Day 18: Stage 15: Limoges

26 km, cloudy, 14°

Letting Go!

This morning Estelle had my breakfast and hot tea ready for me at 7 o’clock because I needed to be on the road early to meet Hil some 8 km down the road. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Estelle’s help with a challenging accommodation I had been dealing with. Last night, she called the place for me and they were less than helpful. This morning she said that she would call them again after 9:30 and then text me with the outcome. I didn’t have a very good feel about this place, and they were asking for considerably more money than they should have been.

I was quickly on my way and out of town. It wasn’t raining, but for most of the day it sure looked like it would. It was cool with a brisk wind as I walked down the hill towards the river.

Surprisingly there was even a bit of a sunrise this morning as I looked back towards town.

The first real pleasure of the day happened for me when I reached the river only to discover a beautiful bridge and some wonderful old buildings seemingly stuck in time. I knew then that this was going to be a good day.

I lingered there far too long trying to take it all in.

It was time to get moving, and a stiff climb took me out of the river basin. As I had to meet Hil I decided to risk the mud and water on the trails. I wore my rain pants for that very reason, but up top I only had a T-shirt and my cycling vest on. I was going to be walking quickly enough to keep warm.

Finally clear of the river basin I was able to increase my pace, but maintain my awareness of what was going on around me. It’s funny how after a couple of weeks into a distance walk everything just feels right. The pack fits like a favourite coat, the rhythm of your stride seems effortless and your senses expand beyond their usual limits. When I reach this place, it’s a wonderful feeling of harmony.

You’re aware of the so-called big picture around you, but you don’t miss the detail either.

As I approached the village where Hil spent the night I texted her as agreed.

However, she was already waiting at the top of the road. I wasn’t surprised.😅

Sometimes on the Camino you develop an instant connection with someone. Our many conversations during the past week have revealed somewhat parallel lives and experiences. I was discussing this with Annemarie last night, and I think that she’s looking forward to meeting Hil just as much as Hil is looking forward to meeting her. Hil is already talking about taking a break in her walk so that this can happen. As Annemarie pointed out, we travel to Holland fairly regularly, and a visit in Amsterdam is highly likely.

You might have noticed that the title of today’s post is Letting Go! Hil and I have been discussing the contents of our packs from time to time as we walk. This sort of conversation is not unusual when on Camino.😂 As I’ve said before, she is a very strong walker, however, with a somewhat too heavy pack on her back. She amazingly manages to stay cheerful while carrying more weight than she probably should. She told me that she hadn’t slept well last night because she had been thinking about all the things she had to do today. I joked that it was probably all the coffee she drank last night. Not an unusual occurrence! She replied that she had been thinking about mailing home some gear. When she walked out the door of her Amsterdam house 45 days ago to begin her first Camino, she had very little experience to draw on. She’s now come to the conclusion that some of the things she thought she would need are no longer required. This is not an unusual experience for most people on their first distance walk.

We decided to stop in Feytiat for a hot drink because there was actually a place open. We were both in shock!

Just before we reached there Hil phoned a pilgrim accommodation in the same small town where I had been having trouble booking a bed in a hotel there (all my other efforts to find a bed had so far failed). This is where Estelle had been trying to help me with an overpriced hotel. What was not in my guide was that the accommodation that Hil booked also provided dinner and breakfast. I asked her to call them back (she has better French) and make a reservation also for me for this Saturday night. I just wasn’t comfortable with the runaround the manager of the hotel was putting me through. It just didn’t feel right, and I’ve learned to listen to my instincts. So I now have a bunkbed in a small dorm with meals for less than half the price the hotel was trying to get from me. 😎They were not honouring the price quoted in the 2024 guide, and I will cancel them tomorrow.

There was a post office just down the street from the bar so we stopped there on our way out and went through the interesting process of boxing up Hil’s excess gear for its trip home to Amsterdam. I’ve never done this before, so it was a good learning experience for me as well.

The items been mailed home included her sleeping bag, a heavy coat, an air mattress, an inflatable pillow, a map book and a heavy pair of pants. Almost 3 kg of stuff! That’s about 6 1/2 pounds of gear out of her pack. Just imagine, she’s been carrying all this extra gear for well over 1200 km!

You can see from the photos that she’s pretty excited about getting rid of some things!😅 I later learned that she also was carrying a small blanket plus her liner for sleeping. The sleeping bag was overkill! For comparison purposes, I’m simply carrying a silk liner and a very light and small down blanket.

As we began walking again, Hil was delighting in the way her pack felt. She said that she finally understood what I meant when I spoke of my pack fitting like a familiar coat.

We were getting past the city suburbs, and we eventually reached the old bridge crossing the Vienne River just below the massive cathedral. I expect that Pilgrims have been crossing this bridge for hundreds of years.

A quick selfie to keep Rob happy. 😃

And then we climbed up to the cathedral.

As I’m taking the day off here tomorrow, I won’t show you any more of Limoge in this post.

It took both of us time to find our respective apartments before meeting up at a cobbler shop where Hil is having her boots repaired. The fellow told her that the glue will have to set up overnight, and so she will pick up her boots on her way out of town in the morning.

By this time it was about 3:30 and neither of us had eaten since breakfast. We were hungry! The problem was that there were no restaurants open at that time in the afternoon. A heavy rain began to fall and by chance we found an African sort of hole in the wall bar open. The family running it is from Nigeria, where they of course speak excellent English having also been colonized by the British. The lady said that she could make us something to eat, and while we waited for whatever it was to arrive, we had the first of two very satisfying ice cold beers!

About 45 minutes later our late afternoon meal arrived. It was really good, and even the fries were spiced.

We soon decided that this would be our supper and we set off afterwards in search of a grocery store to find breakfast stuff. We then said our goodbyes for now. We will be texting to try and figure out where and when we can get back together once Annemarie is here next week.

Tomorrow I have some gear maintenance to do and I will also be looking for a few accommodations for after Annemarie arrives. This will involve some phone calls no doubt conducted in French.🙄

I also want to get out to walk this town and I will try to find a way to see a good display of the Limoges china this city is so famous for. As I am staying in a nice apartment I will try to find something interesting to cook up for dinner tomorrow night.

It’s getting late here, so I will finish this up and get some sleep. Thanks for checking in.

Bon Chemin!

Geoff🍻❤️