Tag: camino.
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Chemin du Puy: Condom to Pimbo, France
: The path to Montréal-du-Gers was wet and muddy. This is Dave kindly trying to rid my boots of a thick layer of mud. Larressingle: Larressingle is France’s smallest fortified village, and possibly the cutest. It currently boasts a population of 200 people. The walls are original, unusual for this part of France, which was…
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Chemin du Puy, Condom, France
A small medieval town of 6,500 people, Condom sits at the confluence of the rivers Gèle and Baïse. Contrary to what our less-cultured friends might want us to believe, the name derives from the ancient Condote-o-magos, which meant “market of the confluence”. Its similarity to the English word of the same spelling is pure coincidence.…
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Day 8 on the Canal du Midi
Saturday, June 3 – Canal du Midi: Caux-et-Sauzens to Carcassonne Our wonderful hostess, Sandrine, concerned we wouldn’t find any food on the way to Carcassonne, prepared a fabulous picnic lunch for us: sandwiches of comté, tomato, zucchini, and cucumber drizzled with local olive oil, along with hard-boiled eggs for snacking if we feel peckish. Made…
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Day 7 on the Canal du Midi
Friday, June 2 – Canal du Midi: Bram to Caux-et-Sauzens We were so sad to leave Bram that we stopped at the boulangerie, the cave à vin (wine store), and the marché. Well, to be honest, these were also practical decisions. We knew we had 10+ miles in front of us, and absolutely no services…
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Day 4 on the Canal du Midi
Tuesday, May 30 – Canal du Midi: Villefranche du Lauragais to Port Lauragais Fearing rain, we headed out at 9am – too soon as we were really enjoying our conversations with Catherine and Dominique, not to mention the freshly made breakfast crêpes and homemade jams! Nonetheless onward we trudged. In a few hours we arrived…
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Day 2 on the Canal du Midi
Sunday, May 28 – Canal du Midi: Ramonville-St-Agne to Baziège (Including all the pictures that were to be included on the last attempt). Martine continued her thoughtful service today with a lovely breakfast tray: At 10:30 we headed out suspecting it would be a grueling day. 13+ miles later, we’re sure. Luckily, we found Donostia,…
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Toulouse, France
Saturday, May 27 – Canal du Midi: Toulouse to Ramonville-St-Agne Good walk today ~9 miles. The Canal du Midi is an engineering wonder, and the French are to be admired for their foresight in building it. The walk beginning in Toulouse is pretty urban. Parts are pretty; parts are not. The Toulousians use it fiercely,…
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Conques, France
Tuesday, May 23 Good news! Our Covid-afflicted Camino friend is recovering and we dodged it! Today, we played tourist. We visited the abbey-church Église de Sainte Foy, a gem of Romanesque architecture begun in the 11th century and finished in the 12th. The church is known for its austere and very tall interior, its tympanum…
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Day 10 – Chemin du Puy: Golinhac to Conques
Monday, May 22 Oh no! Another final day on a camino, with all the bittersweet feelings this entails. Again, we find ourselves ready to be done, yet wishing we weren’t. We spent a good part of the day talking about coming back to finish the Chemin du Puy next year or at least do another…
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Day 9 on the Chemin du Puy: Estaing to Golinhac
Sunday, May 21 Quiet day. Nice hike through woods, lots of up and down. We thought we were going to see the Golinhac dam, which was finished in 1960, but all we saw were a bunch of signs warning walkers to exercise caution in case the dam burst and the waters from the dam’s lake…
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Day 8 on the Chemin du Puy
Saturday, May 20 We had a great stay in Espalion last night. Our room was spacious and even better, had a clothes washer! We took advantage of that as our clothes were in dire need of a good washing. Another light dinner in the room and a good Côtes-du-Rhône Villages. In the morning, our host’s…
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Chemin du Puy: Day 2
Sunday, May 14 – Day 2 on the Chemin du Puy (Mother’s Day in the U.S.) We walked over 12 miles today with some of the most difficult hiking I’ve ever done. The day began with an extremely steep grade and loose rocks, rock faces, and mud everywhere. Thank goodness for walking sticks – they…
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Chemin du Puy: Day 1
Saturday, May 13 – Day 1 on the Chemin du Puy/Via Podiensis Dave woke me up at 6:20 so we could attend the Pilgrim Mass at the Cathedral of Le Puy. Even though our hotel was located way up high in the village, we still had to climb to the Cathedral. Begun in the 11th…
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Córdoba to Montpellier to Le Puy en Velay
Tuesday, May 9 Today, after returning to Granada to retrieve our luggage, we grabbed a quick lunch at a café on one of Córdoba’s many parks. The image below, in addition to our usual soup and salad, included a Cordobés specialty: eggplant marinated in beer then lightly battered and fried and topped with a honey…