Le Carlaret to Pamiers

September 29. Sunday, Le Carlaret to Pamiers

The view from 3rd floor bedroom window this morning as sun coming up.

Hike today from La Carlaret to the much larger town of Pamiers. It is the biggest town we will visit since Carcassonne so we are excited for a cafe and a lovely latte (called a cafe crème here). The hike was pleasant, very flat, alongside fields of ripe corn and sorghum as well as the odd field of sunflowers still alive and following the sun. We met a number of folks on the trail today, out walking their dogs, on their bikes with their kids and just out for a Sunday walk. Easy to tell, we were near a city. The other thing we noticed was lack of signage. Our signs got us to edge of town and pointed down to city centre then dropped off totally. Our guide book said to head for Place de la République which we did but then dropped us as well.

We had decided we would stay over a couple of nights in a hotel to relax a bit and take the opportunity for some sitting outside in cafes watching the local folks go by and having some good French coffee. And besides it is 30c today. Much too hot for man or beast and most especially young gals from Victoria.

Vals to Le Carlaret

September 28, Saturday, Vals to Le Carlaret at  la Lampistiere.
 A minimal breakfast of tea and toast with jam to start off with, although now we know there will be no chance of  2nd breakfast and we will need to rely on our stash of dried apricots and Werthers candies to get us to our picnic lunch of crackers, cheese and an apple. The hike today is 11km and starts off back up into the hills. The trail is a little rougher than yesterday and we can tell the trail markers are not as diligent in this section as the last. Knowing that volunteers mark each section of the trail, several times today we have wondered if we are on the right path, and then just as we are getting ready to turn back there is a small red and white flash half hidden on a tree trunk. Yikes!

 As we walk into a little larger town we have great hopes of a café for coffee but then we meet Sophie and Case, the 2 Dutch folks sitting at a rare find – a picnic table just at the edge of the town of St-Amadou.  They had already checked it out for a café. Nope! So we had our apples there before carrying on

I love these fields of sunflowers.

We couldn’t help wondering why these sheep are lying right against this stone fence.

We were following the directions in the guide book to find our next stop which was right on the GR 78.  Someone else needs to write a better guide book that would be available in English as well as French and include good places to stop for bathroom breaks, somewhere for coffee or where there is a nice park bench or picnic table to stop at. The trail today follows something called “la voie verte” which is like the galloping goose in Victoria - old rail bed that has been converted to a trail. They tend to be flat, long and straight. We found out that evening from our hostess, Elisabeth at la Lampistiere, that in 1939 and 1940 the Germans ripped up all the rails to use for their projects and France did not replace them after the war.

We finally found the place but hostess was away until 5 so we sat out on her terrace and ate our lunch, then just relaxed. Her house was once the railway station for La Carlaret. When she arrived she offered us tea. I could have hugged her. She has about 165 pilgrims stay with her each season in the rooms up on the third floor. Perfectly comfortable large room with 2 single beds. We have to provide our own sheet and towel. She made dinner for us, mostly with vegetables from her garden. A delicious tomato pie, a whipped zucchini mashed with garlic and basil, and lots of steamed little potatoes. Chassalass grapes off her own vines for dessert along with some local cheese. Very good. She has a huge yard with a big veggie garden, and chickens at one end. They get the kitchen scraps and also produce eggs for her.   I could hear an owl calling during the night. It’s a very rural and peaceful location.

Two Canadians from Quebec are expected tonight. She has had many Canadians, nearly all Quebecois, as all other Cdns we’ve met have been as well.

Mirepoix to Vals

September 27, Friday: 16km (ish) we were up and organized to be ready for a great breakfast at our B&B at 7:45. We headed out just after 8:30. Walked out of town on the route we had checked out yesterday. After crossing the bridge we had to walk on the highway for a bit – not fun, before our trail cut up on the other side of the highway onto a trail. We spent most of the day climbing up a steep hill or coming back down the other side only to go back up again. A pretty tiring day but we both enjoyed the hiking. Once again we would come out of the woods to an incredible vista. We could see for a long way, so pastoral, so beautiful. And in the distance there are the Pyrénées.

Another one of the small villages with no services that we passed through today. This is Manses.

We walked into the village of Vals where we had booked our overnight in a dorm for pilgrims at Vals café which is a run by a young Dutch gal Lisa and her mum, Nicole. They both spoke 3 languages: English, French and Dutch. Their home and café are in a very old building – 2-300 years old that Lisa and her husband are updating so there is room for her family (consisting of 3 sons and 1 daughter, all under 7) on the 3rd floor and the pilgrim dorm of 6 beds as well as a B&B room for 2 on the middle floor and the restaurant on the ground floor. It is the only business in town besides the museum next door that also sells beer and closes at 5pm. Lisa is very pregnant with baby #5 so I am not sure where she finds the time to do all of this. Her mum makes the dinner for the pilgrims for €10 each as there is no where else to go. The dorm is €20 each and includes breakfast. We shared the dorm with 4 others:
Joanne and Jacques  from Montreal and Sophie and Case, Dutch friends living in France. All very
nice folks but Wendy and I decided after a night of sleeping in a bunk bed (guess who got the top?) and someone snoring very loudly, that we were done with sleeping in dorms no matter how cheap.

The village in the forefront is Teilhet, Vals is the village in the distance.

Vals is famous for its church built into a rock. We had the chance to check out the inside. Lovely and cool and full of cobwebs. Obviously don’t have a cleaning lady.

The next morning we headed out for our 5th day hiking to Le Carlaret, an even tinier village.

Mirepoix

September 26, Thursday: we had already decided we would not be able to walk from fanjeaux to mirepoix as it is 29km and there is no where in between to stay to break up the walk. Wendy arranged for the same taxi driver to come back and take us on to Mirepoix. She wanted to call him with the hope that she had left her hat in his car on Monday and she was really missing it. He arrived at 10 to the tabac bar with her hat in hand. The drive was about 25 minutes and he dropped us off at our next place, Labyrinth B&B, right in the heart of this lovely old town. We were very excited to see a large plaza with shops and bars, restaurants and coffee shops all the way around and a gorgeous church on one side. The buildings very old, colorful and well maintained. The restaurants under the balconys.

Wendy buying some dried apricots in the market. Huge selection of olives too!

We spent the day exploring, picking up more apples, cheese and crackers for tomorrow’s hike at the Carrefour shop. Just before dinner we went in search of the GR markings to find our route out of town tomorrow. We had dinner outside in the plaza. We both chose a chèvre salad. This one a little different as it has chèvre frais ( cold goat cheese – the speciality here) on hot toast instead of chèvre chaud (done on the broiler). Salad was delicious with beet root, mushrooms and an onion confit (onion jam). So good with more of the local red wine. We had a very comfortable night in our B & B run by an English woman, an artist, who has lived with their family in France for 16 years.

Montréal d’Aude to Fanjeaux Part 2

We started out with a huge breakfast at our lovely B&B. Couldn’t possibly eat all she laid out for us. We were on our way by 8 :45 and found the hiking great in the morning. Once again no place for cafe or washroom stops. The villages we hiked through had no services. But the views that went for miles and miles were stunning. Many times we could look back and see the Church in Montreal, its steeple silhouetted against the sky. 

We saw some of the vendage ( grape harvest) with machines straddling the vines buzzing up and 

down the rows then dumping the grapes into wheeled boxes. 

We stopped for a lunch of crackers, cheese and an apple along the path. We met no one else. The last part of the trail was very difficult – all uphill into Fanjeaux, trail was a steep grassy slope in the heat.

We came out onto the road that leads into town. We headed down the Main Street and found a 

restaurant -  closed, then a food store - closed, but finally a tabac with a bar - open. Yeh!  cold 

 and then coffees.

We hiked uphill through town to the Convent of Sainte-Famille where we were booked for the night. We showered and got organized. At 7:30 dinner was served by a very ancient volunteer (we think) and we then met the two other pilgrims staying the night. Lucien and Francine are from Montreal, the first other pilgrims we have met on this trip. Our dinner was pea soup, a tray of cold meats, a lovely platter of fresh tomatoes and then a huge platter of French fries that came after we had eaten the other 

food. We were in bed by 9:30, off to sleep early in our silk sleep sheets and bathroom down the hallway – no wi-fi so no distractions. 

Montreal d’Aude to Fanjeaux Part 1

September 25, Wednesday: (we had no internet wednesday evening so no posting)

There are quite good signs along the trail with some of theses bollards going in and out of towns.

 And all sorts of other signage. Mostly we are checking for the red and white

 paint slashes on any tree stump or sign post.

Arzens to Montreal d’Aude

September 25: day 2 on the trail, a shorter route today because yesterday we were miserable and never found our rhythm. Only 7 km and we arrived by noon to Montreal. The trail was good and we had lots of trail markers. First glimpse of the Pyrenees today. We will be walking parallel not towards the mountains this time. Montreal d’Aude is the twin city to the Canadian city of Montreal although a much smaller town (pop 1900).  Stopped at first restaurant open for a cold drink then a coffee, so excited to find a place for coffee. We were there for a nice relax then headed up the hill to our B&B, la Belle Vie. Check in is at 4 and it was only 1 so we were hoping to drop off our packs so we could explore town weight free. Wendy phoned the number but had to leave a message so we wander on. We asked a neighbour about a restaurant that was close by and she sent her son (maybe 8yrs old) to escort us to the pizza shop and bar down the road. He was so cute and wanted to help us. He asked where we were from then talked all the way around the block to the restaurant. When we said Canada he asked if we had walked to France! Love it.

 First glimpse of pyrenees today

Wendy discussing how good is the pizza with our local guide.

When we were checking out the restaurant and the pizza place where our guide said the pizza was only so-so, Wendy’s phone rang and it was our hosts at “Belle Vie”, saying come now, sorry to miss your call earlier. Our little tour guide walked us back to the front door and introduced us to our hostess at our B&B. We were shown our lovely room with its own bathroom. This place also has a swimming pool and a great patio and here we are without our bathing suits.

From the church yard view point

We wandered around the town after our showers and a bit of down time. An incredible view from the church yard at the top of town.  we could see for miles and miles across the countryside. Went back to the bar and pizza shop for dinner – and guess what – no food on Monday and Tuesdays. Ok then! Plan B, down the street to the place we had had coffee earlier in the day. We ordered a la carte which was cheaper than full menu. Dinner of escalope de dinde (turkey breast) with the best potato frites we have had, sort of circular strips of deep fried potato and some well cooked zucchini. But the local red
wine was excellent, Corbières. The server explained that all wine they serve is of the region.

Dinner at Auberge du Dominicain

Carcassonne to Arzens

I am having great difficulty getting blogger to behave so you might wonder why I am running a couple of days behind or something shows up one day and disappears the next. Along with that the wi-fi is very temperamental.

Sept 23, Monday:
First day on the trail and we were late leaving after a miserable night for both of us. Something we either ate or drank did not agree and we both spent the night running down to the end of the hallway - since that is the pilgrim shared bathroom. We finally headed off to find route out of town, first stopping at the pharmacy for some loperamide.
The beginning of the hike was lovely, along the river with huge trees, but once we had cleared Carcassonne it was out in the open and just got hotter and hotter. Neither of us could get into the rhythm. There was a nice path  through the woods along a small lake which we enjoyed but between leaving town and our destination there was no places for a rest stop.

And by 2pm we would have killed for a latte! Some folks out walking their dogs sent us on a short cut that turned into THE WRONG WAY which then turned us both into very hot, tired grumps when we came into a village that was not on our map, after a long up hill that went on forever. Wendy spotted a taxi, flagged him down and he rescued us - it was now 3pm. The nun would have been horrified! oh well! Our great young taxi driver (who was very excited that we were from “Canada, near Vancouver”) took us right to Arzens where we had booked into Chez Michael with a private bathroom. Unfortunately the bathroom turned out to be downstairs off the living room. But it all worked out in the end.

After we were showered we headed down the street for a much needed coffee and to buy some water and find a place for dinner. Found little grocery store for the water and the one restaurant in town is closed on Monday. So we ended up buying crackers, cheese and chocolate for dinner along with our water. No pictures of dinner tonight!!!

We had thought breakfast was included until we were all ready at 8am and our host had not appeared.  Wendy checked our guide book again and found the fine print. Breakfast 8€ each arranged day before. Ok then! We went back to the little store where we had bought food yesterday and bought a box of  granola bars.

Some scenes along the way today as we followed the GR78, one of the Grand Randonnée hiking
routes in France. Waymarkings have been very good and easy to follow.

Trains and castles

We took the Sunday morning train from Narbonne to Carcassonne. What a deal, only 5.9€ each and a nice quiet 30 min. Ride. We walked to the abbaye and checked in as pilgrims getting our credientials stamped. The dorm was a tiny bedroom with a bunk bed and a single bed - luckily we were the only pilgrims booked in cause we did’t really want to share such a small space. Bathroom was down the hall. Supper and breakfast included for 26€ each. 

Once checked in we headed up the hill into the castle. Lots of tourists but it was fun to see all the different shops selling swords and shields, French tablecloths, gelato and candy stores specialized in nougat. We had coffee in one restaurant and then had some lunch in one of the plazas full of restaurants with tables under many umbrellas. Meal was not very interesting but we had great fun chatting with a couple from England who we were sharing our table with along with 2 pichets of rose. 

Dinner at the abbaye was prepared and served by one of the sisters to just 3 of us. We shared mealtime with a gal from Switzerland who had come down south to do some cycling. The sister came back to chat a bit while she was preparing for breakfast. She had walked the chemin st jaques from le puy to St. Jean in 2 week splurts, but she didn’t say when she did it or how old she was. She took great exception to Wendy explaining to the Swiss gal that one could have their packs transferred by the post office in Spain now a days. She told us in no uncertain terms that you must carry everything you need on your back to be a pilgrim. We feel it’s more important to be inclusive to anyone who wants to walk, even if they can’t carry a pack anymore.  

The walled city of Carcassonne

A walk in the rain

We are both very glad we did not walk on today as originally planned but I am cursing Wendy who made me take my little travel umbrella out of my pack to save some weight. Darn! Knew I shouldn’t’t have listened to her.

It was promising heavy rain and it came through in buckets. We wanted to walk along the Canal out of town so we started out right after breakfast before the thunder storm was expected. We walked along one side for an hour then back on other side. Not as far as we planned but by then it was bucketing. The city has a number of pedestrian bridges and each one is bedecked with flowers. Just gorgeous. It’s great fun to see all the barges tied up along side.

 As we hiked along past this bridge at the Tourist information office there were many barges: some rentals, some very old and run down looking and some looking like summer homes. Before today and the rain we saw lots of folks sitting up top around a table having a glass of wine. Like boating in the summer in Victoria but on a Canal in France.

When we got back to town we took refuge inside the cathedral. Had our credientials stamped and chatted with church secretary who told us she sees many pilgrims coming from Santiago on their way to Rome. Wow!!

The Cathedral was built in the 12th & 13th Century but was never finished because of the politics of the time. It’s gorgeous though - especially when you want to come in out of the rain.  What was neat was watching the water pour down and off of all the gargoyles around the cloister. Not sure if you can see the water in this picture. But believe me when I said it’s RAINING!

Tomorrow we will take the train to Carcassonne. If you have never been there, watch the movie with Kevin Costner in Robin Hood.

Narbonne, France

We had a lovely 2 1/2 hour train ride from Barcelona to Narbonne, across the border into France. Narbonne is a an old Roman town built on either side of the Canal de la Robine. We had planned on 2 nights here to get the things we needed to start hiking and hike from Narbonne plage back to town as "the first stage of the route. We realized very quickly that was not realistic and so booked another night at this hotel. We headed for the Tourist Info with the idea that they would have the maps and info we would need to hike the first 4 days out of town. Once we get to Carcassonne the guide book we have covers the rest of the way.  

 The canal with barges tied up along side.

This turned out to be wishful thinking. They had no information and didn’t know anything about the route. They sent us off to 2 different book stores. The first store had nothing while the 2nd one had one trail guide but it also started at Carcassonne like our book did. We talked the rest of the day as we sat outside at a table in a plaza having a glass of wine and then later at supper about what we should do. 

The Bishop’s Palace

One thought was to hike out this canal north to where it joins up with the Canal du Midi then hike from there to Carcassonne - about 5 days hike. We decided that we would both prefer to hike with information and trail markers. Back to Tourist Info and a good chat with gal in there and we will now take train to Carcassonne on Sunday (30 min.) and stay at abbey in dorm for pilgrims. We stayed there 9 years ago  The plan now is to start hiking from there. 

In the mean time the inner old town of Narbonne is so interesting. All the little neat streets to wander up and down. 

I took this from our hotel room of the cathedral.

We had a great dinner last night in an outdoor restaurant. First chèvre chaud salad of the trip. Absolutely delicious!

A bientot!

Hola ! Barcelona

We arrived in Spain on time with no hiccups after stops in Calgary and Frankfurt. Note to anyone traveling through Frankfurt airport: give yourself lots of time - 2 1/2 hours is not too much. The security travelling on from there is very strict and the lineups very long unless you are traveling business or first class. Wendy was scanned, patted down, searched, and then had to go to a little room to drop her pants so agent could see if she was hiding something behind her knee brace. I apparently was less shifty looking and was only scanned.

Once we got ourselves to our accommodation here in Barcelona, Hostal Q, we were able to get organized, have showers and then head out to explore a bit. Although our room was small with only a view of a small inner courtyard, it was spotless, comfy, and with a great shower and had air-conditioning. All we needed and only 2 blocks from Plaça Catalunya - perfect for us. It’s  27C here so a bit of a shock to the system. We did a wander up and down little back streets, excited to be back here again, then to Santa Caterina market to eat outside. We were excited to see padron peppers on the list (thanks to Paula for introducing us to this wonderful dish in Santiago 2 years ago.) They were a bit past their prime but fun to have anyway. Then some ham and cheese croquettes followed by pasta with pesto, with vino blanco - perfect for our first day.  Home to bed by 9:30pm – well before most Spanish are sitting down to dinner!  

We were surprised and excited to hear one of our favourite Tasmanians was still in Spain when we had expected she had already gone back to Hobart. Sue emailed and we arranged to meet her for lunch. She lives half the year just an hour outside of Barcelona. We met Sue in 2013 while hiking on one of the Camiño routes in France. 

We had a wonderful 3 hour catchup up at the top of El Cortes Ingles in their restaurant on the 9th floor, with a fabulous view all over Barcelona and good food too. But the very best feature is their serve yourself wine bar! 3 taps labeled blanco, tinto or rose. Grab a glass and fill it up. A lot of wine for 3pm!!!

After saying goodbye to Sue at the metro stop we wandered for a couple of hours before having some limonade and a small pizza at a bar outside on the street. Home for a better sleep – train to France tomorrow. 

and on our way.....🛫

After much messing about with our packs and taking items out that I was sure I could not do without, we left our house and headed for the airport. Did not want our packs over 18lbs. Excited and anxious as per usual. It’s raining in Victoria but weather in Barcelona looks like its warm and sunny.

We are sitting at the airport trying to figure out this blogger program and how to insert pictures. We have a new mini iPad and they seem to have changed the look of all the icons. Darn! So hopefully I figure it all out by the time we arrive.

See you later

Getting Ready!

Just one day to go before we head off again. As we count down the days, we are checking things off our kit list for packing. We are going to be carrying our packs on our backs as we hike across Southern France from the Mediterranean, west towards the Atlantic coast on a less known Camino route called la Voie du Piémont. The trail skirts the foothills of the Pyrenees on the French side. 

 We will be flying into Barcelona just because we love Barcelona and will be there for a couple of days before taking the train up to Narbonne in France. We can check out that town before we start hiking on Sept 21. We have no other plans or bookings than that for 3 weeks. We will either walk for that whole time or not. It all depends on our knees and ankles. If they are happy to keep walking, then we will be too.

Folks keep asking us why we want to walk when we go on holiday. I found a lovely couple of words that just makes sense to us and our reasons; “Solvitur ambulando” an old Latin phrase – “it is solved by walking”. To be surrounded by nature in the French countryside thinking of French food and wine – what could be more perfect.

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