Two weeks of walking and we have travelled 375 km, half way to Saint Jean Pied de Port, our destination. Thunderstorms roared past all night leaving steady rain and wind for today. We carry umbrellas but the wind was too strong to use them. Just as well, as we usually walk with two walking sticks each. The umbrella drops us to one stick each. 80 percent of the day was spent walking on trail and gravel roads which were saturated clay, puddled, and slippery. We needed both sticks to stay upright.
Julie and Philippe are daughter and father from Grenoble, France. For the past four years, they have walked a section of the Chemin Le Puy together.
After a few longer days, today we walked only 20 km. We arrived in Montcuq near 1 pm, too late for a sit down lunch at the pizzeria but the pub next door had pizza and burgers. After yesterday’s petite poisson fiasco, it was time for Mark K’s comfort food.
What are the chances? The two guys sitting next to us were Canadians, one from Guelph, who moved to this town with his wife, and his friend from Edmonton who was considering a move. When you work from home, home can be anywhere… there’s a good internet signal. We talked hockey standings and wished them well.
We ate supper in a cafe in the centre of this medieval town. Mark K had his second cheeseburger of the day and Mark D and I had salads. Mine was a peasant’s salad with fried potatoes, bacon, a poached egg, radishes, and cherry tomatoes. Yum. Their Crème Brûlée was also very good.
Because of our route change yesterday, we seem to have caught up to pelerins that started before us. It is also the beginning of the two week Easter holiday in Europe so we are seeing lots of new faces. Julie and Philippe, for example, are a father-daughter duo out walking the Chemin for a week as they have for four years now. We were with them last night and tonight.
Tomorrow will be a long day. Options for accommodations are less plentiful further along this route so we have to be more strategic in our stops.