Via Podiensis; the GR 65 in France

Wednesday 19th October is the final day of this latest adventure. It's not so obvious but if you navigate to my profile you can see a list of other trips. Or just click  here . I start my final day by heading out from my woodland retreat along a well laid out path. The heat of the previous day is still present and I suddenly feel drowsy. After a while I realise I am going the wrong way, retracing my steps to the cottage I pick out the route I think I came in on and am soon free of the woodland. I silently sympathise with Hansel and Gretel. Walking through the morning heat, 18 degrees at 9am, there are kites soaring overhead but close enough to see the white patches on the underside of their wings. Strolling along a lane I see a flock of 100 sheep heading my way. I am at a fork in the road and it's not clear to me which way the sheep are going and therefore where I should stand. The farmer shouts "over there", "you want the sheep over there?" I gesture, ...

Tuesday 18th October and this is the penultimate day of walking. It is hot again so I am pleased with just a half day. If I remember correctly the plan was to arrive in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port fresh and alert with time to enjoy the medieval town. Heading out the sky is blue and the landscape green which is the proper order of things. I am starting to tuck in to the foothills and am losing sight of the majesty of the Pyrenees. Hopefully you can make out the glistening white hamlet nestled in the countryside which is typical of the area. I have been wondering what the cages are for as they are plentiful in this region and I have decided they are used to store maize over winter. Later I see modern steel framed versions that are indeed full of maize cobbs. On this penultimate day I get to reflect on the technical aspects of my walk. The walking itself is as advertised, ever changing beautiful scenery over a gentle landscape with an amount of walking along narrow lan...

Monday 17th October and I am heading to the small hamlet of Harambeltz which lies just before the not quite so small hamlet of Ostabat. If the place names don't sound very French then its because we are in the  Pays Basque ; haran is Basque for valley and beltz means black so I am in the black valley. The Pyrenees continue to loom ever larger and I guess as I get close the peaks will become hidden by the foothills. The forecast for the week continues to be high twenties which is unusual for this time of year even in the South of France. The Pays Basques  covers an area including both France and Spain and some private schools in France run the whole curriculum using the Basque language while state funded schools offer Basque lessons. Adults wanting intensive Basque language training may typically go over the border to Spain though of course still within their Pays Basque.  My host today is doing just that for the month of November.  Part of the crowd from last night's...

Sunday 16th October and we are into the Sunday/Monday closure period in France so I have an extensive stash of fruit and biscuits.  With a 7:15am breakfast I again get out for the sunrise which doesn't disappoint. I also mount the defensive ramparts of Navarrenx which I missed last night; though this was due to navigation error it was worth the climb up a few steps. Departing through one of the towns historic gates. A view back to the town's ramparts.  OK, so this is a roundabout. It was novel smelling car fumes, there is a beautiful sunrise, and there are the Pyrenees again. So, you've had some photos and I hope you found them enjoyable but now let's talk about type 2 fun. It seems we have to analyse the fun out of everything these days and that now includes fun itself. Type 1 fun is enjoyable during and after the activity like a pleasant 5km jog. Type 2 fun occurs where the activity itself is hard and unpleas...

Saturday 15th October and let us start with a picture of the Pyrenees that are now a fairly constant feature. Today is clear with some sun so I see some of the definition though mostly its light and shade.  My room mate last night tricked me by asking if 7:00am was OK. Sounded fine as an alarm call for 7:30am breakfast though he had in mind a 7:00am breakfast. Anyway, the forced early start let me get some sunrise photos of heavy industry down in the valley.  Apart from an abbey there wasn't much out of the ordinary today; I passed the camping couple I have seen on and off this last week. I was confused last night as my daily distances just feel much shorter and it dawned on me that after 4 weeks of walking I have found my walking fitness. Arriving early at today's town I feel like an ice cream and there is an excellent ice cream parlour. Trouble is, at 12:45 they are in the process of closing. That's France. There's a Car...

Friday 14th October and with the weeks ticking by it can be hard to keep track of time; I travelled out on the 15th September so this is one month in France with 6 days walking to go including today. After three hours of tarmac along quaint country lanes I make it to my mid-point town and take time for a coffee and tarte-aux-pommes . I had enquired about sandwiches or cakes but was politely directed to the bakers round the corner and it was only by exploring the inner depths of this quirky eatery that I found the tart. I also found a pile of freshly baked madelaines but they were a special order and not for me. The coffee was ordinary but the tart was exceptional, soft buttery pastry, topped with yielding surgery apples and then a third layer of latticed pastry. As the madelaines were off limits (they smelled delicious but were a special order) and the place was yet to serve lunch I was cornered into a second routine coffee and another slice of the equisite tart. This was ...

Thursday 13th October and I'll take some moment if I may to talk about Brocante . You see these shops much as we have antique shops in the UK. I only mention this as an excuse to use a photo I took a few days ago which I thought fun and typified what you might be looking for in the Brocante shop. It took until 11am for the sun to burn off the fog and sunrise is moving back noticeably. A tranquil morning with the stillness broken only by cow bells which I haven't heard since the Aubrac plateau in the Massif Central. I had packed before breakfast at 7:30am then started walking at 8:00am when there was just enough visibility.  The French love some wry humour.  I thought I had packed well on this trip and my rucksack is quite light (8kg) until I load it with fruit, biscuits and sweets. This person knows how to do it though.  This is the fourth Course Landais I've come across although this one is no longer used. It is another day...

Wednesday 12th October starts misty but mild and the water deprived reservoir has blue green algae and the appearance of primordial soup. New signage means a new region (Aquitaine) which here shows the alternative name of the Via Podiensis which is the Voie du Puy-en-Velay.  I have been trying to get a good shot of the irrigation systems that look like dinosaur skeletons. I have been worrying too much about formal departments and regions when of course the French are more concerned about their pays than any current government boundaries; note the reference to Landes below and lunch today included small Pastis Landais, small pistachio cake. The title for today references the next big town though I stop short and stay at a farm near the hamlet of Pimbo. I am really not sure of my thinking on some of my choices though I can't think of any gite d'étape that has disappointed. My criteria of half-board, reasonable cost and suitable...