GR653 Day 26: Saint-Géniès-de-la-Mourgues - Montpellier

A fine walk through apple orchards and vineyards to Vendargues, where a celebration of local Occitane culture was underway in the bull ring.

The band struck up a tune just as I came striding into the arena!

I felt like a character in a film! 

The men in the arena were all wearing traditional black velvet jackets, except for a few dressed in white - presumably they are the competitors in tomorrow's "Course Camargaise" against the bulls. I took a brochure about the sport to find out more.

There were stands selling local specialties, so I bought a crepe made with goat's milk and honey and a couple of little goat's milk cheeses to take home for dinner. There was a wine producer too, but unfortunately a bottle was too heavy - I still had a ways to go!

I took a photograph of this manifesto in the Occitane language, dated 1934, protesting against the imposition of a tax on events in the bull ring. As you can see, Occitaine is a bit like French and a bit like Spanish. 

At first I thought everyone was called Lou here, because the names on all the cheese labels started with Lou... but after reading this poster I realised that "lou" means "the" in Occitaine!

Meanwhile, the local children were learning about their culture by playing on inflatable bulls.

When the official speeches began, I decided it was time to continue on my way. 

The town of Vendargues seems to want to make sure pilgrims can find everything - even the bus stop!

Many walkers take the bus from here to the centre of Montpellier to avoid walking through the city's industrial and commercial outskirts. But I want to walk every footstep of the Way, and so as soon as things started to get ugly I abandoned the official path and took a detour into the village of Cres, then managed to find a route that took me almost all the way to my airbnb flat in Montpellier through vineyards, along country lanes and bicycle paths.  

In Cres I passed this fine example of a Camargue cross, symbol of faith (cross), hope (anchor) and charity (heart). 

More about the Camargue cross, and the Camargue in general, at http://www.magdalenepublishing.org/camargue-cross-origin/

When I was once again absolutely dead tired I finally came to the apartment, got the keys and settled in, did some grocery shopping and made dinner...

I'm stopping here for now! 

Saint Geniès - Montpellier via Vendargues & Cres 22.5 km

Ventimiglia - Montpellier 572 km (26 days)

GR653 Day 25: Gallargues-le-Montueux - Saint-Géniès-de-la-Mourgues

From Gallargues-le-Montueux to Saint-Géniès-de-la-Mourgues, via Villetelle, Saturargues, and Vérargues... and tomorrow morning I'll be going through Vendargues... the place names around here are so tricky I hope I never need to ask for directions, or explain to people where I've just come from or where I'm going to... otherwise I have to consult my map again before I can answer them! This is a new stretch of trail, a change made to the Grand Randonnée 653 where it used to go along beside the motorway for a long way. A lot of people used to skip this section for that reason, but the new route meanders between sleepy little villages, through vineyards and garrigue, past the Vidourle river and along the banks of a canal. It is one of the pleasantest legs of all so far!

No-one seems to agree on the distance to St Jacques... here it appears to have gone up a hundred km over the previous sign!

It was only lunch time when I arrived at Saint-Christol so I decided to continue on to Saint-Geniès and take a room in a bed and breakfast there. 

Gallargues-le-Montaux - Saint-Géniès-de-la-Mourgues 24.5 km

What all the little villages have in common is tauromachie... Jeux taurines. There are no bullfights in France, but a variety of other bull-related sports, primarily the one in which contestants have to get a ribbon that is attached between the bull's horns without getting themselves gored.

If I had arrived in Gallargues a day later, I would have been there for something like the running of the bulls.

All the warnings signs and barriers were up ready for the event. In Villetelle, the entrances to the houses are all marked with strange symbols. I guess they have something to do with tauromachy as well. They made me feel like I was in a really foreign place. Might they have an identifying function, something like the colours and symbols of the contrade in Siena, or the house poles in Haida Gwaii? 

... Mystery revealed! I asked my hostess (who is Danish, originally) at breakfast. She said that in every town there is an association of young people that organises the town's week-long festival and games (all centring around the bull) and they go from house to house asking for donations. If you contribute, you get the symbol of the year's festival spray-painted on your wall! 

There are some of these in Saint-Geniès too.

The houses are surrounded by walls, so that you cannot see into the garden, as in Islamic countries. Many architectural details suggest Spanish and even Moorish influences. Added to the strange symbols, they make me feel I have surely come a long way from home! 

GR653 Day 24: Vauvert - Gallargues-le-Montueux

Another day walking with Anne and Marie-Helène. They are great company - besides forcing me to practice my French and teaching me songs, Anne likes to stop and chat with all the people we run into along the way, making the day more interesting! This morning we stopped at the local bakery and coffee shop in Vauvert for breakfast, and struck up a conversation with Pierre. As soon as he saw our backpacks he offered to buy us coffee, telling us his wife had walked the pilgrimage to St Jacqes de Compostelle. Pierre comes from St Christol, which may be the next stop on my itinerary, and he gave me the name of a lady who has rooms for pilgrims there. 

Fortified with strong coffee and pain au chocolat, we set off on our last leg together. When we reached Gallargues we had lunch in the local café, then my new friends accompanied me to the pilgrim hostel before heading for the bus stop. They have both been all the way to Santiago before, met on the Camino, and are spending the week redoing a small section. As they do not have much time, they want to take a bus to Montpellier, visit the city and then continue hiking the next two legs after that, which Anne assured me are particularly beautiful. So we said goodbye and au revoir, and I checked into the hostel, in a former infants' school which is also used as a cultural centre - there was a painting class going on upstairs when I arrived! And there seems to be a music school as well... I have had plenty of time to wash and dry some clothes, darn my socks and buy some groceries for my evening meal. 

Only 1600 km to go!

I may even go back to the village book-share and find something to attempt to read... in French!

Vauvert - Gallargues-le-Montueux 14.5 km

Lazy day today, but I stopped here because there's a municipal pilgrim hostel - only €10!