Italy to Santiago II Part 1: Via Domitia Day 29 Lurs - Mane

Quello che non ho non può servirmi 

(I cannot need what I do not have)

- Davide Tavino, OraMai (2026)

A lesson in simplicity. That's how the Camino might be defined. You carry only what you need to survive. You get up in the morning and walk. You stop walking when you're tired, and eat. And sleep. Repeat!

You spend your afternoons in the village you have reached. Nothing to do but look around, sit in the sun, maybe read a book, make a cup of tea, find something to eat.

The sun rises earlier now that the clocks have been put back: I left the gîte communal in Lurs at 7, when the two construction workers with whom I had shared the hostel had put on their bright orange coveralls and gone off to work. I descended into the valley on a footpath, crossed a bridge over a waterfall, and then followed quiet country roads among the famous lavender fields of Provence - not very colourful in October!

Looking back at Lurs

Former windmill

Lavender in October 

I felt particularly tired this morning, and walking seemed to take more effort than usual. I thought I might need some mineral supplements, or be ready to call it a day and go home - until I realised I had been walking uphill all morning, slowly but steadily, at a gradient so gradual it was invisible!

I passed an equestrian centre and followed a footpath through the garrigue towards Forcalquier. When the GR route took a zig-zag around a field, I abandoned it and followed the road into the town, passing between the tennis club and the soccer field then crossing a bridge into the centre of the town.

Forcalquier, from the Latin Furnus Calcarius,  so named for its lime kilns, was formerly the capital of Haute Provence and a seat of the Bishopric of Sisteron; the 13th-century parish church was co-cathedral of the diocese, along with the cathedral of Sisteron. It is the earliest example of Gothic architecture in the Pays d'Oc. 

The nearby Couvent des Cordeliers was built in 1236 as a Benedictine abbey, but is now used as an educational facility: the Université Européenne des Senteurs et des Saveurs, a private university specialising in the study of natural aroma compounds, cosmetics and flavourings. It contains a museum about aromatic and medicinal plants.

I bought a few provisions for a picnic on the town's main shopping street and climbed up to the citadel at the top of the town to enjoy the view while I ate. I could see Lurs, which I had left behind in the morning, and the plain I would be walking over in the future. 

Chapel and carillon at the top of the citadel

My destination for the day, Mane, was only another hour's walk away, so I messaged Juliette, my contact for my accommodation there. It turned out Juliette had not been expecting me until the next day - Sylvie had got the day wrong when she contacted her on my behalf - but, she said, no problem: the door to the Presbytère would be open, and I could let myself in; there was a sitting room and a washroom. She would drop by to see me later. 

So I made my way down from the citadel and walked along the roadside, and then a footpath beside it, to Mane: a pretty little village of 1400 souls which is a sort of miniature version of its larger neighbour, Forcalquier. Both towns are made up of concentric half-circles on different levels, winding their way up to a citadel at the top of the town. 

I wasn't sure exactly which house was the Presbytère, though I knew it was in the church square; there was a rummage sale in a disused chapel beside the church, so I went in there and asked the volunteer on duty. Then I let myself in and rested on the sofa for a bit. I wasn't sure whether I was going to be sleeping on the sofa, or whether there was more to the accommodation than that room: in Germany on the Via Romea Germanica, I did sleep on the sofa in church social centres a few times! (And even on the floor...) 

While waiting for Juliette, I sat in the sunshine on a bench by the church writing up this account, as there is practically no Internet signal inside the Presbytère, and it was also rather chilly in the ground-floor room in the old building! When Juliette came by at five, the mystery was cleared up: across the hall from the room with the sofas was a complete apartment, originally used by the parish priest. Simply furnished, but much better than sleeping on a dusty old sofa! 😅

Lurs - Mane 17 km