Via Podiensis: Steve

Domaine du Sauvage sits in the middle of Gévaudan, a remote region only sparsely inhabited until the 19th century. I left there about 5:45 in the morning in the dark, with the full panoply of the Milky Way visible overhead. Even today it seems isolated, and I can well imagine the terror that the beast would have inflicted amongst the sparse villages of the regionat the time. 

The road was wide and flat, and I arrived at the fountain of Saint Roche by 6:30. I filled up my water bottles, stowed my flashlight, and then proceeded to the chapel. After yesterday’s crowds, it was most strange to see the place completely empty in the early morning light.

It was locked up tight, the first locked church I had encountered in France, but I managed to take a little photo of the interior through the window on the door. After a quick prayer, I was back on the road.

And it was here that I left the administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and entered the region of Occitanie.

Immediately after the sign, i crossed a two-lane road and was back on a rough dirt and gravel path through the woods and pastures. Fortunately, by now the light was good and somewhere in the hills behind me the sun had risen.

Something I don’t think I’ve talked about enough on this blog is the extraordinary beauty of this country. With its rolling hills, meadows with tall grasses, pastures, and forests of pine and beech and ash, it seems a place set apart from the ordinary world.

The sun was visible over the hills by 7:15, and I immediately noticed an increase in temperature. Fortunately, the Way headed back into the woods almost right afterwards.

The trail wound it’s way in and out of woods and meadows. 

Other than three German pilgrims I saw as I left this morning and one passing car, I did not see another human being until I reach the outskirts of the village of Le Rouget, just before 8 AM. 

I arrived in Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole at about 8:45, and I stopped into the first boulangerie I saw and picked up some pain au chocolate for breakfast. Also made a quick visit to a large but fairly modest Romanesque church that appears to have suffered from a spate of iconoclasm. I couldn’t find the name of it, but I presume it’s also St. Alban’s. 

Put on some sunscreen and commenced some fairly dodgy roadwalking out of town. Fortunately, the Way soon veered off the main road onto a gravel road through a stand of trees and out into the countryside.

I was making good time, but my pace had definitely started to slow down. It may or may not be related to the fact that I had my first real hills of the day just after town, as I continued my days-long ascent to the Aubrac plateau. 

The umbrella came out at 9:40 in the morning. It was already 76°. Suddenly a pilgrim appeared behind me, saying the usual “bon jour”, but in an American accent. And so God sent me Steve. 

Steve is a recently retired Assemblies of God pastor from Cincinnati who has lived and worked in Germany for many years. He started walking from his home near Munich 54 days ago, and he plans to go past Santiago all the way to the ocean at Finisterre.

He’s a man who loves Jesus and lets people know it. 

I really enjoyed walking and talking with Steve. The kilometers flew by, despite the road sometimes looking more like a washed out ditch. 

We had a wonderful, wide-ranging discussion. We basically told each other our faith journies and talked theology and discipleship.

We reached Les Estrets at about 11, well ahead of schedule, and ducked into the little Romanesque church there to pray, each in our own way. 

The road from there was much smoother – what Francine and I call “cruisy”.

Steve and I arrived in Aumont-Aubrac at just before 1:00, more than an hour ahead of my best-case estimate.

He is going on much farther than me. We had lunch together at the restaurant attached to my gîte. Afterwards he gave me his blessing and walked on. Based on our planned schedules, we may meet again in a couple of days. 

After my shower and laundry was taken care of, I ventured out into the town. By this time, the temperature had reached 95°. I prayed my office in the local church of Saint Etienne, another lovely Romanesque building, built originally in 1061, though it was considerably “restored” in 1994. 

The interior furnishings of the church sanctuary, though modern, are at least in keeping with the fabric of the building. 

An important note: stone churches remain very cool inside, no matter how hot it gets outside. Modern church architects could probably learn something from that.

Note: I forgot to turn on my tracker until I had already walked several hundred meters, and then a little later in the morning I took out my phone to take a photo and suddenly realized that my tracker had paused for who knows how long. 

So today’s mileage is going to be totally screwed up. Second day in a row I will have to estimate how many kilometers I’ve walked. I confess I’m slightly frustrated by this. The various guide books give the distance as between 28 and 30 km, so I’m going to split the difference and call it 29. 

Update: turns out I have no Wi-Fi whatsoever here. Whether I can get any of the photos or videos to properly upload is it is a matter for conjecture. Of course, by the time you’re reading this you’ll know the answer one way or the other.

Update Update: next day had a place with good Wi-Fi.

Date: 21 August 2023

Place: Aumont-Aubrac

Today started: Domaine du Sauvage

Today’s Photos!