Our Walk Along the Via Podiensis (GR 65)

Through Fields of Wheat Crossing France on the Via Podiensis We were woken up by the church bells across the street from our gîte at 6:00 AM this morning, and after making ourselves a quick breakfast, we were soon on our way. The walk out of town was very beautiful in the morning light, especially the golden wheat fields. A few kilometres after La Romieu we came to the town of Castelnau-sur-l'Auvignon. The GR didn't actually go into the town, but we took a few minutes to visit the main street. At the far end of a charming main street is a large historical monument honouring the men who fought in the resistance during the Second World War. There is also a very peaceful chapel and a tower that shows signs of fighting. I think we have been seeing evidence of the fighting that took place in WWI and WWII for a while, and it is kind of a humbling experience. Condom   Another 10 km or so of hiking through beautiful but hot countryside brought us to the outskirts of the cit...

Shifting Perspectives on Camino Via Podiensis GR65 Pilgrimage We woke to birdsong and a glorious sunrise around 6:00 AM and headed down to a communal breakfast of bread, jam, yogurt, coffee, and orange juice. We managed to set off around 7:00 AM and got our first view of the Pyrenees! They were still shrouded in heat haze, but we could make out their outlines. As we looked out across the plains at them, two hot air balloons floated quietly over.     Departing Lectoure It seemed like a good start to the morning, but we soon ran into difficulties with the trail markers. The Way is marked down the main street (Rue Nationale) of Lectoure, but the markers all indicate turns, not a straight path. This is made worse by the fact that many side streets seem to be marked as well. We followed the markers to the wrong end of town, realized our mistake, and headed back using the directions in the guidebook. At this point, we discovered that the markers along the route indicated in t...