Chasing After Jess

We had an amazing sleep and again, reluctantly left our accomodation in pursuit of the next town. As we left Lectoure, the streets were lined with beautifully manicured trees, and the scenery continued much like yesterday’s, featuring lush, green countryside and farms with crops in the fields.

Just outside of the town we were met with a weird situation where for the first time the Buen Camino app told me to go a different way than the arrows on the track. Turns out this was only a 100m difference and the two tracks met up literally a minute later, but I had stopped a big group of french people to talk about it. What made me laugh was an American man came up to ask me a question about it, because he too was using the Buen Camino app, and he thought I was a professional guide leading this big group hahaha.

For the past few days, we had been hearing noises that sounded like gunshots, and some French fighter jets flew low overhead, giving us quite a scare. Today, we were relieved to learn that there was no sniper in the hills—just farmers using noise to scare birds away from their young crops 😂

We spent part of the morning walking and chatting with Richard, a retired computer engineer from San Diego, California. He was continuing along the Spanish leg of the Camino and was excited to visit his daughter, who currently lives in Spain.

Around the 10km mark, we stumbled upon a charming cafe in the beautiful town of Marsolan, where I enjoyed a delicious cheese omelette and a coffee.

The paths today were beautiful, and I walked enjoying the scenery around me and listening to the peaceful sounds of nature

Before I knew it, I was drifting down a tree- and flower-lined street into the beautiful old town of La Romieu. Except, this happened in a rush. A quick google search informed me that there was a bakery in La Romieu about to close, and so I completed this last 5km in record timing arriving just in time to get a snack!

I then sat down in a nice park and enjoyed my snack, and ran into my friend Monica again. We shared lunch together and spoke about the day. Monica had a weird accomodation situation, where she had very little confirmation from the host and was worried she was the only person staying with this man. I suggested instead she came to our Gite which she did!

We were too early to check in though, so we left our packs outside the Gite and decided to head to the cathedral which was known to be very beautiful.

The Gite that we stayed at was called Vers La Beau, and it was well situated in town. Monica and I were waiting with Anticipation for the Pizza truck to arrive at 6pm, only to find out after 30 minutes of waiting that you needed a booking for the food truck!!

Tomorrow is a big day, approximately a 29km trek in what promises to be another scorcher in the area. So, I’m planning a hearty steak dinner and an early night, aiming to leave at first light to cover some distance before it gets too hot.

Jess