As far as I’m concerned, today was a perfect day on the camino. Our trek took us to several hamlets, villages, and towns every few miles. So, there was lots to see, and several places to stop, rest, and grab a bite to eat. (Why else would you come to France?)
Today we hiked 13.8 miles in 5 hours 1 minute from Auvillar to Castet-Arrouy, France. That’s about a minute or two per mile faster than anytime this week. The landscape contained rolling hills, wide pastures, and of course, some nuclear power plants. (It wouldn’t be a Stephen’s Tour, without some industrial stain on the pastoral horizon.) Despite this, my watch says I took, 29,600 steps, climbed the equivalent of 43 flights of stairs, and burned 1,800 calories.
So, while today’s trek started off strong, it got even better as the day (and night) progressed.
We managed to hit the 5 mile mark (8 kms) in less than 2 hours. As a result, Juan Pablo allowed us to stop in a little town called St. Antoine and have a cold drink and snack.
During our break, we took a moment to visit the local church.
One of the most interesting things about French towns is that they all have war memorials to their local fallen soldiers. This one happened to be in the church.
Shortly after leaving St. Antoine, we came across several wild boar hunters. They had rifles and dogs and were posting themselves in the fields.
A few miles later, we arrived at the town of Flamarens. This town has an old castle that the government has rebuilt. It was very picturesque.
A kilometer or so outside of Flamarens, we had a close encounter of the irritating kind. We were walking on the street and came upon a giant lawn mower used to cut the grass along the roads. This thing was mammoth and was emitting noises well above deafening. I know Stephen is sensitive to noise, so I was glad that the mower was about 20 feet ahead of us. But just as we entered a narrow part of the road, the mower backed up 20 feet and began moving at exactly the same speed as myself and Stephen. It was like the operator was trying to match our speed so we could hear every screech and rumble and scrape that the mower made. This lasted for what seemed to be an eternity. And when that ended, this petroleum truck inched by making its own noises. I turned to Stephen to see his reaction, when he screamed in frustration,“ If I wanted to be surrounded by f#£king noise, I would go hiking in Times Square!!!!
The next town was Miradoux, about 1.5 kms from Flamarens, and hopefully much livelier. Our Chief Restaurant Officer (CRO), Juan Pablo, found us the only open restaurant in this town.
The place was filled with about 40 hikers, gas workers, and tradesmen of all types. I noticed that every plate displayed a hearty meal, like sausage, potatoes, and a beef stew. (or so I thought) We found out later that it was beef tongue, not beef stew. The waitress/bartender/cashier/owner told us to take a seat and she would be with us shortly. We asked for a menu. She said we were late for lunch (1 pm), so she would serve us “whatever was left” (Yikes! I had images of trying to eat beef tongue! Could I do it? Definitely not.) JP assured me that it would be alright. (I was not convinced.) However, several minutes later, she emerged from the kitchen with a lettuce and tomato salad with shavings of duck on top. I gingerly took my first bite and instantly decided that it was delicious. (And thanked the heavens that the only tongue in my mouth was mine.)
I thought that was the end of it, but our hostess then brought out two more courses.
Wow! What a meal. After an hour in this restaurant, I was totally powered up and ready to go.
After lunch, we hiked another 4 miles to our B&B for the night. The owner was an ex-military man and carpenter who showed us our 3 en-suite rooms in his house. The rooms were clean and had all the comforts of home, like shampoo, sheets, and private bathrooms. (Yes, I’m still complaining about the yurt!) But, this place had something more. Something so extraordinary that I give it my highest rating. An outdoor picnic area and restaurant totally dedicated to this B&B. (The B&B owner owns both.)
We then discovered that the restaurant was serving only one thing tonight – Brazilian beef steaks cooked on a “plancha”.
I was in heaven. (As you can image.) This place was such a wonderful experience that JP and I thanked Stephen for hitting new heights in camino accommodations. (I can almost forget the yurt.)
I’m headed for my beef coma. I may not wake until Sunday.
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