Day 2 : Moissac to Auvillar

Psalm 130:5  "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope"Psalm 107: 4-7 "Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town; hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them in their distress; He led them by a straight way. . ."

Well I am having trouble with this blog. Yesterday I seemed to be limited to three photos, so if you check back in two weeks there will be more photos and more intelligent text. A smart phone is not a computer and the Internet connection is often weak or spotty.

The walk from Moissac was fairly easy going along the canal. About 13 km of the chemin de halage, the route along the canal--I was expecting dirt, but it was asphalt, and then 5 additional kilometers in the hot sun, including a climb uphill for the last one, to Auvillar.  Fortunately this route along the canal was shaded by trees.  There is another route, which I avoided because it is hilly, and I didn't need ups and downs the first day, especially for 18 kilometers with an injured ankle. I understand that when the route I am following, the GR65, was drawn up and trailmarked, although roughly following the old pilgrim path to Santiago, added slight variations that would be attractive to hikers. No pilgrim in their right mind would go out of their way to take a more difficult route, or choose a hill over a flat surface.

The owners of the Gite Ultreïa had been Irish, and I walked most of the way with an English woman from Oxford that I met there, as we walked about the same pace. She is staying in posher accommodations tonight, but the Gîte Communal is really quite nice. Also staying with me are a pair of French sisters, about my age, that I met last night in Moissac.

Dinner at the gîte Ultreïa in Moissac

Now Auvillar is considered one of the "most beautiful villages in France," so worth the detour. We walked around and had a look, but it appears that many of the inhabitants are summer residents only, and now that school is in session, it is pretty much a ghost town. Even finding a restaurant open in the evening is a challenge and most of the "pilgrims" are buying provisions at the small grocery store as this gite has it's own kitchen. I did as well and donated a 1/2 bottle of wine, cheese, shredded carrots and 1/2 loaf of bread to a couple of my fellow gîte-mates.

The two sisters are from Vichy and Clermont Ferrand, respectively, and one made me a nice footbath of ice water which my feet appreciated.

Although tired, I did manage to walk around a little, though. Auvillar, like many towns in the region, has Gallo-Roman roots, but little remaining from that time, and has been invaded and changed hands many times, being invaded by the Normans, regional lords, the kings of Navarre, the French Crown under Henry IV, and was a place of conflict during the Hundred Years War (mid 14th-15th centuries), and the French Wars of Religion in the 16th century.  It has also been since early on an important stopping place on the way to Santiago de Compostela.  This would become a theme in many of the places I would visit this time around.

Along the chemin de halage

The old grain market in Auvillar

The clock tower dating from the 17th century

Restaurant L'Horlage in Auvillars

Day 1: Paris to Moissac

Psalm 67:7 ". . .let all the ends of the earth revere Him."


 As noted before,the Bible verses used here are taken from Forty Days: a devotional companion for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, using a selection of those verses chosen by Gary T. Johnson.

Today, September 5, 2016, has been a long day. I was up at 4:45am to catch a 6:30 am train that hit a glitch one hour out of Paris (an accident on the tracks) which added an extra 3 hours to my trip plus another 4 waiting for a missed connection.

As a result, I spent some time in Agen, on an alternate pilgrimage route.  It has Roman roots, although they cemented over the ruins of the ancient ampitheater... If you recall my mention of Ste. Foy, martyred under the reign of the Emperor Dioclétian in 303 AD along with several others. She was originally buried here and her relics were later taken to Conques. I stopped at the St. Caprais Cathedral for a visit in her memory.  There I learned that apparently along with Sainte Foy, Saint Caprais, a bishop in Agen during the early 4th century, was among the early Christian martyrs killed under Dioclétian as well. He was executed just two weeks after the death of Ste. Foy.

The church building itself dates from the 12th century as there are no remaining vestiges of the 4th century one built over the grave of St. Caprais.

 

 

    
Agen  became part of the Dukedom of Aquitaine in the 11th century, saw many Cathars burned at the stake a century later, and in the 16th century was the home of Nostradamus, who briefly practiced medicine there.

       
Although Agen is not on the Le Puy route, it is on the alternate pilgrimage route from Rocamadour, so I felt I had already begun my "pilgrimage" again.

Four hours can be a fair amount of time, though, so I naturally decided to have lunch before venturing out too far.  I would eventually make it to my gîte in Moissac in time for dinner, but barely!