Who knew Catholic mass at 7 am would be so well attended? When we entered the cathedral before sunrise and rested our backpacks against the wall, there were approximately 20 other pilgrims in the pews. By the time mass ended, there had to be 100. They just kept arriving. After mass, the priest asked and tallied where pilgrims were from, then gave us all a blessing. He gestured to the grate on the floor which opened automatically, uncovering steps leading down. A nun quickly descended the stairs and opened the doors, flooding the cathedral with sunlight. When our eyes had adjusted, old town Le Puy had been revealed. We picked up our backpacks and headed down and out. Now that’s how you start a journey!
Today’s walk climbed steadily out of Le Puy and on to the neighbouring hills. The paved road, Rue de Compostelle, quickly turned to gravel, then to farm lane, and eventually to dirt path. It was cold in the early hours of our walk and we encountered thin skins of ice on some puddles along the way, but it didn’t take long for us to start shedding layers.
I have a daily goal of reaching 10 km by 10 am. A good start makes longer days seem easier. We reached my goal with three minutes to spare and celebrated, the Marks with cafe au laits, and me with an Orangina at a little cafe in a picture perfect town. Two hours later, at another picturesque small village bar we had quiche, salad, and Coke Zero for lunch. We reached our destination for the day, Saint-Privat-d’Allier, at 2 pm and had to wait for our accommodations to open at 3 pm. So… you guessed it, off to another bar with a little shade for 3 Oranginas. They didn’t serve Coke Zero.
Theo is from the Netherlands. He completed Camino Frances last year and is out for two weeks on the Chemin de Compostelle this year. We ran into him several times on our first few days, but he was going to start walking longer distances, trying to get as far as he could in the time he had.
Olivier is from France and operates Accueil Pelerins L’Abri du Jaquet accommodation in Saint Privat-d’Allier. He prepared for us a traditional French dinner and entertained the table of pelerins with stories of his life and travels.
We are staying at Accueil Pelerins L’Abri du Jaquet, a cozy 200 year old house with 15 single beds and a warm wood stove. We shared a room for four with Theo from the Netherlands. We opted for the communal dinner at 7 pm which we could smell being prepared downstairs. The Marks napped as I wrote. We walked 28.5 km – a great first day.