Isabel is the friendly host of Gite l’Etoile Occitane in Lectoure. She opened the Gite 20 years ago and has seen thousands of pelerins come through. She is also a photographer who captures the hidden work of nature.
My concerns about finding Gite accommodation during the Easter week were unnecessary. Yes there are holiday pelerins on the trail for two weeks, but it is not crowded out here. Hotels, however, are booked solid. Finding food, as long as we pass through large enough towns, hasn’t been an issue either.
Aline and Christiane are from France. They are mother and daughter, rewalking the trails not walked since childhood, one section at a time.
The Chemin route follows trails most of the time and lesser travelled roads the rest of the time. It really is well planned to avoid traffic. The problem is that after several days of rain, mostly in the evening and at night, the trail sections are saturated and difficult to walk. We have narrowed the problem to two kinds of mud: slippery mud and sticky mud. Slippery mud occurs on grades and areas that may have had gravel at one time. Walking sticks are essential to stay upright. Sticky mud occurs between farm fields. The soil here is loaded with clay and even with sparse grass, we can’t help but have mud stick to our shoes, building up a thick layer that needs to be scraped off frequently. We therefore seek out shortcuts to avoid mud. Compounding the problem for me is that all the volcanic rock early on has worn away most of the tread from my shoes.
Today we were the first pelerins out of the gite in Lectoure, after a traditional breakfast of bread, jam, juice, and coffee. We chose not to buy sandwiches for the trail, expecting to pass through several towns in the 32 km listed. After the first mud encounter, the Marks searched the Buen Camino app for an alternate. We took a route that made use of a gravel road that cut off 6 km, but also kept us from towns.
We reached Condom (yes you read that right) hungry at 1:30 pm. Restaurants usually close at 2 pm. The hunt was on to find an open restaurant. We found a Taco, Burger, Shwarma restaurant called “Snack Time”. The American Burger, the taco, and the Chicken Tikka were our choices, and we were not disappointed.
Philippe is from the Alsace region, but now lives in Condom. He works at CAMINOLOC a souvenir and hiking gear store in Condom, catering to pelerins passing through.
Dinner tonight was at 7:30 pm at the Gite Le Reconfort, a welcoming home for up to 10 pelerins, run by a father and son. We had a purée vegetable soup, pasta with curry chicken, salad, cheese, and chocolate cake with ice cream.
The Marks and I shared a room with Leo, a pelerin we met the second day out of Le Puy. He will be coming to Canada in September to live and work in a L’Arche community in Quebec.
We have walked 500 km and have 250 km to go to reach Saint Jean Pied de Port. We are stronger and make good progress but we are tired. Naps and good nights of sleep keep us charged. Tomorrow breakfast is at 7:30 am. We get to sleep in a little bit.