Friday, October 2, 2015

Stage 19: Castet-Arrouy - Marsolan, 20kms, Very Nice Sunny Day, 24 Tuesday Sept 8, 2015

You Know, This Isn't a Bad Place To Walk!


A short stage today. Annemarie is dealing with her usual blisters and is quite frustrated about them...very understandable as she had very few in her training, and I had a lower leg injury that needed a slower, calmer day of walking. This seemed to work for me, but for Annemarie it wasn't quite as successful, though she has no new blisters to report. So we are slowly making progress! 

Last night we stayed in another eclectic gite with a very nice owner who is a builder of sorts and something of an artist. He collects many things and has put most of his money into acquiring the base materials,but unlike some others, he actually turns what he purchases into a final product. He is building an interesting exhibit at the back of his property which he plans to open for viewing one day. We had an unexpected tour! This is part of his several workshops. Lots of tools for wood working.
That's his dog...I swear there were at least ten of them because every time I turned around this is what I saw...
He lives in his deceased mother's house and is renovating it at the same time.
Yesterday we stayed in a petite village and we gathered to eat outside in front of the church under some beautiful old trees. The small bar behind the table provided a meal for us with a nice selection of wines. It was a very friendly, warm gathering of folks and has become our favourite part of the day.

The stain glass with light prism inside the tiny country church. These small churches are all open for the many pilgrims all over Europe as commanded by the Pope this year. A welcome change as the buildings are interesting and the windows sometimes beautifully preserved.

Our excellent host provided me with an ice bag for my injury and this morning offering to drive me to the doctor. I declined his very kind offer and prepped myself for the walk which went much better than yesterday. What I neglected to say was that we had completed almost three full days of road walking which anyone who walks would know isn't very pleasant. This seems to have triggered a problem that I was dealing with prior to departing home, but I think I have the measure of it now. We will walk two more short days to Condom and then see where we are. That said, there really is no rush, and the scenery is such that we don't really want to rush through it. These two shots are from shortly after we set off this morning.

And the day just became sparkling as we proceeded towards Lectoure.


We arrived in Lectoure in time for morning coffee with some friends from the road...l
And afterward had a look inside the beautiful cathedral...bear with me as I put in a few more church type photos.
I try not to inundate the blog with church photos, but I rather like the play of light from the windows.

So once coffee was complete, we took a while to finally find our way out of town.
That's our direction!
And down we climbed from yet another hill town! 


We soon found ourselves in yet another environment with a different landscape. Lower relief and seemingly drier as we proceed ever further southwest.

We arrived into Marsolan well ahead of the 15:00 opening time for our gite and managed to find a small place that sold us some bread, cheese and ham. We amused ourselves with a light lunch and a cold drink until we could get inside to that long awaited and anticipated shower!! It's always worth the wait!!

You know I only get to stay in places like this when I walk with Annemarie! Our room on the ground floor left.
Our view,
Le pool! I wonder who owns that leg?
Otherwise I get a bottom bunk (if I'm lucky) and a choir all night long. C'est la vi!

I think this is our way out of town tomorrow.
Now it's time to find a cold beer and commence with the socializing! 

Annemarie says that her left foot is actually pretty good, but her right foot needs more time...we progress! 

Bon Chemin!!

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