Time Departed: 9.00am
Time Arrived: 1.15pm
Distance: 16kms
Cumulative Distance: 473 kms
Percentage Completed: 61% (787,800 steps)
Weather: Dense fog, Scottish Mist, Rain
Accommodation: Hotel Bastard
Feelings: Neil - Happy, Henk - Fantastique!, Di - Good
We woke to a dense fog which didn’t lift for the entire walk. We met our fellow walkers at breakfast at eight o’clock. It was a later start for all of us as today was a shorter distance. Once again our wonderful Dutch hosts sat in the middle and translated the conversations between the French and the English around the large table. We have stayed in some great places along the route but the B&B at Miradoux would have to be a standout for us because of the amazing large house, the food and the camaraderie around the table.
When we set out we knew we could be in for some wet weather but Neil and I braved it out by not wearing our wet gear until four kilometres from the end. That’s when the heavy Scotch Mist turned into rain. The dense fog certainly made it an atmospheric walk today.
The overnight rain made the paths very slippery and boggy. We repeatedly were scraping our boots on wet grass and the tarmac after emerging from boggy areas. At the end of one path and before we entered Castet-Arrouy there was a boot scraper made up of the ends of two broom brushes.
We arrived at the pretty village of Castet-Arrouy at ten thirty and came across a little table with morning tea supplies outside a house. We were discussing if we should stop or move on when the lady of the house opened the door as she was vacuuming. We decided to stay to let her know we appreciated the gesture. We didn’t stop for long as we didn’t need the rest.
At eleven thirty we decided to have a break but everything was wet from the overnight rain and the damp fog and we couldn’t sit. We stood at the corner of a field having our morning tea.
Four kilometres from our hotel at Lectoure the rain came down and didn’t stop until we reached the hotel. We looked like drowned kittens and the hotel looked very stylish.
The hour’s rain had completely saturated us but the lady at reception didn’t seem daunted. We were given our room keys, removed our grubby boots and rain gear and left them on the ground floor and proceeded to our rooms. We decided as our bags hadn’t arrived and we were wet that we may as well go and have lunch in our wet clothes than stay in the room in our wet clothes.
We quickly found a warm restaurant on the main street and had a delicious two-course meal and Neil and I had a very good red wine. We felt very squelchy. We then squelched back to our hotel to wait for our bags and shower.
Tomorrow is a rest day. We’ll get our clothes washed at the laundromat and look around the village and rest!
No comments:
Post a Comment