Author: Thom

This little cluster of buildings is typical of the farmsteads I passed as I walked through Occitanie. Perhaps this was originally a manor or even a medieval priory. That building on the right does suspiciously resemble an old, repurposed chapel. I suspect, though, given the large millstone casually leaning against the wall on the left of the main building, that […]

The next morning dawned cool and cloudy. It had rained most of the night, and out of an abundance of caution I wore my poncho. The path from the village was past a large cemetery, across a bridge, and then uphill into the woods. Through a large clearing of trees, I was able to see the village behind me, and […]

This “L’Armoire du Partage” – I suppose you could translate it as “the sharing wardrobe” – stands outside the local shop in Espeyrac. I procured supplies for my dinner at the shop including fruit, chips, yogurt, and a beer. To this I added the remaining half of my sandwich from lunch. Quite a feast! I ate at a picnic table […]

Although I had failed to reserve a bed in Espeyrac before I arrived, I was relatively confident of finding a bed, since my guidebooks listed four gîtes. However, when I arrived, I found of the four, two were full and one had vanished off the face of the Earth. This left me with my fourth choice, which was essentially a […]

Although the interior is relatively plain,the church of Saint-Pierre d’Espeyrac contains a fairly impressive collection of nearly life-size statues of various saints mounted high on the walls. Here are just three representative samples: Saints Peter the Apostle, Joan of Arc, and John Vianney. These are all the type of mass-produced sculptures that you see in Catholic parishes all over the […]

This parking lot / village square is the heart of the tiny village of Espeyrac. Off to my left is the local shop / café, and just beyond that is the gîte municipal. The little church in front of me is Saint-Pierre, and it’s by far the largest building in the village. Despite it’s small size, there are dozens of […]

I approached the village of Espeyrac at about 2:30 or so in the afternoon. You can see the steeple of the old priory church of Saint-Pierre d’Espeyrac, dating to no later than the 14th century. This village was my designated stopping point for the night. Unfortunately, the municipal gîte was all booked up, so I had to get creative in […]

After passing through a few small villages, the Camino becomes slightly more suburban. These fine fellows are in front of a house along the way. Somewhere near here, I took a little break to purchase a Coca Cola from an old Belgian lady with a roadside stand. I think it was more for the conversation than the break. Date: 26 […]

A kilometer or so after that one tree, I started running into slightly more tree cover. In the midst of these, two donkeys relaxed in the shade. They’re looking all innocent for the photo, but they constantly brayed as I walked up to them, and they made a similar racket as I left. Date: 26 August 2023 Place: between Golinhac […]

After leaving Golinhac, I scrambled up a short rocky slope before the Camino returned to traversing various rural roads through pasture and farmland. Whenever you have pasture, there always seems to be one lone tree in the middle of it. Perhaps it’s there for shade on a hot day. Today, however, there were no cattle lounging under it. Unlike the […]