Day 34 - Rising Summer Temperatures : Aire-sur-l'Adour to Arzacq-Arraziguet

Rising Summer Temperatures

Via Podiensis Chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle

We have all heard of the proverbial bridge too far. For those lucky people who have never found it, below is a photo of it. It is 6.6 km long. The photo is missing the heat shimmer rising from the asphalt, and the humidity that caused the hills to retreat beautifully into the distance. Nevertheless. Today's lesson was humility.

Early to Rise 

Sleeping in the converted chapel last night was a novelty, but the dormitory turned out to be far too hot to sleep in. We had thought that the stones of the old building would keep it cool, as they do in many of the churches, but sadly this was not the case. We got up around 5:30 AM and shared breakfast with several other pilgrims who were also too hot to sleep. After an argument with the lock on the front door, and some assistance from a fellow pilgrim who was possessed of more brute force than us, we set off.

We had a small climb out of the city, and soon discovered that the familiar red and white bars that mark the GR65 have been replaced with blue and yellow shell markers ...which are incredibly small! After taking a wrong turn at the edge of town, we re-found the way and soon found ourselves walking around a beautiful lake. In some ways, it reminded us of home.

Fields of Fog

After the lake, the trail once again wound through fields. This morning felt exactly like the Camino Frances. There were hikers ahead of us and behind, and we recognized many of them, having spent at least one night in a gite with them somewhere along the way.

About an hour into the hike, just as the sun was beginning to come up, we were suddenly enveloped in a glorious wall of fog. When we saw it on the horizon we first thought it was a huge rainstorm, but as it surrounded us we realized with great delight that it was fog!

The next few hours were a cool walk through corn and soy fields, under blissfully cloudy skies. Even after taking a short break, we arrived in Miramont-Senzacq around 10:30 AM. Miramont is a very charming little village, decorated in Basque colours, and with an open bakery. The church was very beautiful, as was the town.

Decisions on the Way

We had made reservations to stay at the communal gite there, but it was another 5 hours before they would open the doors to pilgrims, and we decided we couldn't possibly waste the cool weather, so we considered our options. We called Pimbo, which would mean a 25 km walk for the day, but everything there was 'complet', so we tried Arzacq instead. We were feeling good, and the communal gite there had a place for us, so we headed out, full of confidence.

The next 7 km to Pimbo were very beautiful and brought many changes in the landscape and trail characteristics. We again started to climb, suggesting that even though we still couldn't see the Pyrenees for the fog and heat haze, we were beginning to enter the foothills.
 

Pimbo France

Pimbo itself was very nice, and the gite looked fabulous! It is a very tiny village, but it has wonderful views, a gorgeous church, and a very nice restaurant outside the gite. We stopped for a cold drink, and as we sat there, many of the people we thought we were leaving behind showed up. We had been a little sad to leave familiar faces behind in Miramont, but it turned out everyone had decided to press, not just us!

Summer Heat and Humidity

After Pimbo there was a rather steep descent with gorgeous views over the valley. Unfortunately, the sun had burned through the clouds by this point, and it was starting to get really hot! There was still a nice cool breeze, but very little shade. We decided to thank St. James, St. Roch, and all their superiors for the breeze. The last 6 km were long and hot and involved a pretty steep climb, but we made it!

Arzacq-Arraziguet

Arzacq is a very nice town, with many pilgrim-friendly amenities, including a grocery store, pharmacy, several restaurants, and multiple places to stay. It is also very beautiful, with a treed centre, two separate areas that seem like town squares, and a beautiful church.

We checked in to the communal gite, which seems to be very large, and then went exploring in the town. Afterwards, we sat at an outdoor patio to plan tomorrow's walk and were soon joined by several other pilgrims. We passed a pleasant hour until dinner, which was served in an outdoor courtyard. Behind us was a group of schoolchildren, who sounded very happy and excited.

Although we walked 33.8 km today, we feel okay and the temperature is down to around 25 degrees. It was a very challenging but ultimately good day. 

See you on the Trail!

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Practical Information:

Distance: 33.8 km

Cumulative ascent: 768 m

Cumulative descent: 616 m

Max Temperature: 24˚C

Accommodations: Centre d'Accueil Communal