Tonight we are in the Haute Jacquaire (pilgrim hostel) in the little village of Orgibet, total population 185. It’s the old Presbytery and we have the entire three storey house to ourselves. There is wood panelling, beautiful floorboards, a large dining room and separate sitting room, velvet armchairs dotted throughout and Japanese screens. We’ve been handed the key and left to it - what an amazing thing, deep in the French countryside! But, dear reader, the journey here has been quite something.
It began as we set out from Saint Lizier on a grayish damp morning, with Jonathan accompanying us from our shared accommodation last night.
There was a short 2.5km stint to Saint Girons where we expected to be able to get breakfast. It proved to be more complicated, of course, and involved two kilometres of detouring to find an actual open boulangerie. Eventually fed and caffeinated, we set off for the stage proper.
Overall today we climbed 890 vertical metres (well over 300 flights of stairs). The bulk of the climbing came towards the end, but even early on there were steep pinches.
We passed through five or six villages today, all very quiet, and a feature was the number of ‘lavoir’- places for communal drinking and washing.
Now that’s the way to do garlic!
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Church after church…
A respite before the final climbs. It’s amazing how refreshing it is to take shoes and socks off for five minutes on a 30km day.
And then it was on!! Almost relentless uphill for 2 hours.
At 5pm we were very glad to turn off the track into Orgibet - and here is our humble abode for the night. We had let the key holder know we were coming, but were later than we anticipated. Just as we were wondering how to contact him, he arrived in his car to let us in.
The church across the road.
And the final grace of the day?? A pilgrim menu at the astonishing restaurant in town - the only place where food is available. It proved to be not only the best meal we have had in France but one of the best meals of our lives.
So tired, but happy and replete we are retiring for the night. Getting some rest before the even bigger climb tomorrow! But for now …
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You certainly deserved comfortable accommodation and a delicious meal after this day's journey. Hoping you feel refreshed after a good night's rest and are ready for the next part of your pilgrimage. Thinking of you often and sending love.
ReplyDeleteThat last day on its own would have done me in but what a reward at the end of it all. And the architecture is just fascinating. Such brilliant memories for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, looks amazing and very inspiring !
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