A quiet day along The Way, with not another pilgrim in sight. It's been the same most days for the past week or so, although in the evenings we've usually been reunited with one or more of Martine, Guy, Ivan and sometimes Pascale or Bruce. But, other than perhaps Bruce (he's a day ahead of us now), we won't see the others again, at least not on the Chemin d'Arles. We're fairly certain Ivan has decided to return home, and we farewelled Martine and Guy last night in Toulouse, as they were taking the train home early this morning.
We also took a train this morning to Pibrac on the outskirts of Toulouse to avoid a soulless 20 kms through the outer suburbs and around the Toulouse airport! From Pibrac it was a pleasant and uneventful walk, except for a detour we decided to take to visit the 'historically significant' village of Pujaudran, which turned out to be not very significant other than adding about 5 kms, and taking us to our destination entirely on road instead of through the forest. Ugghh. Oh well ...
We arrived in L'isle Jourdain around 2.30, and made our way through the town and beyond to the lake and the Office de Tourismo to pick up the key. They manage the municipal gite, which is just next door. It's small and well equipped - just nine beds in 3 rooms of two, three and four beds. Lucky for us we were the first here and so, once again, we have our own room. About an hour later another pilgrim arrived, Canadian John, whom we hadn't met before. So he has his own room too! As we are on the other side of town and don't want to walk back in the morning for breakfast, we bought some yoghurt and bits and pieces in the village this afternoon, so we can have petit dejeuner in the gite and hopefully head off by 7.30am - it's a long day tomorrow.
I was going to write tonight about the gites and chambre d'hotes, how they work, the costs etc, but that can wait til another time. Instead I'll write about some wonderful moments of serendipity this afternoon.
While tootling through the town we came across an enticing gastranomique shop - Comptoir de nos fermes (photos included). Oils, vinegars, wine, and 'Le canard sous tout ses formes'. Duck in all possible cooking preparations - confit, pate, foie gras, rillettes, cassoulet and so on. Domi soon spied the Armagnac on a top shelf, and was quite excited. I know this man who makes this Armagnac - Maurice - he is an old friend who lives near Condom (also the town where the The French and I met on 22 April 2014).
Domi told me later that he had met Earl Maurice Coureau in 2000. Domi was still a soldier then, and was stationed near Comdom at the time, working with the Air Force. One of his Air Force colleagues introduced him to Maurice and they became good friends. Domi then went on to tell me some wonderful stories about Maurice and that he is the kindest person he's ever met. They kept in touch for many years but It had been a few years now since he'd seen or spoken to him.
Back to the shop, after we'd been browsing for some time, the owner emerged and Domi and she began chatting, he telling her how much we were enjoying her store and the wonderful products. They where having quite the gastronomic discussion when Domi mentioned the Armagnac and told her briefly about how he knew Maurice but had not seen him for some years. With that, the shop owner, Eliane said she knew Maurice well. She grabbed her phone and said 'I will call him and you can speak to him'. And so it was done. She called Maurice and said she had someone with her that was a friend that he had not spoken to in some years. Domi was beaming as he took the phone, 'Maurice, c'est Dominique, the French Colonel.' And their conversation went from there. What a wonderful surprise for them both. I'm sure we will visit Maurice when we return to Condom, probably next year. Merci Eliane.
There was another serendipitous moment - at least I think it was - also from our conversation with Eliane about the Condom region - one of Domi's favourite areas in France. Eliane mentioned that she knew of an Australian couple who had recently bought a chateau near Condom, which they are renovating and hoping also to open a gite for holiday guests. Domi said we also know of a couple who have done that - Victoria and Derek Brien. (Note: We've never met Victoria and Derek - they are great friends of our friends Jill and Martin Boyle, who 'introduced' us by email. Thanks to that introduction, we are following their adventures, through Victoria's very entertaining email updates).
Back to the shop, again. Eliane recounted that she had met the husband of the Australian couple through a photography course that they both attended. We think it might be one in the same Derek I've emailed Victoria to find out. So, at the time of writing, our second case of serendipity is unverified. I'll let you know what happens! In any event, our encounter with Eliane made for a surprising and wonderful afternoon!
A demain. Until tomorrow.
J x
