We’ve found our groove. It seems 25 km or there abouts is the sweet spot for us. Today was our third 25 km day in a row, and tomorrow could be also if we find the fabled 4 km shortcut.
We left our Lamothe Gite at 8 am after a fine breakfast. Let’s be clear, breakfast in France is always the same; bread, sometimes toasted; butter;orange juice; coffee, tea, or hot chocolate made with milk; sometimes yogurt, sometimes cheese; and jam. What makes a breakfast fine, not just average is the freshness of the bread, the quality of the coffee, and the variety of jams. Apricot has become a favourite for us.
As I was saying, we left Lamothe, descended past the church, and joined an old rail trail, paved, and followed it for 7 km to the next town. We couldn’t believe our luck. Our shoes stayed dry and clean for more than an hour. After the town of Eauze though, reality set in and we were back to slippery mud trails.
We picked up sandwiches at a patisserie in Eauze. After having done without lunch before, we wanted to be sure this time. At the 18 km mark, we stopped at a bar in Etang du Pouy for Fanta Limon drinks and ate our sandwiches.
The previous 11 km included light rain many slippery mud trails, one that took Mark K down. Now both Mark K and I have fallen, leaving Mark D “the last man standing”. We surveyed the map and found a lesser travelled road that paralleled the trail that brought us to our destination, Nogaro.
We chilled in a bar and drank Coca Zeros. When it was time, we walked to our Gite and were greeted by the owner. She opened the place, gave us a quick tour, took our payments and left. We are the only people here tonight. It feels more like an Airbnb rental than a Gite. We walked to a big box grocery store and did a load of laundry in the laundry machine in the parking lot. At 7 pm we walked to a Kebab shop called “Yaasss Kebab” and ran into three of our friends. It is a small world.