Day 28 September 23 Romieu to Condom

16.1 km 292 ascent 376 descent 3:45 hr. 25⁰C

We got up early. The lady was very French and we never really knew what time she said breakfast was. We had a full kitchen and everything for breakfast was here, except she was going to go to the bakery in Romieu (we were 1.5km out of Romieu) and get us bread. I thought she said she would have it to us at 7:10am, but it didn’t arrive until 7:40am.

To be honest, we didn’t really want the bread anyway. Before being driven into town for dinner, we knew what we were getting for breakfast, and bought our own yogurt and bananas. On the other hand, there was no real reason to rush out of here anyway, we only had 16km today.

We left at about 8am. We had to take our bags to their house, and they said they would provide a trolley. It ended up being a wheel barrow.

It only took us 15 minutes to get to the start of the GR65 out of Romieu, and it was well worth it to stay in a house of our own for one night. In addition to the pool, they also had a private lake where you could fish. Very nice setting.

We could no longer see the steam from the cooling towers from the nuclear power plant. I guess we have left that behind. It was another lovely walk, through rolling hillsides. This time we passed mainly grape vines

, and some more sunflower fields.

We went past a lovely Chapelle St-Germaine, the saint with the apron of flowers, a loaf of bread in one hand, and a sheep at her foot. 

We have seen the identical statue of her in many churches in Gers, so they must have been mass produced. We passed the French couple a few times (they didn’t visit the chapelle of Ste-Germaine, we almost missed it too).  We also passed the 4 ladies from supper last night, sitting just outside Condom having second breakfast.

We got to our hotel at 11:45am. There was a sign saying check-in was at 2pm, but we wanted to at least drop off our backpacks. Our room was ready, but the bags were not here yet. We got a map and she told us where a big shopping centre was, and we headed off there. Russell didn’t bring any good tops for the trip (or Germany). There was a miscommunication on that! He said I told him not to, but I remember picking some out for him. Anyway, we bought him some ‘respectable’ tops there, and got provisions for lunches today and tomorrow. Salads for today, a real treat.

The walks have been really rather short lately. It’s cool in the morning, and we haven’t been drinking anything much more than my cup of tea on route. So we have a bit of a stockpile of Perrier, etc., which is heavy to carry.

When we got back to the hotel our bags were here. Hurray.

This place is sort of like a motel. There are rooms facing the pool which all have a balcony, table and chairs. We are not facing the pool, and don’t have a balcony. The irony of that is that, almost none of the people with balconies ever sit out on them, whereas Russell and I would have spent all our waking time here out on the balcony. It also would have provided a great place for our clothesline. Maybe that’s why the pilgrims don’t get a balcony.

We brought our lunch down and ate it at one of the tables around the pool. We then came up, had a shower, and I went back down and spent an hour in the pool. The water was really cold. My legs were sore, and kept cramping. But the cold water was excellent therapy for sore legs. This is the third day in a row we have had a pool. In addition to yesterday, we also had one at Lectoure - but never had time to use it. This pool is beautiful, set in a lovely garden. The man owner was working in the garden (and keeping an eye on me). He talked to himself incessantly. Hmmm! Then another guest came home, and stood out on his balcony smoking and talking to me. He walked the Camino from Condom (ie, here) to Santiago with his Uncle in 2008.

Up to the room to blog and have a nap. The internet connection here is good, but keeps dropping. I’m just a bit too sore to do much sightseeing today. We’ll go visit the Cathedral when we go for supper.

We have to go to a restaurant near the Cathedral for supper, our hotel doesn’t have one. Or at least, they don’t have a restaurant for pilgrims. There is a restaurant with the same name as our hotel right beside the Hotel, with a menu that has a meal for 90 euros. The cheapest selection seemed to be 23 euros. That’s probably why we aren’t eating there. It is a beautiful building though, and must have been a convent or something in another time, it has beautiful arched windows.

As it turns out the restaurant Le Cordeliers is only open for lunch. Could be a seasonal thing.

We went to a restaurant right in front of the Cathedral. They had a pilgrim menu, white beans, duck etc. I just couldn’t face that again so soon after Miradoux. We established that we get whatever we wanted so long as it remained under the cost of the pilgrim’s menu. We each got a salad verte and one pizza. The pizza was huge and we came back with more than we ate. I asked our hosts if we could put it in the fridge, and told them to help themselves if they wanted any of it.

Another good day. We can sight see on the way out tomorrow. I was just too tired today. We have had a few hectic days of sight seeing lately.