Day 4, Stage 2: Fanjeaux, 22 km, 25° ☀️

Head Games & Hills!

A big evening out last night! The local pizza restaurant was hosting a dress up party and the drinks were flowing! Still dragging my tail a bit, I was home by 7:45. Yup, party time was very short for one still tired pilgrim.🥳 For the record, the beer was much much better than the pizza. Italy this is not. I should know better, but it was the only place in town to eat out.

My day began slowly. I deliberately planned another relatively short stage knowing that I would be needing to catch up some sleep. It was also supposed to be another relatively flat stage, at least that’s what I thought. Haha! I guess my recall was a bit off. There was 440 m (1440’) vertical and at times it felt like it!

My first stop this morning was at the local bakery. I was a little surprised it was open on a Sunday, but delighted! When I walked in, there was a mother with her daughter behind the counter serving an older woman. They had my very favourite French breakfast pastry, pane aux raison! I ordered two. One for breakfast with my rather bruised banana and one for my lunch which I’m presently consuming with a very nice cold beer.

Anyway, the women were surprised that I was walking solo. I had noticed in the registry at the gite a lot of couples walking the GR 78. I told them that I was walking solo, but that I was carrying company. I showed them the four spirit animals on the back of my pack, and this started a whole new fun conversation. I told them that I was carrying my four grandchildren with me, and I showed them photos. The ladies were delighted! The conversation was in French and I didn’t get all the details, but basically they were delighted with my story and happy that I wouldn’t be alone on my journey. A really nice memory.

I set off direction Montreal, which is the first main village about 7–8 km along the stage. I had initially planned to walk there on my first day, but common sense prevailed. It proved to be a good decision, though I could’ve done without that pizza last night!😂

The stage began almost immediately with a climb, and such beautiful scenery on this gorgeous day!

Musical interlude: I have to go check in to my accommodation now. More in a little while!🎶

That was an interesting experience! I’m staying in a small nunnery and I was greeted by a single nun. Quite frankly, I wasn’t even sure I was in the right place. But after talking with the nun for a few minutes, it appears that I am, and I will have dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning, demi-pension. It’s Sunday, so I was looking for a place with meals. So many restaurants are closed here on Sundays.

I’ve completed my shower, washed my clothes and put my bedding in place. It doesn’t appear that anyone else is here tonight. Hopefully another chance to catch up a bit of sleep as I’m still lagging behind a little bit.

So back to this stage. As I was saying, it was a beautiful day to walk, and there were more than a few hills.

There was one excellent moment when I reached the top of the hill, and there in front of me were Pyrenees.

With almost each step I’m getting closer to the Pyrenees. On three of my prior distance walks in France, I have approached the Pyrenees later in the walk, but this is the first time that I’ve seen them so clearly at the beginning. Really special!

I catch up to two French pilgrims and I greet them. They seem more intent on finding their way than visiting, so I say goodbye and I haven’t seen them since. It’s probably because they can’t walk very quickly carrying such large packs. Perhaps they are camping?

A word about the way marking on this route. So far it seems to be quite variable. Yesterday it was OK, but I had to double check a few times. Today the marking seemed to be very good for most of this stage, but again there were a few locations where I had to be very careful. It might be that my brain still a little tired, right? 😉

It’s about at this point that the head games begin. I wasn’t expecting much in the way of hills today, but by this point I’ve been up and downhill so often that I’m wondering how I forgot this minor detail? Oh well.

Tomorrow, I’ve planned a bit longer stage. Breakfast with the nuns is at 7 AM and I’ll be on the road right after that. After today, I’ll be prepared for the hills. I was expecting them on stage three anyway!😅

Now I’m going to take a few minutes to walk around and have a look at this village that sits on top of a hill.

Bon Chemin! That reminds me. A number of people driving by honked their horns and waved to me today. When passing families gathered on a Sunday I had the same sort of responses, minus the honking of course!

Geoff🍻❤️