GR653 Via Tolosana Day 12: Boissezon - Castres

Said goodbye to our friends from Limoges, who are taking the bus to Castres and so will be a day ahead of us from now on, and set off from Boissezon at 8 am. We soon discovered that we are not in the flatlands yet, but in the foothills of the mountains, and there are more ups and downs to be covered. 

The peace of this bucolic countryside was soon interrupted by a gang of men in camouflage gear, armed with machine guns. We found ourselves in the midst of some kind of French army drill, and for several kilometres we were surprised from time to time by young men crouching behind bushes with their guns, or by bursts of gunfire in the distance. We were not the only pilgrims on the trail, and presumably the first group of soldiers ordered a cease-fire whenever a hiker came through, because we emerged unscathed, and around midday saw the army truck taking all the young recruits out of the combat zone. War is over! Time for lunch!

We enjoyed our lunch on the grass behind the church in Saint-Hippolyte and then walked the last hour into Castres. We came to the statue of the pilgrim where the city centre begins, and then to our lodgings to drop off our bags.

We then had the rest of the afternoon to explore the city: the churches of St. Jacques and St. Benoit, the houses along the Agoût river, and the Goya Museum, housing France's largest collection of Spanish paintings, including a few Goyas and Velazquezes as well as a fine El Greco. 

Spent the evening making a plan and booking accommodations for the next few days, as we were worried about the May 1 holiday. We did find that a couple of places were fully booked, but played the wild card, airbnb, and now every night is accounted for. Two nights in pilgrim hostels, one night in a nunnery, a night in a yurta and a night in a house by the Canal du Midi. 

Should be interesting!

Boissezon - Castres 18 km 

GR653 Via Tolosana Day 11: Anglès - Boissezon

Anglès looked much better this morning in the sunshine than it did yesterday in the fog. It's a pilgrim-friendly town, with an inexpensive municipal hostel for those who stop overnight and public toilets and drinking water for those who pass through. The bakery opens at 6:30 and the epicèrie at 7:30 for picnic supplies. We headed out of town past a field of curious cows and into the woods in the crisp morning air.

We passed some logging operations that made me feel like I was back in Canada.

Then we turned a corner and suddenly a vast plain of lowlands appeared before us. We have come to the end of the mountains! From here, it's all more or less flat as far as the Pyrenees!

We descended along a dirt track, walked along the edge of fields of young wheat swarming with annoying black flies, and stopped under a leafy canopy for lunch.

Then came the final descent into the village of Boissezon, where we were overjoyed to find the pilgrim gîte waiting for us on the road into town, and the two pilgrims from Limoges who have been sharing the gîtes with us already installed, with instructions to show us to our rooms. This is five-star gîte! It costs a little more than the others (€18) but we each have our own room, with a view over the village. Downstairs is a large and well-equipped kitchen, with a dining room and lounge. A sofa! When was the last time I sat on a sofa??

We did worry for a while about dinner, however, when we saw that the only shop in town is closed until Monday... But Agnes, who runs the gîte, asked the owner to open the shop just for us five pilgrims, and so we were able to buy groceries, cook dinner and share a meal all together. After dinner I opened the gîte guestbook and found that a friend I met on the Via Francigena stayed here only four days ago! Perhaps I'll catch up with him further along the Way!

Anglès - Boissezon 20 km 

GR653 Via Tolosana Day 10: La Salvetat-sur-Agout - Anglès

It might be argued that there is nothing particularly spiritual about a pilgrimage. To the contrary, it takes us back to the most basic, most animal human occupations: walk all day, eat, drink, sleep. Keep out of the rain, shelter from the sun. Go off the path to answer the call of nature. Find a safe place to rest in the dark hours. Nothing else to worry about.

Put one foot in front of the other. Repeat.

You become aware of your body, attuned to its needs and to its capabilities. If you treat it well, "brother donkey" will take you farther than you ever thought possible.

A chunk of cheese and a piece of bread by the trail tastes better than a four-course meal in a restaurant.

Water from a fountain tastes better than an expensive wine.

A single daffodil in a mountain meadow contains more beauty than an entire garden. 

A wheatfield in Spring is so green it stops you in your tracks.

Perhaps this is what is spiritual about a pilgrimage.

La Salvetat-sur-Agout - Anglès

22 km (in the fog)

GR653 Via Tolosana Day 9: Murat-sur-Vebre - La Salvetat-sur-Agout

 Murat-sur-Vebre - La Salvetat-sur-Agout

26 km

7:30 start from Murat in the mist. It had rained during the night and the whole world was wet. Grass laden with dewdrops, newly unfolded ferns, moss-covered stone walls.

We missed a trail marker and went a short way up a dirt road before realising and turning back. Then, just before reaching Lac du Laouzas, we came across a fallen tree trunk over the path. Followed by a whole tree, complete with foliage. We scrambled through that, emerging on the other side wet and dirty, with a crack in the shell on my backpack and minus a pair of sunglasses (later retrieved), but when we saw yet another fallen tree ahead we decided to cut across a clearing that had been logged (hence the fallen trees) and down to the road. It turned out we had to stay on the road as far as the next village, Villelongue, because a notice at the trailhead advised us that the trail along the lakeside was closed due to high water.

After lunching at a roadside picnic spot we came to Villelongue and picked up the GR653 again, through woods and farmers' fields to Salvetat.

The helpful staff at the Office du Tourisme gave us the key to the municipal pilgrim hostel. For only ten euros we have a private room for three in the keep of the village castle, with a kitchen and bathroom shared among seven guests. Possibly the best gîte yet, and definitely the cheapest! Prices in France tend to be higher: we have paid up to €16 for a bunk in a crowded dormitory. And the price doubles if you order a meal, available in some of the gîtes, but only in the form of something pre-cooked and left in the fridge for you to heat up. We have been chosing to buy our own groceries and use the kitchen facilities, except in Servies, where we ordered dinner to save ourselves the trouble of carting groceries up the mountain. Here in Salvetat, we find a small supermarket and purchase some ready-made soup to heat up and the makings of a salad, as well as a pan brioche for our breakfast and cheese and fruit for the next day's lunch. The patisserie across the street provides an individual serving-sized quiche, something I don't eat at home but find very handy for picnics on the trail in France. We enjoy our dinner in the company of the other four guests at the hostel, all French, like practically all the pilgrims we have been meeting on the Via Tolosana.