- Henry David Thoreau, Walking
Definitely spent more than four hours sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields today!
Our day began in style, climbing the monumental staircase to Auch cathedral.
Our day began in style, climbing the monumental staircase to Auch cathedral.
We then left the town behind and quickly found ourselves in the quiet, green countryside again. Here we met a French lady who is walking to Lourdes in a hot pink skirt, and conversed briefly before she suddenly turned off down a side road... We still don't know why, as we haven't seen her again since!
This is one funny thing about Long Walks: when you run into somebody, you have no idea whether they will walk out of your life again as quickly as they walked into it, or will become your constant companion for weeks on end!
Our route passed through the Bois d'Auch, unfortunately along the roadside; you'd think it would be possible to make a pedestrian path through parkland like this! Then the road emerged into the fields, and after a brief climb the Pyrenees came into view again over the rise, visibly closer than yesterday. Amazing how much difference a day's walk makes!
This is one funny thing about Long Walks: when you run into somebody, you have no idea whether they will walk out of your life again as quickly as they walked into it, or will become your constant companion for weeks on end!
Our route passed through the Bois d'Auch, unfortunately along the roadside; you'd think it would be possible to make a pedestrian path through parkland like this! Then the road emerged into the fields, and after a brief climb the Pyrenees came into view again over the rise, visibly closer than yesterday. Amazing how much difference a day's walk makes!
Our fellow walkers from Germany caught up with us as we were taking our lunch break in the Forêt d'Armagnac.
After several more hot kilometres on the tarmac we stopped for a break in the village of Barran, resting in the shade of the covered marketplace. The village was deserted on a May 1 holiday afternoon.
Upon exiting Barran we decided to decrease the total distance for the day by a few kilometres by following the road, just as we did yesterday. After one hour we came to the village of L'Isle Noé, our stopover tonight, Chez Edna.
Edna is an Englishwoman who used to run a pub near Manchester, but suddenly decided to sell it and buy a big old house in a French village. She didn't even realise it was on the Camino until an Italian pilgrim knocked on her door one day asking if she could put him up for the night. Word got around and more pilgrims started coming... And now, says Edna, she finally knows why she is here!
To serve cups of tea and heaping plates of shepherd's pie to tired, hungry pilgrims like us!
Upon exiting Barran we decided to decrease the total distance for the day by a few kilometres by following the road, just as we did yesterday. After one hour we came to the village of L'Isle Noé, our stopover tonight, Chez Edna.
Edna is an Englishwoman who used to run a pub near Manchester, but suddenly decided to sell it and buy a big old house in a French village. She didn't even realise it was on the Camino until an Italian pilgrim knocked on her door one day asking if she could put him up for the night. Word got around and more pilgrims started coming... And now, says Edna, she finally knows why she is here!
To serve cups of tea and heaping plates of shepherd's pie to tired, hungry pilgrims like us!
Auch - L'Isle Noé 24.7 km
We loved our stay with Edna! We also found Barran desserted and shut down, but we had taken a wrong turn through the fields and walked several miles out of our way. The path over the fields to L'Isle Noé was lovely, though!
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