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It is with a bit of sadness that we say good-bye to the River Lot tomorrow. We have been pedaling beside this river, along its gorgeous gorge, for the past several days. The cycling has been easy; the road surface, good; the scenery spectacular. But tomorrow, indeed, we must head into the mountains.
Today was a short day into St. Come d’Olt, at the foot of the Monts d’Aubrac (Aubrac Mountains). It started out cold and overcast this morning, never really did warm up. I have a feeling we’ll be sleeping in full clothes tonight. We went through no real towns today; consequently, we are out of cereal and cookies (two of the four major food groups. The other two food groups are wine and cheese.). Because we had plenty of time this morning, we stopped at the Church of St. Pierre, a bit off the route in Bessuejouls. This 9th century church is considered by many to be the most beautiful one along the Pilgrim path. It was certainly unusual with its hidden chapel up a narrow, winding stairway into the bell tower. We, of course, ventured up there. In the U.S. a place like that would be blocked
from public access; here, you are on your own without American litigation.
We did see a number of Pilgrims today, who have quite a way to go before they reach Santiago. One group of people seemed to be training a group of llamas to walk the trail. Tonight, in fact, there are at least half a dozen other Pilgrims camped in this campground, which is packed with families enjoying their holidays. The campground has no real amenities but is half the price of last night’s. So far, all the campsites have been decent and clean. This one does offer a unique service. A local woman will prepare a complete meal “au terroir” (of the land) for you and deliver it to your campsite.
We did not order a meal delivered. Instead, we walked into town. (Because we are biking fewer kilometers than usual this trip, we’ve been able to enjoy much more sightseeing, rather than being exhausted at the end of the day.) There we enjoyed a complete meal with -- a first -- a “salad bar” as our first course. Not quite like an American salad bar but a good selection of vegetables and meats. We were
then served roasted guinea (another first for us) with pasta or potato balls and lots of bread, which the French serve with butter, unlike the Spanish. A plate of various cheeses then appeared on the table, followed by ice cream (drumsticks, as a matter of fact) for dessert. There were some other choices for dessert, but, um, I’m not sure what they were. Having biked less than 40 kilometers today, I’m afraid we ate a bit more than we had expended. I’ll come home weighing more than I did when we left!
After lunch, it was off to see the famous Church of St. Come d’Olt with its twisted spire. For whatever reason, the architect designed the church steeple to twist into the sky -- weird. Evidently, there are a number of such church steeples throughout Europe and this architect is famous. We had our Pilgrim credentials stamped in the Mairie (town hall). Unfortunately, our credential “passport” is full, so the stamps now go on the back. I am, however, saving a place on the front of the book for a stamp from le Puy, the terminus of the Camino Route.
As I’m sitting here, the Pilgrim next to me just had his dinner delivered. The people of the various communities along the Camino have certainly found ways to make the Way profitable for them while providing a service for those seeking the spiritual experience provided by the Walk. The other evening a couple told me that there is a movie starring Martin Sheen called The Way; I’m going to have to check that one out when I return to the US.
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