Thiviers? The Fois Gras capital of the world. I thought they banned Fois Gras. I mean, you can,t eat seal meat but Fois Gras is alright. Foowee. What is Fois Gras anyway? Some sort of pate?
Well I researched this so you don,t have to: Fois Gras: some sort of duck or goose liver specialty. They force feed these ducks or geese until they are ready to explode, then kill them, cut out their livers and voila – fois gras. I am told that a huge fart preceedes the slaughter, somwhat like a sonic boom. It,s a Noisy place this Thiviers. So, an exotic name for something that really sounds disgusting. I believe that they are trying to ban this delicacy due to animal cruelty. PETA no doubt.
Anyway, rain today. I am glad that weather forecasters in France are just as bad as in Canada. Called for sunny skies, cool temps with sunny breaks. What did we get? Rain. Got up at 6 am and was out the door by 630. Used my tent groundsheet as a poncho. Worked great. Dry, but decided I would only go as far as Thiviers, 18.5 kilometers. Drab, dreary weather but a welcome break from the heat. 18 klicks went by pretty quickley and I wasn,t even tired.
Kind of miss the company of Gill. Had a few laughs with him. He would go on and on about some god of the pilrgims, cursing and swearing at him or her for making our lives miserable in this heat. I pleaded with him to stop as one becomes very superstitious on these walks. I was worried that the gods of the pilgrims would rain fire and brimstone upon us – or just another gruelling hill to climb – if he kept up his blasphemy. Sure enough. Another hill. ” Sacre Bleu” he would cry out. ” You stupid god of the pilgrims; You come down here and try to walk in this heat. I dare you; you god of the pilgrims, you think you are so smart” in his broken French accent: I just had to laugh. In this heat and with Gill,s rant we were cursed and doomed.
Alors I am doing this from the local bibliothèques using a French language keyboard so I cannot upload any photos or a song. Again, the Pelerin said they had WiFi but they did not. So I had to go out and find somewhere to do this. I hate to fall behind because it takes sooo long to catch up with my stupid IPad, which I am going to throw into the Saanich Inlet when I get home. It sucks bigly.
Oh, I found wifi so I can upload some photos:
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Gill ranting away dans le arb tunelle.
Just to prove I really am here. That is Guy. I call him the anorexic pilgrim. He is about 6 ft 3 inches and weighs about 145 lbs. But he likes his beer.
Great song to walk to. Collective Soul – Seven Year Itch.
Awesome guitar solo.
Shakey jay……out. Have a nice day. It is PIlsner time Brad. See ya!
We are sitting here drinking pilsner and thinking if you! Must have been so nice to get a break from the heat today! We still haven’t had any rain in Victoria and it is very smokey as there are so many forest fires. We are headed to Kamloops for a wedding this weekend!!! Thinking of you! Titus and Jeannie.
Have a great time. Be safe. Btw, my swiss friends received your email and will respond soon. Spoiling myself today in an Auberg. No pilgrim hostels open for business and it is raining…John
John,
You seem to have mastered the key to long marches, relaxing and staying with a comfortable pace. Some never learn this skill and end up not enjoying their time on the road, even if they successfully complete the journey.
With your quiet demeanor and Klondike beard you’d be a shoo in for a Trappist cheese advert.
It great to relive the memories of my own treks and the great characters, and friends I’ve met over the years by daily following your blog.
Am sure your sons are very proud of your efforts and the memory of their mother will be a great comfort to them in later years as well.
Have you thought of starting a small Fois Gras business on your return to Canada? Perhaps the Trudeau liberals could be pursaded to provide seed money. Think of the American tourist trade trying to capture the French experience whilst observing/helping with the daily feeding chores.
Cheers Gord
Thanks Gord. You and I ,should go into business together. I’ll do the fois and you do the gras. Piss off Trudeau. How are things there. You should be leaving soon huh. Let me know.
Excellent blog post, I look forward to reading more.