Walking the Camino de Santiago
Finally, I forced myself to leave the gîte at about eight. As you can see, I was not the only one who dawdled. The weather was clear and cool, and my goal today was the town of Figeac, about 26km down the Way. Date: 29 August 2023 Place: Livinhac-le-Haut, Aveyron Département, Region of Occitanie, France Maps!
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The next morning during breakfast, we were treated to the energetic piano playing of Andrea, our host. He regaled us with some ragtime numbers from the early 20th century. Truth be told, I was so enjoying breakfast and the company of my fellow pilgrims that I didn’t really want to leave Bio Gîte La Vita è Bella. I ended up not […]
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This was my dinner at Bio Gîte La Vita è Bella. Andrea, our host, was responsible for this delicious vegetarian meal. This, I think, demonstrates why it’s almost always a good idea to get the demi-pension option if the gîte offers it. This is where, for an extra charge, the gîte provides dinner and breakfast and you eat with your fellow […]
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I left the church, crossed the square, and walked into the first gîte I saw. I almost immediately ran into Nina the Bavarian, who I thought was a day ahead of me. It turns out she spent an extra day in Conques. In fact, there are lots of familiar faces here, including Ávila. Despite the bunks – very rare in gîtes […]
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Although most stone churches are cool inside, the interior of Saint-Adrien in Livinhac-le-Haut was uncharacteristically hot and stuffy. It was full of interesting choices, including an off-center crucifix, a beautiful pulpit shoved in the corner behind some pews, some sort of starburst lighting fixture behind the altar, and the tabernacle (with bare bulb tabernacle electric light) on a Marian side altar. […]
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My new book, Practical Pilgrimage, is now available for purchase. Subtitled “Useful Rules for Walking the Camino de Santiago”, it’s a deeper exploration and expansion of a blog post that appeared back in 2023, Thom’s Practical Rules for the Camino. Purchase from Powell’s Books (preferred) Purchase on Amazon (affiliate link) This short book (about a hundred pages) is chock-full of […]
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I arrived at the church of Saint-Adrien in Livinhac-le-Haut at about 3:45 in the afternoon. I decided to visit the church before finding a gîte. The main door was locked up tight. I found my way in through a small side door with an accessibility ramp. It was uncharacteristically hot and stuffy inside. This is particularly odd, considering how cool it […]
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After the bridge, I found myself walking down this windy, narrow street with the rather grand name of Rue de la République. Although I didn’t know it at the time, I passed several gîtes that are located down even narrower side streets to the left and right. I followed the blazes, hopeful that they would lead me to the church […]
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The Camino enters Livinhac-le-Haut on this bridge over our old friend, the River Lot. The bridge is mostly for car traffic, obviously, and pilgrims must walk a narrow sidewalk. Not my favourite thing in the world, but also nowhere close to the first time I’ve had to do something like this. I did not have a gîte reserved here, so […]
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When I finally caught sight of the town of Livinhac-le-Haut, I would have leapt for joy if I thought my feet would take it. It had been a long, long afternoon by the time I took this photo at about 3:30. I could hardly wait to find a gîte. The town of Livinhac-le-Haut is surrounded on three sides by the […]
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