Last night we had a very interesting experience or maybe we should call it just one more interesting experience along "The Way". We were staying in this very little town with no stores and a Communial Gite operated by the town and run by volunteers. We thought there was just the one fellow who had greeted us but then Bernard showed up to help (we never did find out the first guy's name). Bernard and the other guy made dinner for us and for Roberto from Switzerland who showed up just before serving time. We were told to come in for an aperitif at 6:45. Wendy had helped them prepare supper by slicing up a plateful of tomatoes.
The dining room is a great place to work on our journal and the blog before dinner.
Our room last night. Just Wendy and I shared this room while Roberto was given a room just like it across the hall. This was good because I could hear him snoring when I went out to the bathroom during the night.
Bernard and the other guy served us an aperitif of kir (cassis and white wine) and 2 huge bowls of potato chips. Next course was a plate of boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs and the sliced tomatoes with a dressing they had made up. Next course was duck breast (confit) cut in strips and fried. It was quite tasty but Bernard would not eat any. He says he doesn't eat pets! A cheese plate came next followed by canned fruit soaked in some liquor. The dinner conversation was mostly in French as neither old guy spoke any English but Roberto did. It wandered from why doesn't everyone in Canada speak both official languages, to why the French gave up in WW2 and let the Germans come in. Bernard insisted that in this part of France they were not involved with the war. Hard to argue but we went to the Resistance Museum in Condom so we know there were many who were involved. Even Wendy was having a hard time following the whole conversation but it was interesting.
We hiked on this morning to Arzacq-Arraziguet, 15.5 km but once again the scenery has changed and we had rolling hills and trails in the trees between cornfields, a pretty nice blue sky and green green fields. We chatted with some cows, tried to take a picture of a bunch of sheep who as soon as I got the camera out they turned their tail to us. We passed 3 or 4 fields of domestic ducks and then we had some big hills that were very muddy and hard to climb. We have had rain the last few nights so that accounts for the mud. We got up to the top of the last hill and I was just about ready to give up when we met an angel. We thought she might be a mirage as so many places have been closed, and we haven't had morning coffee for several days, but no - she welcomed us into the small gite of the village of Pimbo. We didn't even need to take off our muddy boots - just come in, sit down, relax, and she brought us coffee - sooo good, and offered a clean washroom with soap and paper towels (our ideas of life's luxuries have been adjusted!). Not only that but she also told us it was only 5.5km to our destination instead of the 10km we had expected. After a short rest we felt refreshed and ready to tackle the last part of our walk.
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