Time Departed: 8.30am
Time Arrived: 2.00pm
Distance: 20kms
Cumulative Distance: 493 kms
Percentage Completed: 64% (820,400 steps)
Weather: Overcast
Accommodation: Chambre d’Hotes Angeline
Feelings: Neil - Eager, Henk - Good, Di - Keen
It’s four weeks today since we set off from Le Puy-en-Velay and we have completed about two thirds of the walk. We have two weeks left to complete the remainder to St Jean-Pied-de-Port.
We met the fellow Aussies, Brian, Anne and Peta at breakfast and after some discussion they realised that they were not walking to La Romieu which was our destination. They were walking to Condom which was 32kms away! This particular part of the walk of 32kms we broke into two sections so we didn’t have to do such a long stretch. I said to Peta that I felt sorry for them and she said she was weeping inside but they just had to get on with it.
The forecast was for rain all day but this did not eventuate, however, the rain overnight made the clay paths greasy, muddy and downright sludgy. We either skated across the greasy bits or collected globs of mud on our boots. It was slow going but thankfully there were only two significant sections of this.
Henk at one point fell on his right hand side and had mud caked on him. Neil and I wore our wet pants because of the forecast and although we didn’t need them for the rain they were good for walking through the deep mud. We also walked between large acres of wheat and corn and other pastures of produce that we didn’t recognise.
Just after ten thirty we came upon Marsolan, a little village with a cafe and as we only had 20kms to walk we decided we had time to have a coffee. Brian, Anne and Peta arrived at the same time and decided there probably would not be any more coffee stops so they stopped as well. They decided to take a GR65 diversion and not go through La Romieu to reduce the kilometres to Condom. A Quebec walker about our age joined us but she had very limited English so it made the conversation hard.
We read a sign that we couldn’t have a “pique-nique” at the cafe so we finished our coffees and moved over to a large terrace with expansive views overlooking the countryside and ate our pastries. We met a Scottish couple holidaying in the area and spent half an hour talking to them. They said their French B&B host had said that the wheat is about a month late in turning yellow due to the late winter. We spent a relaxing hour at Marsolan but we had to move on as we were unsure of the weather.
It was a rare thing today that we did not have to climb a steep ascent to arrive at a hilltop village. La Romieu is a UNESCO listed World Heritage village with about 500 people. It has a massive early 14th century church with two towers which dominate the landscape. It was a great sight to see as we walked alongside the beautiful flowering private botanical garden towards the village.
Our lovely hotel is centrally located alongside the church and overlooks the village centre.
After showering and washing some muddy clothes we set out to explore the village including the church, cloisters and towers known as the Collegiate Saint Pierre. They had an excellent video giving a good background to the establishment and restoration of the church. As we went into the church Aled Jones was singing “How Great Thou Art”. We climbed the 154 very narrow steep steps up to the top of one of the towers and had excellent views over the countryside. The frescoes in the sacristy date back to the 14th century.
The village has many sculptured cats on their buildings which were made by French sculptor, Maurice Serreau. These seem to be quite a tourist attraction and refer to a 14th century story of Angeline whose cats saved the village from starvation by protecting its harvest when her cats ate the rats. We saw a little field mouse on the path near the village and he had the notion that if he hid his head we wouldn’t be able to see him!
At six o’clock a storm finally arrived and the temperature dropped significantly and we chose to dine indoors rather than on the village’s square. The restaurant was very busy mostly with noisy walkers. After dinner Neil and I decided to try the local Armagnac as it is sourced from this Gascony region. I’m so pleased we shared a glass because one sip of it and I decided very quickly that I didn’t like it. Neil drank the rest but probably won’t be having another one. We were happy to have tried it!
The roses, both free-standing and the climbing ones, are spectacular and are planted everywhere. It’s hard not to take photos of them and I took quite a few today as they are all so beautiful.
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