Camino Encounters

Condom to Montreal

16 + 2.5 km

Charlotte, the Gite owner, made a delicious meal of zucchini soup, boeuf burgugnion with pasta and chocolate pots de Creme for dessert. She is a young gal (33) and has owned the gite for just 2 years. She ate with us and we had a really nice time talking with her.

A couple of young French gals that we have seen off and on for the past couple of weeks were staying in the gite as well but ate their own picnic dinner. 

Yesterday afternoon we decided to change our plans for today because we saw a sign saying that there was a 2.5 km detour because of a closed bridge. That would have meant going from a 26 km to 28.5 km day in the heat. So we decided to just do the 18.5 km instead and stay in the charming town of Montreal. Charlotte also had said that the gite we were going to stay in had at least three indoor cats which would have made my allergies go crazy. 

Just before the detour my Camino friend Charles from Montreal in Canada showed up on the path coming from a different town from the variant route he had taken. We hadn't seen him for a couple of weeks so it was really fun to bump into him again today. I walked and talked with him for a few hours until Montreal where we ate a picnic lunch in the town square after getting food from the farmers market for lunch and dinner. Charles was staying at a town 16 km further along and headed out in the hot sun for another 4-5 hours. I was sad to see him go knowing that he has a preset itinerary 

and will be 15 km ahead. But you never know what might happen. 

Wine Country

Marsolan to Condom

24km

Yes, we are in the city of Condom, which of course makes the English people snicker a bit. Different meaning in French... Today is in the mid 80's again but feels even hotter. We just made one short stop on our way here and did a detour to cut off a few km since we were dreading being stuck out on the path in the heat. This meant that we had to walk for awhile on a narrow busy road without a shoulder. Luckily we were without any incidents or problems and arrived as the church bells rang the noon hour. 

There was a nice shady oasis with a pond and fountain at a good time for our break. I feel like I was transported back to Napa with vineyards in every direction broken up occasionally with oak trees. This is a big wine region but we won't be buying any bottles to carry with us, hopefully we will have some nice wine with dinner. 

About 2km before town a man drove by in a car and handed each of us a big bunch of ripe grapes. Such a sweet gesture but a bit tricky to carry. I ate my fill and then had to let the rest go.

The town of Condom is famous for being the home of the Three Musketeers. Thete is a big statue of them with their buddy d'Artagan in front of the cathedral. Also for their brandy Armagnac. 

The cathedral was beautiful with an immense barrel vaulted ceiling and intricate filigree of the choir. The first church was built in 804 and in the 10th C the Gascogne family donated the land and money to build a benedictine monastery. The church is in very good condition which is nice to see after witnessing so many that are in desperate need of repair.

Our Gite Champs d'Etoiles tonight is in a very nice old building with high ceilings amd only 4 single beds in our room. We are getting spoiled. The dinner the host is cooking smells divine and I can't wait to taste the bouef burgognion! 

A Little Meseta

Miradoux to Marsolan

25km

The first 15km went by fairly easily except that a lot of it was on a hard packed dirt path about 8-10 inches wide and felt like walking on a balance beam. Unfortunately I have blisters on the outside of both of my heels now and when the terrain is slanted it puts more pressure on them making them more painful. I will probably put the infamous Compeed bandages on them tomorrow to help cushion them. Otherwise I feel great. I think we all got a little overheated in the hot afternoon sun today. I made sure to drink a lot of water when we got to the gite around 3pm.

Four km before Lectore, the big town that we went through today, there was a produce stand where I enjoyed half of a small local cantaloupe that was cool and refreshing. Approaching Lectore made me feel like I was in Italy near Florence with large tall sentinel Cypress trees in the immense cemetery on the right. 

Lectore was obviously a tourist destination with a large cathedral, castle and loads of shops and cafes. We walked around a bit then were  pleased  to find a nice shaded picnic area on the edge of town. 

The last 10km transported us to the Meseta in terms of being hot, dry, dusty and endless plowed fields as far as one can see. I listened to music and just kept on walking. It was a relief to get to our Gite and the pack transport service called Transport Claudine drove up the same time as we arrived. Perfect timing. We have a little cottage looking out over the valley. I'm fresh and clean after a nice shower and my clothes should dry in no time in the heat.

Scenery Shots

The local stone used in the buildings around here is beautiful, a warm ivory color that seems to glow in the sunlight. The muted blues and greens and periwinkle that is used to paint the shutters and doors are the perfect accent for them. The fields are mostly brown now but still are pleasing to the eye as they gently roll along. There are crosses and statues everywhere along the roads and near the churches. So many things to take photos of!