt and gravel. This new road ran alongside railroad tracks. If the rust on the tracks are to be believed, they have not been used in a very long time.

At a place called Forneau de la Belouse – really just a wide spot in the road – the Camino crossed the tracks before continuing. Supposedly somewhere around here was a grand château, but it was hidden by the trees. 

The road was much better maintained on this side of the tracks.

Sometime past 10:30, I walked through the hamlet of Les Mazerins. Unlike most of the places I’ve seen today, this was all modern construction. It very much gave off the vibe of a sleepy suburb.

This was quickly followed by the hamlet of Mauvron, which by contrast was the more familiar older stone buildings. The air here smelled of wood smoke, and as I passed through a symphony of barking dogs erupted wherever I went.

Soon enough, I was back in the countryside, walking a fairly narrow smooth-as-silk blacktop road. I suspect it might actually be a bike path, as it seems too narrow to be a road.

By 11 AM, the blacktop had widened a bit and plunged once more into the forest. At a fenced-off area marked Fountaine du Bois, the Camino took a sudden sharp turn down a dirt road.

This eventually turned back onto an asphalt road, and I began meeting the occasional jogger and dog walker.

At about 11:45, the forest ended suddenly in a suburban neighborhood that might once have been a village. I later learned that it was called La Quellerie. 

After another short stretch of field and forest, I passed by some sort of factory. The smokestacks were silent, but the roof was covered in solar panels, and I could hear a distinct hum from inside the building.

As I walked farther along, I passed parts of the factory complex that were clearly abandoned and falling to ruin.

It was straight up noon, and I took a short break on a bench by the road before pushing on the last kilometer or so.

I turned to follow a narrow, grassy, tree-lined park into the city. On the way, I stopped at the church of Saint Pierre. It was locked, but there was a parade forming up with several bands.

I stood there for a moment watching, and I was approached by a couple named Jean-Mi and Sylvie. They had recently seen a film about the Camino, and greeted me enthusiastically.

Sylvie has a little bit of English, and she asked me where I was staying in town. I told her about the hotel that I had booked for tonight (a treat! I usually try to get a private room once a week or so). 

Sylvie’s face showed concern. They would be happy to show me the hotel – it was just down the street – but it wouldn’t be open. Apparently the owner had been arrested on drug charges. I may not have that story exactly correct – as I said our communications were not entirely clear.

In any case, the place was closed. I don’t think I’m getting my deposit back. But Sylvie and Jean-Mi took the initiative and flagged down the deputy mayor of the town. Thank goodness he was at the parade!

He unlocked the town hall, stamped my pilgrim passport, and got me set up with the municipal refuge. I’m extremely grateful to him. He even gave me his card and told me to call if there was any problem.

Jean-Mi and Sylvie were so sweet to me. Because of course everything was closed on a Sunday afternoon, they took me to some sort of crazy automatic pizza-making machine so I could buy lunch, and then they walked me to the refuge.

I have no idea what I would have done if God had not sent these two angels to cross my path.

Judith arrived at about 2:30. And here I thought we wouldn’t meet up again for a couple of days.

It’s cold outside, and everything is closed on Sunday, so I’m hoping to get some rest and maybe get some writing done. 

Date: 12 April 2026

Place: Guérigny

Today started: Gîte Le Coeur du Chemin  

Today’s Photos!