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Week 48 - Ordiap (France) to Lourdes
June 4th to 10th 2023
- Day 330: June 4th: Ordiap to Barcus - 22 km
On the french side of the pyrenees, the corn drying devices are more modern but lack the charm of the Cantabrian or Galician corn houses on stilts.
Temperatures were rising these past few days and we were slowly grilling in the sun..this river appeared right on time for a little refreshing bath!
Looks like the basques were demonstrating lately, you could sense their spirit of rebellion through their slogan les "soulevements de la Terre"
We've been struggling through a quite muddy trail with a series of giant puddles to cross which were looking more like path-wide ponds...luckily right before reaching a more solid dirt road, we found this little "auge" to clean our shoes with a stunning view of snowy mountain peaks in the far distance.
Today mapsme mislead us into a long trail crossing small villages without any access to restaurants or bars. On a sunday, these are our go-to places to get some food...The restaurant we had as a goal was 21 km away from our bivouac, in Bracus... However, when we arrived there in the evening the restaurant was closed... I first thought it was open since I saw people seating at a dining table inside, so I came in and was received very kindly by the owner. She explained that on sunday evening the restaurant is closed and she was actually eating with her family and friends when we came in. Understanding that we won't be able to find any other opportunity to eat around here, she was so generous as to run in the kitchen and provide us with free food. She came back with two big portions of a delicious bull tail stew (Rabo de Torro), a big loaf of bread and 2 yogourts. We will remember fondly the little town of Bracus and the Hotel/Restaurant Chilo: very charming restaurant owned by amazing people! Cherry on top, they gave us advice on where to camp this evening at the village's rugby stadium next to a little river. Very grateful we are!
22 km done for a total of 4152 + 22 = 4174 km
- Day 331: June 5th: Barcus to Oloron- Sainte-Marie - 15 km
We've tried to get some information on the price of a square meter of buildable land in the area...and right there at the exit of the village of Bracus stands the answer.
Once more, the only restaurant "Chez Chateau" on our way in the tiny village of Esquiule was closed when we arrived...the menu looked very appealing..luckily , we went grocerie shopping in Bracus and have enough food for a great picnic.
A sure way to find water to fill our bottles is to go to the local graveyard..there is always water available to keep the flowers alive on the tombstones.
Love-in-a-mist ...quite a beautiful name for a flower!
Rivers on our path are always the highlight of our day...we've been sweating crazily in the heat...today we had to walk a whole stretch of 15 km on paved roads with little shade available. How perfect it feels to have the chance of refreshing yourself with a quick dive!
What a cute loving nickname this could be!
15 km done for a total of 4174 + 15 = 4189 km
- Day 332: June 6th: Oloron- Sainte-Marie to Ogeu les bains - 12 km
There is a lindt chocolate factory in Oloron-sainte-marie and they have a shop where you can get cheap deals...I came out with 1.2 kg of my favorite selection...I love this city!
Music session with the view of the mountains..
12 km done for a total of 4189 + 12 = 4201 km
- Day 333: June 7th: Ogeu les Bains to Arudy - 14 km
We got shiver down our spines when seeing this one in the middle of the trail...luckily not alive anymore.
We left the basque country for the Bearn region. From the traditional white houses with bordeaux red and moss green shutters...to the bearnaise architecture: pointy roofs out of slate, stone houses or white/cream/light coloured facades.
This area is known for the "transhumance" of sheep and cows in the summer time. They are always in need for shepherds..Casey is taking notes...it could be where he can materialize his dreams of becoming one
Right before arriving in Arudy we got caught in a very heavy rain...we were completely soaked from out underwear to our coats and shoes...we took shelter under a roof in front of the "secours populaire" dumping station and tried to dry out clothes with coat hangers we found amongst the donated items scattered around us. Not very efficient!
Yesterday when we were waiting in front of the lindt factory store, a man advised us to knock at Arudy's presbytere if we require a gite for pilgrim...so here we arrived totally drenched at the doors of le petit Abbe Armand and rang the bell...Him and his hosts welcomed us with a warm and delicious meal..Armand's hospitality was so generous that he went to the extent of washing and blessing our feet: a welcome ritual he goes through with every newcomers...Never had this kind of experience before! The next day, beside our breakfast plates, as a parting gift, he wrote, for each of us, a little word of wisdom and gave us his blessings for the rest of our pilgrimage through Europe. What a special place!
14 km done for a total of 4201 + 14 = 4215 km
- Day 334: June 8th: Arudy to Bruges - 16 km
Clathrus ruber...a strange looking fungus found on our path today. Their name in french gives you heebie jeebies "coeur de sorciere" or "Lanterne du diable"..heart of a witch or devil's lantern. Least to say we wont be eating these!
The little church of Sainte Colome. The village is located at the crossroad of 2 Compostela hiking trails..the voie du Piemont which we are following and the voie d'Ossau (a camino trail dating from the 12th century also known as " chemin du seigneur") crossing the Pyreenes via "Port Vieux de Sallent" at 1875m or via the "col des moines" at 2150 m. This route is a harder alternative than crossing the pyrenees via the camino Frances between Saint-Jean-Pied-de-port and Roncevalles.
In Sainte Colome, we met Yves a writer, movie producer, archeologist and historian, specialist of the medieval era, who invited us for a coffee in a old house he is renovating. He bought the local castle and is planning to organize there cultural events. At the moment he is helping to excavate a pre-historical cave on a nearby archeological site. One of his extravagant project is to follow the camino d'Ossau to Compostela dressed as a medieval knight (chainmail, armor, helmet and all) on a horse. We'd like to witness this! Very interesting morning !
We are meeting amazing people lately. After a long conversation where we explained our project, Francoise, the owner of the "cafe du commerce" in Bruges, kindly invited us to stay, free of charge, at the pilgrim hostel she is also managing. Feels good to get a hot shower two nights in a row!
16 km done for a total of 4215 + 16 = 4231 km
- Day 335: June 9th: Bruges to somewhere past Saint Pe de Bigorre - 21 km
The weather here next to the Pyrenees is quite unpredictable: it could be super sunny and humid one minute, and the next one you can hear heavy thunder quickly followed by mousson-like rain showers. Luckily, today we could find shelter in Asson under the umbrella of the local pizzeria/bakery.
At first we thought this was a snake but no, it's a worm: the longest I've ever seen.
Second shower today, again we found the perfect shelter: a big pine tree under which we waited with jackets and umbrella out.
Lestelle-Betharam became a pilgrimage place in the 15th century thanks to the story of a little girl who was supposedly saved from drowning in the Gave river by the virgin Marie.
The miraculous fountain of Betharam. A dried up spring came back to life and is since considered as miraculous...apparently a source of healing miracles.
21 km done for a total of 4231 + 21 = 4252 km
- Day 336: June 10th: Somewhere past Saint Pe de Bigorre to Lourdes - 8 km
We've arrived in Lourdes, 4th biggest Catholic pilgrimage place in the World. The old city has been disfigured into a touristic trap for believers. An impressive numbers of hotels has been built over time to accomodate the 6 millions people who are coming each year to worship the virgin Marie who supposedly materialized herself 18 times to a small girl, Bernadette Soubirous (since then canonized a saint), in a nearby cave "la grotte de Massabielle" in 1858. The virgin hypothetically asked that a chapel should be built at the location of her apparitions...the Church went wild and built a impressive basilique right on top of the cave: beautiful work with mosaic scenes handcrafted both outside and inside the cathedral.
Pilgrims are gathering around the grotte where the virgin Marie appeared to Bernadette 200 years ago...you can come closer and, as the tradition wants, touch the rock of the cave and watch the fountain that sprang to life when Bernadette was experiencing one of her vision. The water, considered since then as miraculous and blessed, is collected by the herd in bottles specially designed for this purpose and provided by the shops all over the city. We've seen a lot of pilgrims carrying around their 5 litres jugs of holy water...
It felt like the virgin Marie was crying on Lourdes all the tears she's been accumulating over the years while looking over our dysfunctional world: what was a few minutes ago full of flocking tourists and pilgrims went empty in the blink of an eye.
8 km done for a total of 4252 + 8 = 4260 km