Sud de France...

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Hello all,

From the lovely city of Mossaic. the weather for today will be; burning hot. Yes now I have decended out of the mountains the environment has reverted to farmland, not so disimilar to Britain except the hills are a tad small and certainly more numerous. Not to mention probably steeper from time to time. I dont mean to go on but it is roasting around these parts. Thus I have started walking ever earlier in the morning. Left before 6 today and the other day I left at 5:15am. Think that should count more as night than morning. It was quite a day. TO spice things up I took a shortcut around Cahors. Unfortunately a very long day became excessively long, long story but suffice to say I went the wrong way. About 45kms I think. All rounded off by the fact that the Gite was full on my arrival. I could have forced myself into Montcuq, the next town, but decided to sleep rough for the night. It was alright, had plenty of food ad water. The only thing I missed was washing my clothes and my end of walking shower. Quite pretty when there is a full moon on the go.

Anyway, all goes well as we slowly weed out the unfriendly walkers who are only here for a few days from those who are go a long way along the Chemin. They are always infinately more friendly and have somewhat lost their sanity.

The French Chemin is different than the Spanish Camino. In Spain you walked with a group of people who quickly became your friend. At night you notice a missing face and it would all be smiles and lots of questions when you next bumped into them along the way. It was almost like we were all different part of the same experience and being as we slowly made our way to Santiago. In France you are by yourself. Those you meet you will probably never see again. This is not a critism its just the way things are. But I find myself wanting to meet others again. Like the friendly man from Luxembourg who was keen in helping me after my long march by pointing me in the wrong direction. Or Anne the, barking mad, Quebec Quois. Who makes a storming spagetti Carbonara but in doing so used most my parmesan. Yes it is different. The way it self is much harder than the Camino in Spain. At times it does degenerate into a strip of faded grass running alongside a field. Followed by it going vertical. Annoyingly. So think of me walking away in the small hours of the morning as I watch the sunrise slowly over the vinyards and green hills. As I walk through the Sud de France.

Right am off to the supermarket; there is a big one in Mossaic. Oh the luxury!!!

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Photos

After Mossaic
The days out of and into Mossaic were roasting hot. I would have to wake up early to avoid the heat of the day. This is the first day after Conque. Many small medieval castles dot the landscape. This was and is a rich land.

Markings
The seting sun for the Camino Del Santiago and the GR65 white and red stripes guide the way.

Down and then up again
Much more difficult then the Spanish Camino. Plus the Spanish one was pretty hard from time to time.

Comments

[jennifer]

Enjoy
Thanks for the interesting and up to date goings on - appreciate it. Keep safe. See you.