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25.6
Lectoure to La Romieux 20 km
Marie Ange made us breakfast before 6 am, so we could leave early as the temperature was going to be in the 30's. We had a very enjoyable quiet walk to La Romieux, an ancient cloister and convent, up on a hill, amongst plum orchards. We stayed in the convent, now in private ownership and very clean and well run. Sophia's birthday today and we had a rather festive feel as we entered the little town at 12 midday to the sound of the church bells.
La Romieux is also famous for it's cat story. Statues of cats and a woman with a cat face are to be found all over the town and over dinner the chef of the little restaurant we went to with other pilgrims told us the story. In the middle ages a young girl by the name of Angelique a cat lover, lived in a little house with her parents and lots of cats. One day the mayor decided there were too many cats and ordered for them to be killed. Unbeknown to him Angelique saved a pair of cats and they bred in a hidden place in the forest. Soon after there were fires and the grain harvest was almost entirely destroyed. Then the rains came and with the rain the rats, who ate the little bit of grain that was left. The village was threatened with the plague, poverty and extinction. Of course you guessed it, in came Angelique with her new family of cats and they had a feast on the rat population and the village was saved!
26.6.
La Romieux to Laressingle 20 km
Early start again due to the heat and a beautiful trail except for swarms of Mozzetta in the forest. I got eaten alive! They left John alone though.
We passed by Larresingle, a fortified village, nice, but full of tourist buses and gift shops, not our scene.
We stayed at Ferme du Tollet, just 1 km further from Larresingle, a functioning farm with 220 cattle and an impressive Armagnac production. Alain the owner invited us (we were 4, including 2 young men from Paris) to aperitifs in the cave where dozens of Armagnac barrels were stored, dating back to the 70's, when he and his wife Martine took over the farm.
Dinner followed, a traditional onion soup, home made pork terrine, roast duck, fresh apple cake, still warm. Volumes of their own red wine and lots of eau de vie (distilled from the Armagnac) poured over the cake from a 3 litre bottle, glasses over and over. Alain talked lots, in the local accent and at great speed, unfortunately my French could not keep up at all.
It was a superb evening, which came to an abrupt end when Alain said he needed to go to bed, as he had to get up at 5 am to get to work on the farm.
We had a hilarious walk back to our Gite across the paddock as the 2 donkeys and the horse decided to try and get at the breakfast supply of bread I was carrying. They ran after me, encircled me, pushed and shoved, not sure how I managed to save it!
We got up at 5.30, no hangover as Alain had guaranteed, and knocked off the first 12 km in 2.5 hours, not bad going. (John's calf muscle is getting back to normal.)
Did not see anyone on the trail today, how nice. By lunchtime we reached our destination at Gite Le Repos du Pelerin, run by Fritz, a German man, where I had stayed in 2009. He still cooks the same dish every night, of which he has the leftovers for lunch! So much for a varied diet.
It is extremely hot, 38 degrees, but from tomorrow the forecast is for slightly cooler temps, thankfully.
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