Moissac & Auvillar

Bonjour! Yesterday (Wednesday) we were relieved to see that it was not raining, as it had rained the night before, and Russ actually had to run outside at supper time to rescue our socks from the clothesline! They were not even close to being dry in the morning, as our gite was quite humid. The trail to Moissac was quite pleasant, with a lot of road walking, so the kilometres clicked by quickly. We didn't take many photos, as it was very foggy, but we enjoyed the coolness of the morning. We arrived in Moissac in time for a leisurely lunch, as we were too early to check into our hotel room. One of our errands to do later in the afternoon was to extend our cell coverage for another month, and to do that we had to visit the Orange store - we entered the store about 3:30 and didn't come out until 5:00, due to the lineup of people waiting, and the painfully slow process in helping each customer. It was quite unbelievable and we had never seen anything like it. After waiting all that time, they couldn't help us either, as we need to go to a tobacco store!

While standing in the line we saw our Aussie friends arrive, and we made arrangements to meet for dinner. We did get a bit of sightseeing done - went to see the cloister at the church. It was difficult to take photographs of it, as there was a photographer doing a photoshoot there, and his equipment was taking up a sizeable space.

Our dinner was wonderful...we chose a restaurant that is rated number 1 in Trip Advisor (Le Fromage rit) and the food was very tasty and unusual. They specialize in cheese, so their cheese platter was outstanding.

The Cloister, Moissac

This morning (Thursday), we were walking out of Moissac at 8AM- perfect. Although it was foggy the sky was clear and we knew it was going to be hot once the fog burned off. We chose to take the canal route, as this had been recommended by pilgrims whose blog I had read before we started this walk. The regular GR65 follows the canal part of the time, but also takes you off the canal, and into some hilly terrain. The alternate route stays by the canal all the way to Pommevic, where you join up with the regular GR and at that point leave the canal and head to Auvillar. We estimate that by walking the canal we saved ourselves 3-4 kilometres, as well as making much better time than we would otherwise. We arrived in Auvillar around noon, and our distance was supposed to be 21 km. Anyway, we recommend this route, as the scenery is beautiful.

Fog and sunrise as we left Moissac

Attractive boat on the canal

Beautiful walk along the canal

Barge that passed us - they were taking photos of us too!

Nuclear power plant on the way to Auvillar

Our home in Auvillar, Le Petit Baladin

Grainery in Auvillar

He seemed quite happy in this flowerpot!

View of Espalais, which we passed through on the way here

Millet is a very common crop in this area

Tonight our hosts, who have a restaurant here, are providing our supper so we are looking forward to it! Meals are definitely a highlight of our days right now. We have huge appetites, and can eat all we want without gaining weight!

Tomorrow we have a short walk to Miradoux, and then on Saturday we will be getting transportation to Lectoure to meet our Danish friends Erik and Margit, who we think of as our "Camino family". We are looking forward so much to seeing them again!

 

Posted with Blogsy