Sunday, 10 April 2016

Day 10 Murat sur Vebre to La Salvetat sur Agout - 21 kms

It's Sunday today. And although we walked 21 kms, it was a restful day. Tranquil and magical. Blue skies, warmer temperatures (it was 0 degrees last night), less wind, not a lot of climbing ... et Didier. 

Last night at the gite, Jean Luc prepared a wonderful dinner for Domi and me, Martine, Guy and Ivan (when he told us of his Russian ancestry, I realised I'd been mis-spelling his name as Yvon). The fromages were especially tasty but the piece de resistance was the home baked chestnut cake - The French momentarily spoilt the fun by telling us Jean Luc had told him the ingredients included 250 grams of butter! Everyone went to bed tired, but very well fed - as usual on the French chemins!! 

Domi and I decided on a late start today. We have been looking ahead a few days to work out likely stages. The distance we walk each day depends mainly on accommodation options, and villages with gites or chambre d'hotes are often few and far between. In a few days time we want to stay at the Abbaye Sainte Scholastique, so we need to work back from there. Anyhoo, it worked out that today would be just 21 kms. No hurry. 

Usually at gites, pilgrims leave by around 8.30 at the latest. Guy and Martine left around 8 and Ivan before then. We asked Jean Luc if we could stay a little longer this morning. Pas de probleme. So after breakfast, we took our time re-packing our packs (the daily ritual) and then walked down the hill to the village. We visited the boulangerie to buy our lunch, stopped at the village cafe for a second coffee (a rare possibility on Camino Arles so far) and made our way back to the gite. 

We set out at around 10.15 to walk down the hill, past the church and rejoin the path. The first person we saw was Didier. He had been to 9.30 Mass. We had first met Didier in the gite Maison des Pelerins on our first night. We only said hello, bonjour. Readers of this blog might recall that the couple volunteering at the gite told us that Didier was 82, from east part of France near Nancy (same as Domi) and had walked the Chemin d'Arles seven times, walking because he was in a retirement home and didn't like it. Since that first night we have seen Didier most days and he has walked the same distances as us each day. Maybe even more - as perhaps he didn't baulk at the urban sprawl in and out of Montpelier. Je ne sais pas. 

Until today we had only seen Didier in passing - bonjour, ca va, Bon Chemin. He stays in the most basic of accommodation when possible - the municipal gites - so we have only stayed in the same gite twice. But we have continued to hear stories - second and third hand - of Didier's life. And to exchange a few words with him. Today was different. 

Until day's end, the only other pelerin / pilgrim we saw on the path was Didier. We walked at a leisurely pace. The path was gentle and the weather was kind. We often saw Didier in the near distance. After some hours we walked up a small incline and saw him sitting on some fallen logs, in the sun, eating his lunch. It looked like the perfect spot to do the same. He seemed happy to see us. 

On The Way, we try not to pry into the lives of people we meet, but I asked Domi to ask Didier if he would mind telling us when he first walked the Camino?  2005.  And where does he usually walk to?  Santiago de Compostela, always. And then he continued and shared some of his story. He first walked the Chemin d'Arles in 2005 (he would have been 70 or 71). He has walked the same route every year since then except in 2013, the year he moved into the retirement apartment. He has never planned to walk each year, he just walks when he feels he needs to. And he walks all the way to Santiago (almost 1700 kms), sometimes stopping in different towns and villages. He doesn't arrange accommodation ahead. He walks until he reaches a town or village where he feels it's time to rest. 

He spoke of the spirit of the Camino and some people he'd met over the years. He said he usually walks alone but at one time he walked for many days with a New Zealander. They had no shared language but he recalled that they walked happily and comfortably together. We talked a little about the upcoming days including Castres where we will be in 3 or 4 days time. Didier recommended we stay at the gite run by Docteur Py  Didier said he was a very kind man, always ready to help pilgrims. He told us of a time when Dr Py noticed that Didier's jacket had holes in it, and the next day took him to have it repaired. He added that Dr Py's daughter was the first woman to achieve the rank of Admiral in the French Navy! 

We had read about Dr Py's gite in our guidebook which Domi ordered some months ago. Just a few weeks before we left Sydney Domi received an email update with a few pages to supplement the guidebook where information was no longer accurate. And just a day or two ago, we had been looking through the the list for any updates for upcoming towns and noticed the following entry 'Le Docteur Py a rejoint Saint Jacques et le ciel in Septembre 2014.'  Domi gently told Didier that Dr Py had died. 

We had also heard from others the Didier had been a farmer all his life, had no children, had never married, was deeply religious, had never missed Sunday mass and once was inspired to walk again as soon as possible, so took a taxi from Nancy to Arles. All of this seems entirely likely (except perhaps the taxi ride) but we don't know and we didn't ask him. 

Domi told Didier some of our story, that we had met on the Camino Le Puy, and that we have built our life together, and we continue to walk. This brought a big smile.  We had all finished our lunch and it was time to begin again. Didier spoke a little more, and Domi translated for me. Didier concluded that when we walk The Way we have all that we need. And that we are lucky, and so we are. 

What a pleasure to share part of The Way today with this gentle man. 

A Didier. Bon Chemin. 

J X

PS. Our day ended in an unexpected and funny way. More on that tomorrow.