Via Podiensis: Best Laid Plans and all That

09 September 2023 Thom Pilgrim Reports, Via Podiensis

Yesterday evening, I returned to the church of Saint Pierre to pray vespers. Mass for the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary began at 6 PM. The priest was a young, dynamic African immigrant, apparently responsible for a large number of the churches in this area. Afterwards, there was a small reception hosted in the parish offices for the pilgrims.

Dinner by myself in a local place, where I managed to update my journal with some reflections of the experiences and thoughts of the past days.

This morning, I was up early and breakfasted by 6:15. Jacopo and I bid a fond farewell to our Canadian friends, who were planning a much shorter day, and then we were out the door. We had planned a long day, and we wanted to get a jump on it before the heat rolled in. Fun fact: no.

The warm glow the street lights ushered us out of the village, and we were soon on a dirt path through open fields on one side, and the road on the other.

Even with the flashlight on, I could see the stars arrayed above and the thin crescent moon.

The sun rose on the hills behind us, and at some point I finally switched off my flashlight. Uneven ground in twilight hours always makes me cautious.

The path went up beside a road, and the landscape soon opened out to wide cornfields on either side.

At about 7:15 AM, we passed through Bardigues, the first of what would be many little villages throughout the morning. I found it interesting that on the sign, the name was given in both French and Occitan. For the length of the village, the path was a sidewalk, and then it was on to the road. Somewhere off to the right, I would catch glimpses of what I took to be a château.

The morning was cool and refreshing, but now that the sun was up, I could see the sky had returned to that dull gray haze of previous days.

Although they were certainly still stands of trees about, the forests had by and large been replaced by large agricultural fields. The Camino often sent us on paths or dirt roads through what trees there were. While there were definitely some ups and downs, the hills were gentler than in previous days.

And so we passed out of the Lot Department into the Gers Department. The land was less and less green, and more golden brown. When we walked by the fields, I continued to see those giant cracks in the ground; the heat and dry have really been hard on these fields.

We entered the little village of Saint-Antoine de Pont d’Arratz at about 8:10 AM. This is one of the homes of the medieval Order of Saint Anthony, which maintained a system of Pilgrim hostels and also hospitals for those suffering from Saint Anthony’s fire.

The beautiful little church there has 14th century murals still partially intact, including one featuring Saint George and the dragon. It also has a truly monumental remembrance of the French soldiers who died in the Great War.

After praying there, I continued on. I took a moment to pull out some dried fruit from my pack to snack on as I walked. After the village, it was back to the road, this time past a forest of beech trees before returning to the normal cycle of woodland and farms.

I even saw some actual blooming, living sunflowers. In fact, coming into the village of Flamarens there were ragged fields of them. We arrived at this village before 9:30 AM for a prearranged 15-minute break. We were making excellent time so far, but we knew that we would slow down if we didn’t pace ourselves.

The village features a château with most of one round defensive tower intact, and an old church with three walls and most of a roof. The village had clearly seen better days.

After our rest, we walked very much over exposed ground for a while, and it was much too windy for the umbrella.

Finally about 10:30, I took a chance clipped it on. It was definitely buffeted, but it worked. Just about 10 minutes later, we entered the busy little village of Miradoux, and I put it into antenna mode for the duration of the town.

And then it was back to open farmland: down one side of a valley and up the other, over and over again.

At one point, we passed near the ruins of some unnamed castle on the top of a hill overgrown with trees and bushes. By way of contrast, a neat little farmstead occupied a nearby hill.

On the opposite side in the distance, across yet another valley, rose the towers and steeples of some other distant town.

We reached the suburban housing which marked the outskirts of the town of Castet-Arrouy at about 11:50. It soon transitioned into a quaint village street. Just before the main square, we found a café and had a well-deserved Orangina and filled our water bottles.

I also visited the local church, Saint Blandine, which was apparently built in 1546. The interior, though, was clearly completely redone in late 19th or early 20th centuries. The style is vaguely reminiscent of art nouveau. It all sort of works, especially since there is literally nothing in the building outside of that single design aesthetic. It does make it seem a trifle… I don’t quite know the word… precious? Maybe. In any case, it is obviously well loved and well cared for. I will, however, never get used to electric lights on the altar.

After leaving the village, the Camino spent a short, but blissful, kilometer or so on a dirt path under a tree cover. And then it was back to walking out in the open next to the agricultural fields.

Fortunately, the wind had moderated somewhat, and it was a nice enough breeze without me having to constantly fight the umbrella. Whenever the wind died away completely, however, it was beastly hot. By 1 PM, it was 85° and climbing.

For a while I walked next to a river that was completely dry.

For a few kilometers I was in and out of tree cover, which only served to still the wind. Then it was back to roadwalking, and I was thinking “where is the city?” I was only a few kilometers away from Lectoure, which is a fairly large town, and there was nothing in sight now but endless farm fields.

And then I crested a long shallow hill and crossed a busy highway. There, in the distance, over seemingly endless fields of dead sunflowers, I could see the tall steeple of a mighty cathedral. It didn’t seem all that far away, though I strongly suspected there was another valley between me and it.

And indeed, it was not long before the trail begin descending. At the bottom of the valley, it was road walking uphill on asphalt that was just radiating heat. The water in my bottles was warm, almost too warm to drink, but I forced myself. At this point, the Camino seemed to be taking me on a long loop away from the city.

There were starting to be houses, yards, and hedges now, which I took to be a good sign. But that may just have been heat delirium.

Then, eventually, the Camino turned again, this time more or less directly towards the cathedral. With each turn, the road got narrower and more rustic. The houses disappeared. The fields and stands of trees returned.

Somehow this ended in a steep climb up an asphalt road with a cemetery to one side.

I turned a corner, and suddenly I was in the city of Lectoure. It was 3:10 PM, over an hour past the time we expected to arrive, and it was 91°.

I passed the sign for the Hotel de Bastard, and I wasn’t even surprised. There was no one on the streets. Any sensible person was inside out of the heat.

I somehow arrived at the cathedral and met up with Jacopo. I couldn’t make a visit, though, as there was a wedding starting.

Parochial gîte tonight. My first donativo in France. Felt a ton better after drinking a liter of cool water and taking a shower. I’m thinking the laundry should dry on the line in no time at all.

Then I visited the Cathedral of Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais de Lectoure. This is clearly a building that has been modified, added to, restored, and expanded over the course of centuries. The fabric of it feels pretty organic despite the myriad of styles in this primarily Gothic building.

I was particularly drawn to the chapel of the Sacred Heart, which had two small shrines, one to either side for Saint Joseph and for Our Lady of Lourdes. I lit a candle there, as well as in the chapel of Saint Anthony.

I prayed Vespers here before heading back to the gîte for dinner.

Today I broke my one-day distance record: 34.6 km.