Day 22: Stage 18: Sorges

32 km, sun, cloud and a little rain, 18°

Racing The Rain!☔️☔️☔️

I must say that I had a great time last night. There were eight pilgrims in a refuge that was designed for six. You might think that things were very tight, but everyone got along very well and were considerate of each other’s needs. We were fortunate, there was one toilet and two showers. Having a hospitalier with her own room on site was a huge benefit. She certainly looked after everyone really well.

We had all agreed that we would have breakfast at 7:30 this morning. However, two others got up much earlier and prepared to leave. I had been awake since before 6 AM so I was the third one to get up. All the breakfast things were available which was very helpful. After a couple of slices of bread, a bit of yogurt and a nice hot mug of tea I said goodbye to everyone (all were up by this time) and I set off, direction Sorges.

The sun was coming up and there were scattered clouds to greet me.

I had a fairly long way to walk today, so I told myself not to mess around too much. That lasted about 10 minutes.😅 The problem is that there is just too much beautiful scenery. Not just that, the flowers are out everywhere and it’s just fun to dawdle and take photos for my blog.

It’s just too difficult for me to walk by something that’s caught my eye, and when the sun is out as it was this morning, it’s practically impossible. Somewhere in there is a happy balance, and I seem to find that place most days.

The trails were of course a mess today. I’m not making this stuff up! The trails are just huge puddles of water and of course the usual mud. I caught up to Stephanie from Belgium when she was taking a break and she told me that she tried the 1st km of trail and had to take her boots off because they were so wet. She was sitting with her sandals on when I saw her last. Like me, the majority of people are giving roads a good workout due to the poor trail situation. The soles of my boots are beginning to wear out in a couple of places because of all the road walking, but nothing to worry about. I have no idea how far I’ve walked since I started, but it must be getting close to 500 km by now. It doesn’t really matter, except for the wear and tear on my boots.

I spent the day crisscrossing the Camino route, and I also walked long chunks of it.

I was going write about the cows today, but I might save that until tomorrow because it’s supposed to rain fairly heavily tomorrow. We shall see. Aren’t they cool? 

Another great day for wildflowers. One of the reasons I really love walking in the spring. By the time you get to the fall things are beginning to look a bit done.

See how difficult it is for me to keep focussed when there’s so much going on around me! Distractions, distractions, distractions! But that’s OK, because I’m retired and there is no schedule.

I eventually arrive into Thiviers, a fairly good size town about halfway along my route today. I was sort of hoping to find a small bar to stop in for a drink, but it’s Sunday and this often isn’t possible.

And there is another château here!

There was also a nice looking church with a family outside celebrating after the obvious christening of one of the grandchildren. I wanted to go inside and have a look and get a possible stamp in my credential, but there was a service in progress so of course I stayed outside.

It was a long walk out of the town, and frankly except for the centre square, much of the town is a bit disappointing. However, I did find a few flowers.

I designed a route that would get me to my destination as directly as possible. It involved crossing the national highway as I left town and then turning south onto a back road with a famous name.

It was straight as an arrow.😑

Fortunately what was lacking in the way of scenery was made up by the abundance of beautiful flowers. I know that my friend Carol and Carol‘s mom have followed my walks for many years now. I hope they enjoy these pictures. Carol and I were avid gardeners in Coquitlam back in the day, and we discussed our gardens endlessly over the fence between our two houses. Carol continues to be a great gardener and was always miles ahead of me when it came to flowers. I wish they had moved with us and become our next-door neighbours on the other side of our house when we moved to the island 30 years ago! If that had happened, between talking gardening with Carol on one side of our house and European football with Ariel on the other side, I would have hardly ever been in the house!😂 A pipe dream, but it would’ve been fun!

A real feast for the eyes! I’d like to get some of these into my garden. Such a rich colour!

While I was finding all these flowers, I was also keeping an eye on the sky to the south. And it wasn’t looking very good.

It looked just like what happened yesterday when the sky literally exploded. I was keeping a close eye on my radar app. Remember, I’m in the little square in the center.

Though I stopped to take pictures of the flowers, I picked up my pace at the same time.

I thought about Peiter and Wyn from Holland, who told me last night that a farmer let them wait out the storm in his barn. Where I was walking today, there was little cover, so I kept moving.

As I watch the radar from time to time, I wondered at what point I’d have to put on my rain gear. I would pick a marker in the distance, say a large tree, and see if I could just get there before the rain came. This continued for quite a while, but I was still at least 5 km away from my destination. It wasn’t looking very good, but I still had time on my side.

It became a bit of a game. How close could I get before the rain arrived? Then quite unexpectedly, the storm cell veered off to the west of me, but it sideswipe me enough that I was finally forced about 2 km from town to stop and put on my rain gear. The last thing I wanted to do was arrive with a soaking wet pack. Though I have everything inside my pack in dry bags, it just wouldn’t be much fun to have to dry my pack out.

So in the end, the rain won the race, but I didn’t get very wet. I counted my blessings! And then I was into Sorge. A nice little town with an interesting church. Rather dull on the outside, it was quite beautiful inside.

An old church in the Romanesque style with really nice windows

And then it was off to find my posh hotel. It’s named for a well-known truffle hunter and his truffle hunting pig early in the last century (see the pig in the sidewalk?). Apparently they were a huge success in the truffle hunting world.

I went inside to the front desk with low expectations, given that I’d managed to negotiate the pilgrim rate. The girl at the front desk was sending me to another building a block away where the cheaper rooms were located. I asked if I could go into the bar to get a drink to take with me, and ended up talking to the owner who was tending bar and directing traffic in the restaurant. After speaking with me in a really low quality French conversation because of my limitations, he told the girl to send me to a different room in the main hotel. She said I’m taking you to a much better room. I smiled. Rob wants to see pictures.

Because I have a day off after tomorrow while I wait for Annemarie, I wasn’t going to wash any laundry. However, there was a working heated dryer on the bathroom wall. So I washed all my laundry, and it’s already dry. Bonus! I wasn’t going to shave, but there was a great sink with a good mirror, so I shaved. Bonus! There’s a little fridge, and a heater keeping the room warm and a little outside deck that I could sit on if it was halfway warm. I like this place so much that I might have to stay here for a whole week! I’m sure Annemarie will understand when I’m not there on Tuesday to meet her train.😂 Hmmm, probably not.

I also get my dinner tonight in a really good restaurant and my breakfast in the morning with my pilgrim price. Reminds me a little bit of the Parador that we stayed in on our first walk when we arrived in Leon. These are historic buildings that the Spanish government has leased to hotel and restaurant operators. Ken became a Camino legend there when he had all of his laundry washed for €60. He kept pulling out beautifully folded and bagged laundry from his pack for the next few days. we were all super envious.

So, one more solid stage into Périgeuex and lots of rain forecast in the next 24 hours. A lot of it will fall tonight, but it’s going to be wet tomorrow as well. I was wondering today how many days of rain I’ve had on this walk? I’m gonna have to count those up and I’ll try to remember to post that information.

Thanks for following. One last photo and then I have to finish following the last weekend of the English premier league with my friend Ariel. We are texting back-and-forth as various teams score.

If Annemarie sees this before she gets on her airplane, have a great flight and I’m looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday.❤️ Thanks to Jim and Corie for taking her to the airport. Greatly appreciated, and we owe you one.

Bon chemin!

Geoff☀️☔️🍷