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Day 24: La Coquille to Thiviers

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!

Day 23: Flavignac to La Coquille

Well we are back in the heat again. 32 C today. Did 29.8 kilometers. Had to stop a few times in the afternoon due to the heat, little shade and no breeze to speak of. Drank a petite etang in water and had 2 Oranginas. Damn, oops sorry. Pilgrims are not supposed to swear. Darn it all anyway but it was hot and those oranginas are the sweet nectar of the gods.

Landscape is changing. Still going upwards, many hills but the vegetation is not as lush as it was. They need rain here badly. Everything has that parched look about it. Dry! Supposed to rain Saturday. Not good for Pilgrims. I hate rain when I am walking. Everything gets wet and it takes days to dry out. I may take a rest day Saturday.

Big screw-up, er sorry, big cock-up, er sorry again, big problem with accommodation here in La Coquille. I made a reservation, confirmed but when I arrived there was no room at the inn. I was really pissed-er, sorry again. Damn. Pilgrims are not supposed to swear. I found alternate accommodations in what I would call a bread foundry or forge. It was hotter than hades. I got a room for the night – 25 euros with a dinner. Wow, I wonder if it is bread dinner with bread pudding for dessert. It is going to be hard to sleep in 40C heat in that foundry. Maybe I,ll make bread in my dreams. And the room was a dump.  Then again, according to the Pilgrims’s Guide 101 ( I read it so you don’t have to ) Pilgrims are not supposed to complain – just suffer. Okay, it was a clean dump – an oxymoronic Pilgrim’s room. Soon, self flagellation classes will be held for all Pilgrims.

I have to tell you about Flavignac. I stayed there last night. They had a fete (fair) that started about 1900. It was great. There was a band too that played awesome music. Sitting there having a few beers, eating great BBQ, by a petite etang, watching the sun go down in wonderful temperatures was like heaven on earth. I have some pictures. They speak for themselves:

Beautiful, magical evening after a hard day’s walk. Love it.

Well Gill, my walking companion, finished today. He left for Limoge, then Paris when we arrived in La Coquille. Hitch-hiking back. Gill is a model now for art schools and artists themselves. At 64, quite a switch of gears in life, especially given he is a mathematician. Wow. Gill is a tad idiosyncratic, has some weird quirks but is a great guy nonetheless. He spoke pretty good English so we had some interesting conversations about music, books and life in general. It is amazing some of the characters you meet on this walk. The other interesting fact is that there are very few women here. I wonder if that is a reflection on us males, as in, are we screwed up or what? I mean think about it:

” Honey?”

” Yes dear.”

”I think I would like to go to France and walk 900 kilometers in 30 plus C heat. What do you think?”

” Fine dear, now go and take out the trash!”

It has been a week now since Berry the Dutchman finished, 10 days since the Von Trappiste family left. Man oh man time goes by. I miss their company as well.

By the way, if the heat doesn’t get ya here the wasps (bees) will. It is unbelievable here. Can’t eat or drink on the terrace without these wasps annoying you.

I was thinking about Delores O’Riordan while walking today. She was the lead singer for the Cranberries, who died suddenly in London at the age of 47. Here is her most famous tune:

And I felt like a Zombie after my walk today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 22: Limoges to Flavignac

Just as I thought, we had bit of a problem getting out of Limoges. Marked path was not well marked and we got lost for about 45 minutes. Not nice for a pilgrim. Finally, we found our way out of the maze and reconnected with the way or path. Then Gil decided we could take a more direct route. So we did and we ended up doing a few more kilometers than we had to to get to Flavignac, 29.8 kilometers. Again, once we were out of Limoges, we came across gorgeous scenery and – you know what I am going to say – lots of hills. Arrived at 1300 so we had to wait an hour before the “Marie” or City Hall opened. We found some shade or shadow, as the French call it, across the street, parked ourselves under some trees and fell asleep. Got up at 1400, got the key to the Refuge, showered and here I am – doing this at the local biblioteque.

Few pics:

I call this God,s tree. A massive oak.

A different looking church from what we have seen. All of the churches have been open. It is nice to rest inside as it is very cool

It was 34 C today. Tres chiaud for walking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice.

I can tell that we are getting further and further south as the light is changing. Getting very bright during the day.

Extremely tired today so shorter than normal. Gil will be company for one more day – to Coquille – then I will be on my own again. I am sure that I will meet up with someone again. Maybe Yannick and his girlfriend.

Here is an oldie but one song I have always liked – by the Rascals.

Have a nice day.

Day 21: St Leonard de Noblat to Limoges

Finally Lomoges, in the Limosin region of France. I have been thinking about this place since I started. Why? Well I had nightmares about this place ever since I started researching this trip back in Canada. I do not understand it but I think it had to do with walking into a big city from one side and trying to figure out how to get out of it on the other side. Scary for a Pilgrim.

I woke up one night in a cold sweat. I had this dream of gargoyles attacking me as I was trying to figure out how to get out of the maze of streets. Gargoyles are those ornamental  medieval downspouts that you see on all of the big Cathedrals around here. They looked at me, laughing and frothing at the mouth as I was trying to run out of one medieval Cathedral after the next. It was horrible…..mommy!

” So you have come to France” they said.

” To take a walk” they gargoyled.

” In 30 plus degree heat” they screamed with devilish laughter.” “ Are you an idiot” they asked.

I could only run, and run and run and as I looked back in disbelief I saw a thousand gargoyles coming after me. Frothing at the mouth. Heckling and laughing at me. I have to get out of Limoges and their awesome roman Cathedral. But that is where all of these gargoyles come from. Where can I go? I thought. I ran down a narrow medieval street into a medieval alley that came to a medieval dead end. I was toast. I could only look back in absolute terror as these ugly gargoyles came down at me, ready to devour me. As I took my last scream on god’s green earth, I woke up. Whoa! Whew. Wow. As I looked over at the end table I saw a picture of Notre Dame with their medieval downspouts for rain. It was just a dream, I thought, but for an instant I thought I heard:

” So, you’ve cone to France have you?

True story. Whew. That was some nightmare. I got up and immediately went to the heads. And that is how I have been thinking of Limoges ever since I started this trek. And, like all things in life thoughts are way worse than reality.

Limoge Roman Cathedral. Not too scary is it?

The walk today was great. Still lots of hills and 31 C today but we made it by 1300 (1 pm). I am not going to belabor the hills anymore as I am told the rest of the route will be similar. Nevertheless, when you see sights like this what can one complain about:

Or this:

Met two new pilgrims today. Laurent from Brittany and Gil from Paris. Laurent was in a hurry as he likes to do between 30 and 40 kilometers per day. Gil and I walked together for the whole day and are staying at the same hostel tonight. Gil is an interesting character. He models in Paris for art schools and other artists. Only in Paris I would think. I have never met anyone who has every done that for a living. It is a wonderful world full of wonders. I asked him what he does when he has a twitch or a fly bugging him. Or if he has to sneeze, fart. This made for interesting conversation. Then as we were nearing Limoges he went on a rant about pilgrims. Jokingly, I told him to stop as the god of pilgrims may not be kind to us. Sure enough as we got closer to the Cathedral we saw that we were facing a monstrous hill to climb to get to where the cathedral was located. Damn Gil, but we had some good laughs over that rant of his. He was cursing the gods of walking to no end especially in this heat. “ You guys try this”he taunted them. Gil will be with me for one more day, then he returns to Paris.

Ran into Yannick today as well. Remember him? He was the young Danish guy from Finland who was having a  moment of crisis in his life. Well his girlfriend met him in Limoges and she will walk with him for a week. Great I thought.

By the way, St Leonard of Noblat fame was a 6th century hermit who lived in the dark forest during the dark ages. So, another mystery of life: how does one become a saint if you,re a hermit? Hmmm? Hmmmm? If you know the answer to that I would love to read it in the comments.

Some of these hostels we stay at are nicer than hotels. This one is a religious hostel right beside the Cathedral. Nice. And they have instant coffee here, which is what I like because it is instant.

A change in the tunes and also something new. My Swiss freinds mentioned a family member having a holiday in Scotland which they really liked. That reminded me of the trip my dear wife Marijke and I took to Edinburgh to see the military tatoo in 2015. Some of you will remember that trip and the fun Marijke and I had on the mega bus. Anyway, enjoy this:

And then this:

You know, one bagpipe is akin to a cat clawing his claws down a blackboard. But a hundred playing together is a heaven,s choir.

Day 20: Pont de Dognon to St Leonard de Noblat.

Picture yourself sitting on a cafe terrace having a grand cafe au lait in the town’s square surrounded by buildings going back to 1200 with a church even older than that. Narrow cobblestone streets. Shops, bakeries abound. Women shopping, the men chatting, smoking and cursing, laughing as well. You would be in the centre of St Leonard de Noblat, a medieval town restored in all its medieval glory and patina. Only problem for a hiker like me is that the town centre is at the crest of a hill. Closer to god than thee – so the saying goes. And that is why I had to climb a 2.5 kilometer hill to arrive at this scene. If only I had me a donkee.

But before all that I have to play this son:

Did you know that this song was not written by Cat Stevens but by a religious brother sometime in the 1800s.

The house is similar in design to Canada House, Juno Beach,  Normandy.

There is a town to the northwest of here called Tours. Tours is also the beginning of a camino. But Tours is also famous for a world changing battle during the medieval times. You see, the Muslims had just conquered Spain and now had their eye on France. So a large Muslim army marched into France to kick some French butt. The French were forewarned and this French dude whose name was – I kid you not – Charles “ The Hammer” Martel gathered all of the French peasants, trained them and set off to meet the Muslim invaders. On October 10, 752, the armies met at Tours.  Charles was a medieval military genius who held the high ground at Tours. And like an arch angel he came down on the Moors from on high and kicked serious Moorish butt and won the day. The Moors fled back to Spain never to return that is until the 21st Century. But what a name: Charles “ The Hammer” Martel. Like something out of Wrestling, don,t you think. True story. I researched this so you don,t have to.

Milestone:  today, while walking, as I looked down, I could see my belt buckle for the first time in 17 years. Wow!

15 km today of which 12 were uphill,including the 2.5 km hill coming into St Leonard de Noblat. Tomorrow Limoges, a place of which I had some serious concerns about before I left Canada. Seems like yesterday but also a long time ago.

5th day on my own. I sure do miss the Von Trappe family and Berry the Dutchman. We had some good laughs with da banker and his famille. Good luck kids. Like good ole Charles the Hammer, kick some serious studies butts.

Thanks to Mike and Jean I had 150 views yesterday on this blog.

Cheers and have a great medieval day.