In The Foothills Of The Pyrenees

Almost 4 weeks of constant walking with a backpack is finally starting to make me feel a little tired. Today I had enough sense to cut it short and stopped after walking only 20k (12.5 miles). The fact that I stumbled across an old farmhouse, turned gite, situated with a grand view amidst the Pyrenean foothills made it a little easier to call it a day. Oh, the pool is a nice bonus.

For 3.50 Euros I have a grand campsite upon a grassy lawn (photo above). The farmhouse is located about a mile from the village of Aroue which doesn’t have anything but a cathedral, chateau and a few other buildings. The enterprising owners of the gite have the good sense to have a small store on premises and charge a fair price for the items on stock. I purchased some Cassoulet Au Confit De Canard for dinner as well as the petit dejeuner for tomorrow morning. Cassoulet with Confit is a mix of white beans and duck. It’s typical of the region and very good. Dejeuner is a typical French breakfast which is bread, jam, coffee and sometimes fruit and cereal. There are five other walkers staying at the gite and I think the owners did quite well at the store this evening.

In the time I’ve been on the Camino St Jacques I’ve only met four other Americans. Some villages and gites keep statistics on where Pilgrims are from. Out of the 4 Americans I’ve met, oddly enough, two are from Ft Worth, Texas. They are a newly retired couple who sold everything they own and now travel the world with 2 backpacks and 4 suitcases. They stashed the suitcases in Paris and are walking all the way from Le Puy, France to Santiago, Spain.
Last year it appears as though around 15 to 20 Americans walked on the Camino St Jacques in France. Prior to last year there were only a couple, if that, a year. I’m referring to people who walked as Pilgrims. Not the occasional American tourist out for a day walk. In Spain I’m sure the numbers are higher.

My Texan status seems to go over well with the French. From what I can tell I’m the first real live born and bred Houston, Texan to walk the Camino St Jacques. The French all want to know where’s my hat and horse. I just tell them I couldn’t get ‘em on the plane and we all get a good laugh out of it. Occasionally people still make references to the long defunct television series Dallas.

Tomorrow I intend to walk another relatively short day through a section that is supposed to offer excellent views of the Pyrenees. It's also predicted to be clear and sunny so I'm looking forward to it. I now plan to complete my walk on Saturday in St. Jean Pied de Port. Interestingly enough September 4th will be exactly 25 years since my completion of the Appalachian Trail in 1985.