Day 14 Nogaro 13th August

Well, today is the end of the pilgrimage for this year and it also happens to be my birthday. We could continue but something is telling me to go back to Paris and continue with my meetings.

However I will return again, hopefully soon. I must because `Le Chemin` is more than a hike or an adventure, it is the connection and the relationship that i share with those who i meet along the road. It is the closest I have ever come to feeling like part of a community, one that is linked by mind and spirit. A shared, implicit understanding that we are all pilgrims on this Earth and that is what really makes all meaningful interactions possible. It is home.

Day 13 Eauze- Nogaro (20klms) 12th Aug

Another short one, but beautiful countryside and remote chapels occasionally dot the way.

Unfortunately Nogaro itself is not impressive despite its hosting of the 500CC GP. This evening the town is hosting a `Feria`- an annual festival featuring bulls being herded masterfully up the street by horseback riders and then let to run free back down the street. This goes on for a while with young local men jumping the barriers.

Imagining myself to be one of them, i jump into the street and am convinced somehow that i can evade them. Only problem is that after 300klms of walking, any `fast twitch` muscles i might have had for fast running are gone and I end up clinging to the street wall trying to look like a `gecko` as the beasts hurtle past.

One old grandmother is sitting on a shopfront window away from the barriers. And rightly so, a huge bull charges her, but she is incapable of moving. She must have been a good woman in need of preserving as for some reason the beast stops within a foot or two and heads to another target. Amazing! She looks at my disbelief with her own and we both then look Heavenward- her Angel was looking out for her this day.

Most ironically the only injuries that occur are to those standing behind the barriers as a bull charges it. I really wonder what makes humans believe that a bull comprehends the ettiquette of sticking to his side of the flimspy aluminium railing!

The more i see these spectacles in the South, the more symphathetic i am of the bull`s cause. He at least is being true to himself and his nature, whilst many of our so called superior species are behaving like taunting apes.

Day12 Laserre- Eauze 20 klms 11th Aug

We left slowly are a great breakfast and it was hard to leave such a place. Last night a wonderful dinner with `old` friends from the road. Stephene from Le Puy, who usually sleeps under the stars decided to join us and we all chipped in and prepared a great dinner as depicted on the previous post.

The weather is great again and nothing like in Northern France, which is not having such a great run.

We are joined at Eauze by Anne Claire and Jaycinth, who decide to cook an amazing `cous cous`, which is gratefully consumed by all.

Eauze is the `capitale de l`armagnac` and it would be a shame not to sample the drink, so i find a male willing to share it with me. After a day`s marching one or two is all you need to be rolling in the street.

Smile meter is 9/10

Day 11 Laserre (10 klms from Condom) 10th Aug

On this road things of a Providential nature happen all the time, but on this occasion i was probably most grateful than ever. My energy levels were beginning to wane and the body was getting tired.

Just ten klms outside of Condom lies the magnificant oasis that is `Lasserre de Haut` a ``chambre d`Hotes`` (and `gite` or hostel). The story of the wonderful day and night spent there is best left to the pictures to tell, but i could not ever imagine such a place that came along at the right time.

The owner, a lady of Nimes living in Nantes, has restored the place with a keen eye for layout and art. Each viewing angle has been carefully thought out and planned- no surprise to learn that Madame is a photographer and someone of such taste that makes the world happy that the French played such a large part in civilising it.

Such a place I could easily ponder spending the rest of my days, just being, working the fields and writing of my various adventures.

Day 10 Lectore- Condom 9th Aug 26.9 klms

Right in the heart of Armagnac country and I find that it was the ancient pilgrims who made that drink popular by taking it with them to other parts. This sort of migration must have done so much for the mixing culture, commerce and relations. A civilising element, as diverse peoples were joined by a common theme?

I learn that part of the distillation is the evaporation of about 30% called ``Part d`ange`` (the part taken by angels)- such a novel and romantic notion, so in tune with the latins and my own inclinations.

The roads are more natural and less bitumen. Richer countryside.

At night we stay at the communal refuge (Gite) and sare a dinner of Cassolet, gisserd salde and wine with Emanuel, Anne Claire, Jaycinth and Julie. The back is playing up a bit and i definately need more sustenance at breakfast so Julie kindly fixes me some boiled eggs for the morning.

Smile meter is 6/10

Day 9 St Antoine- Lectore 8th Aug 24.8klms

Fatigue is setting in, which I think is the result of the French breakfast is is not fortifying for a long days march. Could be that i need more hydration too?

Weather is changing as we head to the Armagnac country in the South West- a bit colder today. We make it to Lectore and say good bye to Jean Luc who returns to Dax near Biarritz/Bayonne, but not before I find a hotel named `Le Bastard` and wonder if the translation is the same? Odd name for a hotel just the same.

On the road we meet regulars Marie Claire nad Jaycinth. Marie Claire is always singing like a little girl and they both have great voices, which motivates when on a long hike.

Day 8 Moissac- St Antoine 7th Aug 31klms

The first rainy day greets us after a wonderful evening in Moissac. We take the variate route along the canal in constant rain, but the view of houseboats and rural scenes is still wonderful. My cheap raincoat is showing its age from last year`s hike and the dampness surrounds me, but the brisk walking pace provided by Jean Luc keeps the body temperature up.

We get to the wonderful Romanesque town of Au Villar as the sun finally bursts forth. Au Villar is a real find with cobble stoned streets and a massive rotunda grinding mill right in the centre. A good place to find a bakery and settle for some lunch and rest.

The road after is quite boring with heaps of bitumen (goudron) and not the natural paths you get accustomed to.

We finally get to St Antoine, a pretty village which houses the supposed relic of the saint and has a strange connection to the Knights of Malta. I decide that further mortification is needed and manage another two kilometres.

That night we cook a simple meal of pasta, wine and have a much needed nights rest.

Smile meter is 8/10

Day 7 Durfort-Moissac (11klms)

A short one, but the impressive Moissac greets us with the amazing St Peters cathedral. The ornate portal and tapenaum is a tribute to Medieval stone masonry at its finest. Carved into the stone on the right are scenes of imagined heaven and on the left horrific images of hell, with two naked forms with serpents attached to various parts of their bodies.

The cloister behind remains one of the most majestic in the world-the iconography and symbolism is intriguing and grand in the Cluny style.

Later I am reminded of how special this road is when we are reunited by friends I met earlier on the road. A great combined dinner ensues and its a sad farewell to Hugette, Florient and Nora. The great beer drinking nations are all represented here, with Germans, Austrians, Belges,Swiss and one Aussie. It is a great thing, this commeraderie.

Smile meter: 7/10