We are staying in a fabulous home, with a very kind and exotic lady, Mme Dis. We expected a room. We have a two storey apartment to ourselves, our own entrance, choice of bedrooms and bathrooms, and our own garden. 55 euros for 2 inc PDJ!! And she's invited us for an aperitif at 7. What a shame we are only here for one night. But no rush to leave in the morning - we are staying in an abbeye tomorrow night and it's only about 20 kms walk from here.
We didn't see any another pilgrims on The Way today, although we bumped into Bruce shortly after we arrived in Castres this afternoon. He had stopped in Angles yesterday but couldn't find a bed so he hitchhiked to Castres. Yesterday, we also stopped at Angles to eat our lunch - Domi even had a beer - and we saw Ivan and Didier. Ivan stayed in Angles (though at that stage he also hadn't found a bed) but Didier, Domi and I walked on. We left Didier after about 8 kms (28 from our departure yesterday morning, and same for Didier). We were walking about a kilometre through the forest to our accommodation, but Didier was walking on to the next town. And when we saw Bruce this afternoon he told us Didier was at the abbeye tonight. So, at 82, he walked around 40 kms yesterday and 38 today. Extraordinary.
After being up in the mountains for the best part of a week, up and down between 400 and 1100 metres, icy winds at times and cold, cold nights, the last few days we have been steadily descending. We're now at just under 200 metres at Castres. So temperatures are on the way up. This afternoon, for the first time, the bottoms came off my hiking pants, always an occasion to celebrate on the Camino. Woo hoo!
Other highlights today included our first look at the Pyrenees in the distance. That's where we're headed. Should be there in a little over two weeks, if all goes well. I hope most of that snow is gone by then, at least at the Col du Somport where we're crossing into Spain. And an unusual sighting as we walked through the outskirts of Castres. Can't say I've seen parachutists on The Way before!
Gotta go. Time for an aperitif with Mme Dis! Will post photos of Castres and our 'apartment' tomorrow.
A bientot
J x
