Day 16: Stage 13: Les Billanges

27 km, Sun 25°

A Tough Stage?🤔

We were advised by our very humourous host that breakfast would be served at 8 AM this morning. It was a simple breakfast of tea, two pieces of French bread and jam. Your typical French fare that keeps you from starving, but doesn’t give you enough energy to walk all day. I mean, if it had peanut butter on top, then that would be much better, right?

We (Patricia and Hil) sat beside a very nice couple from northern Belgium who have walked all the way here. They have quite large packs, but they aren’t camping. I passed them two days ago and was surprised at just how much they were carrying. We of course joked a bit about this and they said there has been some tough learning so far and that they will be mailing things home before tackling the Norte.

The other main topic at breakfast was the difficult climb we would encounter today. I know that Hil was a bit concerned because, well, she comes from Amsterdam. And of course, there are no hills there. The Belgian couple said they were only going to walk half the stage today because they didn’t think they could manage the climb and make it to where I am tonight. I tried to downplay the difficulty of the stage, but I find that when people have a preconception like this that it’s difficult to shift their outlook. They have been thinking about this stage for quite some time.

None of the three have any prior Camino experience, and they recently retired in order to begin to have these experiences. I congratulated them on taking such a long first Camino. All three are walking from their homes in Holland and Belgium to Santiago, and they expected to take about 3 1/2 months. I’m a little envious😂. I’m also super impressed that this is their first exposure to this type of travel! Wow!

The husband and wife laughed a little bit about what it has taken to become a good walking team. I could tell there has been some hard lessons learned, and to help see that this is quite common I shared how Annemarie and I have had our moments too. I told him that it generally settles into a nice pattern after a little while, and they said that’s where they have finally arrived. I thought that they would be nice people to know.

And around midnight last night, I was sitting in bed, trying to sort out a route for today. While we were at dinner last night it rained incredibly hard, almost at monsoon level. This of course meant that trails would be a mess. That late at night I decided it was just going to be too difficult to sort out a route. So when I woke up at 6 AM with a clear head, I was able to put together a route in about 10 minutes.

After breakfast we said goodbye to Patricia who had decided that she’d had enough of the rain and that she was prepared to take four different trains today to find her way home to Paris. I was sorry to see her go because she was a very interesting person with many experiences. She plans to return in June to walk when it’s a little dryer. The benefit of living close to these Camino routes, unlike those of us living in Canada, Australia, and other far away places!

Hil and I then set off to walk my designed route that would include both small roads and a few back country trails. I had found options, just in case those trails were a mess. It actually turned out to be quite a nice walk!

In the first village of Marsac where I had tried numerous times without success to find a bed we did find a nice bakery. 😋

I was delighted when a wide load vehicle came by and warned us about this large truck and trailer. I was delighted because I could take a video for Avery who I know loves trucks. The driver was even good enough to honk his big horn! I hope you enjoy this Avery. No doubt your cousins will both enjoy it too. Just as I was previously looking for pink piggies and horses, I was also looking for big trucks and tractors.

As you can see, the route was quite scenic!

We started the climb that everybody was talking about this morning. Frankly, it took me a while to realize that we were actually on it.😉

The trails were generally in pretty good shape. A nice surprise!

I think that before Hil knew it the climb was behind us. It will be good experience for her because I know that she will have many more difficult climbs ahead as she gets into Spain.

Peregrine falcons 
They fly past me so quickly 
Watching in wonder 

Hil walked with me until I had to turn away from the route to reach my accommodation for the night. She walked on a couple of kilometres into town. Our paths may cross again in the next couple of days, but I will be taking a day off in Limoges so that I can meet Annemarie as planned next week. I was hoping that the two of them would have a chance to meet. I’m unsure if that will happen, but one never knows when on the Camino. I do know that I have made a new friend which is one of the special things about these walks.

I’m on a farm tonight and they also operate a pilgrim accommodation. Last night there were four pilgrims here and tomorrow night there will be six pilgrims here. However, tonight there is only me.😃 As part of my stay my hosts will provide me with dinner and the typical French breakfast in the morning. This is one of the things I enjoy about walking in France. It seems like a nice system and a way to get to know your host and the other pilgrims over a shared meal. But not tonight.

I’ve stayed in albergues, gites, apartments and hotels during these walks that are so much worse than this place! They have really done a lovely job and I have a nice big queen size bed! And no pink walls!😂

My laundry is drying as the clouds begin to roll in. Heavy rains are forecast for tonight and all day tomorrow. Oh joy. My next project will be to try and sort out another route that will keep me off the muddy trails again tomorrow. I’m getting pretty good at this, but I’d rather walk the trails.

Seth, our thoughts are with you and your family at this time. Thinking of you all.

Oh, and if there are specific things that you would like to see me post about please put it a comment below or send me a note. I had a request for more food photos and that will likely occur when Annemarie arrived. I’ve been cooking many of my meals and small apartments or eating at my accommodations so far. Eating out alone this sometimes fun but often less fun.

Bon Chemin❤️

Geoff