Day 11: Stage 9: Saint Bertrand de Comminges, ☁️, 21°

I’m Dancing Again!🙂

I walked out of town this morning to the lovely church bells announcing 7 o’clock. I was also greeted by some unexpected low cloud and a feeling that it might even rain. Clearly the heat dome has broken.

Even this guy who loves hot sunny weather is happy to see this shift, though hoping it won’t be back filled with lots of rain.

There are a series of climbs today, but if these clouds remain this low, I know from experience that there’s little point in going up there because I won’t be able to see anything very interesting. Except heavy fog! Should that be the case I’ll make adjustments as I go, perhaps finding an alternative route at a lower level.

I had a great trail hike up over the Col des Ares.

The cooler air really made a difference. The water my body had retained in the heat just poured off on the first climb.😆 It’s nice to feel normal again as I climbed with pace and more assurance. Back to my old self again it seemed.

I briefly met a younger French woman at the foot of the climb, but the start of the climb was so steep that I guess I dropped her. I looked around and she was long gone. That was OK with me because after the last several days of pounding upwards through the heat, I was looking to be able to simply consolidate today. I was perfectly happy to be on my own.🙂

I enjoyed the descent afterwards. I crossed over an area with rock paving towards the bottom. Very laborious work. Must be quite old with a place on either side for wagon wheels to roll and water free to drain down the centre.

Looking ahead at my weather app it showed that there was a high probability of rain on the next long section.

I felt that I’d had a great hike over the col and decided to take my win and change up the route a little. I’d seen lots of mountain trails so far, and as always I also look for the rural villages. I worked out a route where I could make this happen and off I went!

There were some spectacular views as I crossed between the little villages at well over 600 m. I could see all the way across to the high Pyrenees.

My friend Jim asked me in an email if after yesterday I would consider going back to re-walk the stage I missed. I did give that some thought, however, my walking route this year is fairly ambitious and I have limited time available to accomplish what I have in mind. Also, this weather shift will potentially make those upper passes a slog through the rain and mud. As always when I’m hiking in the mountains, I had been watching the weather very closely. I was setting myself up to cross yesterday as I could see that the weather window was going to close today. And it did. No worries.

When I free range on these walks, meaning I get off the marked defined route, I feel particularly liberated. Able to make my own way and my own decisions on where I’m going to walk. There’s nothing wrong with walking along the specifically prescribed route, in this case for the nature. I totally get that. I like a combination of the nature and the cultural aspects. I’ll end up back on the defined route later, but right now I’m making my own way. Happy guy!

And I really like this freeform sort of walking where I can be on the route and if the mood strikes me, I can change it up like I’m doing today. I’ll end up back on the route later but right now I’m making my own adventure. Happy guy!

I’m presently on a long descent off the side of the mountain. On my map app I have spotted what I think is a long cycling/walking route. I think it’s probably another old railway bed that’s been converted. Should the rain arrive it’ll be easier going and I might even find a place for a hot cup of tea and a pastry!🙂

Breakfast this morning was very meager. I had some really nice dark chocolate left in my pack and I ‘borrowed’ a piece of high-quality bread from the restaurant last night. I wash it down with the remaining part of my hydration water. This carried me for nicely for 2 1/2 hours, and then I started to get hungry again. I carry some power bars with me, typically two, but this time I have a third which I ate. They fill a hole and provide a good boost of energy. Speaking of which, last night‘s dinner was amazing. 

It took them forever to provide service last night. Lovely people, but super slow. I was there for 7:30 and I didn’t leave until 9:45. I was reading the Champions League play-by-play text online. My good friend Ariel was watching the game live and we were communicating back-and-forth throughout the game. I walked back to my place in the semi darkness still texting with Ariel. It was a lousy game I think with Paris Saint Germain winning over Inter Milan 5-0. Ariel and I usually watch these games together, and I always look forward to that. This year, however I didn’t regret missing the game.🤨

I’m still dropping way down out of the mountains. Lots of switchbacks on this road!

It just occurred to me as I’m walking down this long zigzagging road that I’ve been travelling to Europe for 50 years! My first trip was in 1975 and 50 years later I’m still enjoying my moments here. I just took a picture of a beautiful building below me, and that’s what triggered this thought.

I finally reach the bottom and seeing a few cyclists ahead I know I’m on the right track. There must be a cycling route.

Five minutes later I find the cycling route. Unfortunately it’s paved, but I can only hope that it will become a soft gravel. The name on the bottom of the sign is my destination tonight so this should take me all the way there.

I’m looking down the valley. It looks like rain is happening as I expected up high on the slopes.

Continue along the valley. It’s Sunday and there’s lots of cyclist and they go flying by, but usually wave at me or say bonjour! 

At one point I catch up to an older fellow who was out for his daily walk. He tells me he’s from the area and he likes to go for a stroll every few days. 

I continue along until I come to the point where the bicycle path is going to cut the GR78. Through the trees to my left, I spot a grocery store. Not a little one, but a medium size store. I know I need a few supplies and I decide to stop.

I always enjoy shopping in the stores here. You get to see what people are doing and there are often opportunities for me to practice my French. An enjoyable experience. I decide that I may as well buy some lunch foods here. It’s now early Sunday afternoon and I know that nothing will be open where I can sit and have a meal. I’m in a donation place tonight, and in my experience, sometimes the meals aren’t always satisfying. Sometimes they are amazing!

I have a few crackers left in my food supply so I decide to buy some Norwegian smoked salmon and a cold drink to go with it.

I find some chocolate. A whole wall of it! This is the best display of chocolate I have seen since I arrived this time, and there is dark chocolate with nuts and raisins. Before I know it, it’s in my little hand cart! 

I can only dream about the wine section! I had a nice wine with my dinner last night, now it’s got me wanting to enjoy a little more of the French wines.

I also replenish my cheese and dried sausage supply. So I’m all set now.

I walk into the centre of town and find a place to sit and have my lunch. I eat up some older cheese. It’s getting a little dated and I bought new cheese to replace it.

I find a bench in the centre of the village and I set myself up for a nice little lunch of smoked salmon, crackers, and my cold drink.

I then find the markings for the GR 78 and head out of the village with about 4-5 km to go. Along the way a lady pulls up beside me on her bicycle as I’m trying to figure out how to get to that town. She gives me directions and tells me that I’m really going to like it there. There’s a really beautiful cathedral apparently.

Along the way, I walked past an obviously very old church. I don’t even know if it’s in use anymore. It is Romanesque style with what appears to be a Byzantine styled entrance. My daughter Erin could tell me if that was correct, but she doesn’t read my blog so I’ll have to ask her separately. Perhaps I’ll send her a photo and she can comment on it. As I walk along beside it I can see a beautiful set of bells and the door is open. I decide to go investigate. It looks like a very interesting church and I wonder if I’ll be able to get in. I guess I will soon find out.

And, it turns out that I can’t go in! Excellent! The lady at the front gate tells me that people don’t know about this church, but they all know about the cathedral where I will be stopping in about 20 minutes to spend the night. She lived in Virginia 35 years ago for one year and her English is actually pretty good. I get in for the Pilgrim rate which is €2.

The stonework on the floor is amazing. Very impressive, and it makes me wonder if there were burial spots underneath the stones because they are basically of the correct size. People were smaller in that time compared to today.

The cathedral sits high in the background and I know that I’ll have a climb right at the end. I really enjoy walking up to these places. I feel like a traveller in the middle ages as I approach. It’s almost like a transport back in time. A pilgrim approaching a place to rest.

I finally arrive at the foot of the town.

I can’t get into my accommodation for another 30 minutes so I go have a look inside the cathedral before it closes. It’s quite lovely. Simple in many ways, and in other ways very detailed.

I’m staying in facility, which is part of the cathedral. It’s old, and really quite interesting. There are four of us here tonight. A Belgian couple who started in Carcassonne, a French woman named Elsa, who is from and myself. We all have our own rooms with fabulous views out across the countryside.

I have a shorter 24 km stage to Lotet tomorrow. I’m thinking of making a change in my walking plan after that because I’m having difficulty finding accommodation through a certain section. The place I had hoped to stay at said that they are full and so are a number of the places in that area. My French isn’t good enough to mess around with this. So I may have a longer stage than I might like followed by a shorter stage into Lourdes. My idea would be to take a zero day there before continuing. I’ll ask Elsa if she can help me tonight. She has English and French and may be able to help solve my problem. If not, I’ll just do what needs to be done.

That’s it for today. This is a long post, but I still have another hour to wait for dinner. It’s nice to have this recovery time for a change. The Belgium couple have slept for the past two hours. How is that possible?😳

Bon chemin!

Geoff🍷🍫

675m, 2,200’ vertical.

Addendum: Elsa just helped me make an arrangement where she is staying so all good. I just don’t have the address!😂😂