Day 31 - The Influence of Ancient Rome : Larressingle to Eauze

Today was an exercise in trusting that things will work out. We began by making instant coffee using tap water in the plastic cups provided by the hotel, which was accompanied by half a day-old baguette. Fortified if not encouraged by this modest breakfast we set out around 5:30 am, just as it was beginning to get light and the moon was beginning to set over the fort. It was already very humid out, but the temperature was nice, and we were treated to a glorious sunrise.

The beginning of our walk was again through fields, many of which were vineyards. We encountered several vineyard owners who were out spraying their crops.   Very early on we also crossed an old Roman bridge.

One of the high points of the road walking portion of the hike was finding (and rescuing) a really cool looking black and yellow salamander!

Around 8:30 we reached the interesting looking town of Montreal-du-Gers. The walk into town was lined with flowers, and it led to a main square, with a fountain and an open bakery. We bought croissants, which cheered us up some, and ate them while we waited for the church to open. We also made a few calls in an effort to organize a place to stay tonight in Eauze. Just like yesterday, no one answered the phone, which was a little worrying.

We waited until 9:00 to see if the church would open up, and it didn't, so we decided to press on. We had been sorely tempted to take a detour of unknown length to see the mosaics at Seviac, a Roman town that is being excavated. The photos looked very nice, but it was extremely hot already, and we didn't want to add to our distance, so we gave them a miss. Later we discovered that the site is actually closed until the spring of 2018, so our decision was a good one!

After Montreal we had a bit of field walking, some of which was in open baking sun and some of which was in the shade of hedgerows and trees. It was beautiful, but it felt like a long 9 km to Lamonthe. There is a gite there, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, which had an open snack bar with cold juice and ice cream. We took another break there, and again tried to call a list of gites in Eauze to no avail. We filled our water bottles at the fountain, and plodded on through the shimmering heat.

Shortly after Lamonthe we found ourselves following an old rail trail, which was blessedly shaded on both sides by tall trees. We followed this for 12 km, which at times was monotonous, but we were so completely grateful for the shade it didn't matter. The one difficulty we encountered was that there were very few blazes on the rail trail. This was unnerving but okay for most of it, but we did run into difficulties right outside of Eauze.

On the trail we passed a sign that said the city centre was in 1 km if you turned right and went by way of a park, or the centre of commerce was in 300 m if you continued straight. There were no GR markers anywhere to be seen. We walked the 300 m and came to the back of a warehouse, where the trail apparently ended or turned. Again, no markers. Afraid that this route (which incidentally turned out to be the correct one) would lead us into an industrial area that we wouldn't be able to get out of easily, we retraced our steps into the park. That path took us to a huge soccer field, and a landscaped lookout with a view of the cathedral. This was nice, but it didn't seem to be taking us any closer to the old part of the city. Frustrated and hot, we sat on a bench, examined the maps, and with the help of Google maps navigated our way into the town along the GR.

As we walked up the main street we discovered the reason that two of the gites we had been contacting were not answering – they were gone. The town seems to be much rougher than any we have visited so far, and there are signs on many shops indicating that they are closed until June 22^nd. Oh.

We continued past several other gites, all of which were closed, either for the siesta or the holiday, we weren't sure which. As we sat in the main square outside the church in front of the closed tourist office, we realized that the only open restaurant on the square is also a Chambre d'hotes. We went in and asked, and they had an available room, which turned out to be quite nice.

 

After cleaning up we set out to find postcards, an open bakery for tomorrow's breakfast, and to visit the museum. The museum turned out to be air conditioned (!) and very interesting. In 1985 an archaeologist found a huge store of Roman coins and jewellery at the edge of town. The 28,000 coins and other treasures are on display in the museum, along with an explanation of the archaeological dig and others like it across France. I had no idea there was such a strong Roman presence in France, or that so many artifacts had been found here. It was very interesting.

After visiting the museum we went into the church, which is very tall, and which is collapsing. Some of the columns at the back are bowing, and they have been braced with metal beams and wooden scaffolding. I think it would be very interesting to know if and how they can fix this.

By this time the heat was making it difficult to breathe outside, so we retreated to our room to wait it out. Today things seemed a little grim at times, but as usual on the Camino, things have a way of working out. When we went down to dinner in the restaurant below our room we had one of the best veggie burgers I've ever tasted, and there was live jazz music being played in the square, courtesy of a group of teenage guitar students and their teacher.

All day we had not seen a seen any pilgrims, except two who arrived in the town around the same time as us and also couldn't figure out where to stay.  At dinner there were a couple other pilgrims present, and afterwards, when we wandered around for a little, we ran into a lady from Quebec that we have seen a few times, who is finishing her Camino in Eauze.  It was good to find some other fellow hikers, and to meet up with her again before she left.

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Practical Information:
Distance: 29.2 km

Cumulative ascent: 643 m

Cumulative descent: 626 m

Max Temperature: 35˚C

Accommodations: Cafe de France