PARIS

You may well ask "why would a posting be titled 'Paris' when this is a blog about walking the Le Puy Camino?" The answer . . . because this is where we have ended our journey, in Paris.  Why? . . . read on.

Last Sunday in the small village of Condom, instead of doing our clothes washing by hand as good pilgrims should, we found somewhere where we could put them in an automatic washing machine. Unfortunately Steve did not fully empty the pockets of his trousers which have a good zippered pocket where he carries his passport for security. Needless to say, the passport spent over an hour fully submerged in water which destroyed it. 

After checking the Australian Government website, we realised that we had no alternative    other than to make our way to Paris to apply for a new passport.  Sadly our Camino was over.

We realised It could take time to have a new passport issued so we decided to go to Saint Jean Pied de Port and collect our sent on excess baggage then head to Paris. Getting out of a small village and down to Saint Jean then back up to Paris was a major exercise that we somehow managed to do in two days. 

The Australian Embassy staff were incredibly helpful and Steve collected his Emergency Passport today, a few days after applying.  Steve was told not to feel too bad about it as this sort of thing happens all the time.

An Emergency Passport has restrictions and there are some countries who refuse entry to holders of these passports, Dubai among them, so we have now changed our flights to fly home via Singapore and will be home sometime next week.

We have walked over 500 km, been exhausted each evening after walking some really tough trails, had a wonderful time and met some great people, experienced fantastic scenery, incredible villages, ancient churches, savoured meals that you would only expect to find in a Michelin star resturant, drank some of the best wines in the world, and all this in France.  So coming home a few weeks early is no big deal.

Our last few days on the Camino walking towards Condom were lovely, the trail was good, the weather cool and sunny, the countryside rolling farmland of wheat fields and vegetable crops. We experienced a wonderful market in the village of Lectoure and a rose festival in La Romieu, where we stayed in what is known as 'The Ancient Presbytere'.

Five of us set out on that cold, foggy morning from Le Puy on the 24th April.  Myself, Steve, Hanna, our friend from California, and Sandi and Karla, the two Aussie girls we met on the hill climb out of town, who became our great mates.  For various reasons, none of us completed the walk, but that is just the way of the Camino. Still, we had a wonderful time and we are proud of what we achieved, it's been a good Camino!

DAY 26

We have now walked 436 km in 24 days with two rest days along the way, making today 26 days on the trail.

Yesterday we reached the town of Mosiac, famous for the Abby Church of Saint Pierre and its Cloister, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and recognised as the oldest cloister in the world!  The cloister is unique due to it its antiquity, it was completed in 1100, and is architecturally intact. There are 76 pilars featuring amazing, intricate, medieval carvings which are stunningly beautiful. The town itself is somewhat uninspiring, but we stayed in a really good gite owned by a lovely Irish couple, and the Abby and Cloister made the stop over worthwhile.

Tonight we are in the historic village of Auvillar which has narrow streets, beautiful stone buildings, a medieval market place structure at its centre, and of course a magnificient cathedral towering over all.  There is a wonderful view from the fortified wall of the village looking down on the La Garonne River, with two huge stacks from a nuclear power plant in in distance.

For the past couple of days we've walked through nice country side with fields of wheat, orchards of pears, cherries, plums, as well as other fruit or nut producing trees we couldn't recognise, but today the terrain changed completely.

We left Mosiac early this morning for the 20km walk to Auvillar. Rain was predicted for the late afternoon and we wanted to beat it, which we did, as we made excellent time walking in delightful weather conditions.  It was cool, we had jackets on all day, the terrain was flat (yeah!) and pretty, running adjacent to a canal for most of the day, leaving just a few km at the end on a bitumen road before a short, steep climb into Auvillar.

There were many walkers today, the trail has become busy, and it has became quite social. We stopped with other pelerins for lunch in the paddock of a strawberry farm where we all purchased a punnet of the freshest, sweetest strawberries we have ever eaten.  Even the French walkers said they had never tasted strawberries so good!  Another wonderful day in rural France.

Tomorrow we make our way to Castet Arrouy, another 20km along the way, with no idea what lies ahead!

CAHORS - back on th GR 65

Arrived in Cahors yesterday afternoon for two nights, so today is a rest day.  Staying in a nice 3 star hotel with an air conditioned room and a really comfy bed. The restaurant even has a 'Michelin' recognition, last nights meal was sensational, and we are getting all this luxury at a 'pilgrim's rate'. Cahors also marks another milestone as it is (almost) the halfway point between Le Puy and St Jean Pied de Port. We have now walked 360 km.  

We've really enjoyed our 'lay day' here after 6 days on the Cele Valley route. It was a specracular walk at times but OMG it was tough.  Most walkers walk along the road that mostly follows the Cele River, but not us die hards, we followed the proper GR651 trail that followed the ridgeline up, down and over the spectacular cliffs and the really long, really steep rocky decents nearly had me on the next bus to Paris!  And, to make matters worse, there was a dramatic weather change that sent temperatures soaring into the mid 30's.

We stayed in two historic villages along the way, Marcilhac sur Cele and Cirq Lapopie which is considered to be ' the most beautiful' of all the beautiful villages in France!  We, however, disagree with the French regarding this, and believe Conques wins that title. On the walk up into the historic village of Cirq Lapopie, we had a fantastic view of the Cele River flowing into the much larger River Lot.

Yesterday was our last day on the GR651, it ended when we reached Cahors, which sits on the GR65 route.  Cahors also sits astride the beautiful Lot River, and yesterdays walk of  20km was largely spent walking along it's shady banks on a flat, soft earthen, rock free track in perfect walking conditions, 23 degrees with a gentle breeze.

Cahors is a lovely town, the largest we have stayed in so far.  It feels like a miniture Paris with tree lined boulavardes, designer shops and cafes, and four bridges crossing the river. We had a great 2hr cruise on the river vewing the old town that included navigating a river lock which was built in the 16th century.  The engineering of these locks is amazing and the boat would have risen two metres inside the lock to continue upstream around a weir.

A great surprise at reaching Cahors was meeting up with our Aussie friends Sandi and Karla.  They had a two day stop over here also, and our first day co-incided with their second day, so we were able to have a few wines together and talk about our adventures.  They caught a bus out today to move their schedule on so it probably is the last time we will see them on the way.  We are also in touch with Hanna by phone and she is doing well, having bussed forward and is now about 5 days in front of us.

We've actually spent quite some time following the River Lot, so it will be sad to walk off in another direction tomorrow.  We first walked beside the River Lot at St-Come d'Olt on May 1st and again walking into Estaing the following day.  It was actually in flood then from all the rain we'd experienced on the Aubrac Plateau.

France has four 4 public holidays in May;  May Day, Victory Day, Ascention Day and Whit Monday, making four long weekends in the month!  During these long weekends the French are out walking or driving between villages making accommodation scarce, so we have had to be diligent booking our hotels well in advance of these long weekends.  Long weekends also mean supermarkets, shops and bakeries are closed making it difficult to buy food for breakfast or lunch along the way.  

Now that we are back on 'The Way' we are beginning to feel like pilgrims again, whereas on the Cele Route we were just 'randonneurs'.

CELE VALLEY ROUTE

Today we arrived in the village of Marcilhac sur Cele, a lovely small village on the Cele River in the Cele Valley.  We are now walking on our own as we have parted with Hanna and our Aussie friends Sandi and Karla as they have moved on in a different direction, as they are following the GR65.

We had a wonderful last night together at Felzins in the fantastic Gite Le Pentadou. We had kitchen facilities and I cooked a tasty sausage and pasta dish for Hanna, Steve and I from ingredients we bought from a little supermarket down the road. Several bottles of vin rouge were consumed between the 5 of us throughout the late afternoon and into the evening.  We will miss them! Will see them again? One never knows on the Camino!

The Way of Le Puy Camino is marked on maps and signage as the GR65. Two days ago, we left the GR65 to walk the diversion route marked GR651, which takes us through the Cele Valley.  Steve had heard about this alternate route through his research whilst planning our trip and learned that this section is recommended to those who have the time to take it, as it is one of the most spectacular sections of this Camino, and spectacular it is!

The countryside on the Cele route is very different to what we have experienced so far.  The first day we walked along the valley floor beside the river much of the time in intermittent rain, then in the afternoon we began a strenous climb up a narrow rocky path through a lovely magical forest with moss covered trees and stone walls. The views of the rocky escarpments and villages along the Cele Valley are amazing, making the effort worthwhile

One of the best aspects of this section is NO MORE MUD!  The mud of previous days had really started to get us down. The weather has also changed. The forecast for today and the next few days is very warm, up to 28 degrees, with no cloud.

We are having a few short walking days through this section which is a nice changeof pace. This means we arrive in our destination early enough to explore the village without feeling wrecked from the day's walk. 

We have found this French Camino to be more strenous than the Spanish Camino.  It is very hilly with long, hard, rocky climbs and long, steep, rocky decents. The decents are proving very punishing on my knees and feet when we do 20 or more kilometres per day. But at the end of the day there is usually a lovely host, a nice little room with a hot shower, clean sheets and towels, a good meal, sometimes a fantastic meal, and a few glasses of rejuvenating vin rouge. France is great!

CONQUES

We are in Conques, on the list of one of the most beautiful villages in France.  Arrived yesterday afternoon and wiil spend two nights here, giving us a chance to wander the streets today wearing sandals and no packs.

Conques is an amazing village from the middle ages and pilgrims have been welcomed here since the 11th century.  It's so enchanting, tall stone buildings with shuttered windows and slated roofs lining the narrow steep streets.

It is now day 11 and walking into Conques we knotched up 200km.  My blister is fine, caught it in time and have kept it wrapped in wool and tape.  We are all charged up again having purchased a new USB charger in Espalion, a larger town we walked through a few days ago.

WiFi is very difficult to obtain in these isolated villages and I am typing this in a noisy Tourist Information Office, the only place in town where WiFi is available.

We are finding this walk much harder than the Spanish Camino, and everyone who has walked in Spain agrees. The terrain here is very hilly and we are climbing and descending all the time, which makes for difficult conditions at times but also gives spectacular views across the countryside.

We have walked in all conditions over the past 10 days. We've experienced freezing cold, driving rain, drizzling rain, sunshine, and fog.  We've had to wear full wet weather gear several times and haved walked with our sleeves rolled up when it has been warm.  

One day driving rain found a way through our gortex jackets and we had water inside our packs. We were freezing cold and had been walking in mud that at times covered our boot laces. That was the day our 22km walk down the side of a mountain turned into an 8km walk and a 16km taxi ride to that days destination. Our Aussie friends Sandi and Karla joined us in the taxi.

The track is extremely well marked so we haven't yet lost our way.  The track is also varied with sections of good gravel tracks, farm roads which are often muddy, and stretches of bitumen road.  The steep dirt tracks that lead up and down the mountain sides are often poorly maintained. Exposed rocks, tree roots and bad erosion make for challanging conditions.  These tracks are extremely slippery when wet and then there have been some really beautiful sections through forest where the moss covered trees and rock walls glow almost irradescent green from the rain.

Tomorrow we set out for Decazeville, a 20km walk classed as a hard 7 hour trek.  Best we set out early.  We'll post some photos when we get back to the hotel via the phone.