It wasn't until I quit running that I learned how to walk.
- Brenda Williams, Walking home, published in The Walker Within (2000)
I woke up late in my quiet, comfortable flat in Chorges. It took me a while to figure out how to use the espresso machine (you have to put water into it before you can make coffee! 馃槄) and eat my porridge while finalising arrangements for the next couple of days. My good luck has come to an end: rain is in the weather forecast, particularly on Tuesday, when there is an 80% chance of rain, all day. Tuesday will be exactly three weeks since I started walking, so I figured I deserved a day of rest! I had been planning to walk 15 km today, another 15 km tomorrow, and for Tuesday just a short walk of less than ten kilometres in the rain; but the check-in time for the place I wanted to stay was five o'clock, so what would I do all day until then? I decided it would be better to walk a longer day tomorrow and then stay two nights in the same place: an "eco-g铆te" which offers a special deal for pilgrims, including a vegetarian dinner and breakfast, and has a library and a yoga room... sounds perfect for a day of rest in the rain!
Having called to make my reservation there, I packed up and left the apartment. It being Sunday morning, I expected to find myself in a sleepy French village, but as soon as I opened the door of my building I found myself in the midst of a Sunday market! I bought a sizeable chunk of cheese, a piece of spinach borek from an eastern European vendor, and a baguette and a pastry from the bakery, which was not only open but had a queue! There were people in the caf茅 and on the street, and all the shops were open: quite a different scene from the previous evening!
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| Meanwhile, in the big cities of France... |
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| ...le chaos! |
Mass was starting in the village church at 10:30, but I wanted to get going as I knew it might rain later in the day. I walked out of town, crossing the highway via an underpass and the railway at a level crossing, then heading past a supermarket and shopping centre and out into the countryside.
I climbed up to the village of Montgardin along a small road, and then turned down a forest path which took me to the bottom of a broad green valley. Fields of wheat and hay alternated with flocks of grazing sheep and cattle. The sheep were guarded by dogs, but they were always behind an electric fence. Heading up the road through the valley, I could hear dogs barking, but as I had crossed paths with two walkers, a couple of cyclists and a jogger, with a dog of her own, I figured that if they had no trouble getting past the shepherd dogs, neither would I. I came to a flock of sheep passing one by one through a narrow passageway between one field and another, exactly like the sheep you count when you can't sleep, with much jingling of bells. Then I passed a flock in a fenced enclosure, guarded by three very large dogs, which barked and growled as I went past. Looking back, I saw to my dismay that the enclosure was not fenced in at the other end, and the dogs were coming out after me! But their demeanour was by no means threatening, now that I had passed by their flock; they walked with me for a little way, just to make sure I was really going. Then the dogs guarding the next flock of sheep up the road started barking, and the first set of dogs went over to bark back at them across the fence: they carried on their sheepdog meeting as I carried on my way.
After winding along the valley of the Avance for several kilometres, my path turned uphill, climbing 180 metres to the Sanctuaire de N么tre Dame du Laus. At first I walked along the road, following the stations of the cross, but after two or three stations I turned onto a footpath through the woods, heading steeply uphill and cutting out the U-shaped curves in the road. The footpath came out by the Chapelle du Pr茅cieux Sang, where I rejoined the road up to the Sanctuary proper.
The Sanctuaire de N么tre Dame du Laus marks the spot where the Virgin Mary repeatedly appeared to the shepherdess Beno卯te Rencurel over a period of 54 years, between 1662 and 1718. Here's a video presenting the shrine - in better weather than when I saw it!
It was too early to check into my room when I arrived at two, so I sat in the bar with a delicious locally brewed beer and a sandwich & dessert meal deal. It took some effort to order everything in French... after which I discovered that the bartender was actually British! 馃槄
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| Christmas cr猫che figurines in the gift shop |
There were lots of people hanging around in the bar, eating, drinking, chatting, even napping on the sofas! It was the ideal place to sit writing up this account and passing the afternoon. I took a look around the gift shop and attended vespers in the church before checking into my "Economy" room, basically a cubbyhole under the stairs! The bathroom is down the hall, but then, it is at home, too, so that's not a problem! 馃槃 For future walkers on this route: the Sanctuary has a very large h么tellerie with rooms of various different sizes and levels of luxury. As well as a bar and a restaurant with full meal service at reasonable prices. Perfect for pilgrims!
Chorges - N么tre Dame du Laus 15.5 km
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