Odd
- pac
- 4 hours ago
- 4 min read
Douzième jour - Sunday 28th June, Éauze - Nogaro - 21.0 klms (running total approx 225.0)
I was quite at a loss as to what to call today's blog, until I arrived at our accommodation in Nogaro. Then it immediately came to me.
One of the joys of travel is that it throws the occasional curved ball, to borrow an expression from our American friends. They can come in all shapes and sizes, often in my case to do with the hitherto sight-unseen accommodation choices which are made from afar and usually months in advance and then forgotten about.
I seem to have booked a room in a modern shared apartment complex. By that I mean the apartment has a number of occupants (not quite sure how many others - possibly three men and two dogs; time will most likely clarify that - later update, one man and dog, another couple, us). There were no immediate instructions as to how to access the property and thankfully one of the dog-men, an English speaking French man who lives in Spain (and who I initially thought was Spanish), was able to explain the process. And then I was sent the "Spaniard's" key access details which obviously wasn't right as we're not planning to share with him. So I switched on my Telstra sim and got a different set of instructions, and eventually voila we have access to a room within the complex and a separate toilet (locked) and a separate shower (also locked). It would seem that Rooms 1 and 2 have there own enuite facilities, and only ours are sort of "built on". From the outside the whole thing looks a bit like a sort of pre-fab almost shipping container thing. And the stairs up to the living level look like they'd be better placed on a oil rig, but when you do get up to that level it's all very modern and air-conditioned. (The Spaniard turns out to be a very personable chap, and his border-collie dog is lovely.)
It's really all quite serviceable, just all very strange. And I'll look at it this way - we're only here for the one night, and we have a big day tomorrow, so I imagine that we'll both retire and depart early, leaving the strange place as no more than a memory. I ought not be too critical - in many ways it's just like an unstaffed and unsupervised gite with a bit of confusion tossed in.
As I'd wandered along today thinking about today's post I'd been short of inspiration because nothing particularly notable had popped up. The scenery was lovely and the walk quite peaceful, but with not much standing out. Lots of various agriculture which will be the focus of most of today's photos.
Briefly back to last night. Gite Chez Nadine was a bit of fun. There was a welcome swimming pool and four other guests, French folk from Toulouse who are doing a cycling tour. Four bikes, with only three riders at any one time, the fourth being the chauffeur of their vehicle. As we wandered back into town for a drink and dinner they were preparing to head off to watch the Toulouse-Montpelier rugby final (which it turns out Toulouse won 28-20, much to the delight of the Toulousians).
Whilst the Frenchies were off at the rugby (and Jean-Pierre reported this morning that their meal was so-so), we had the most fabulous meal at Le Bar du Marche. If any Via Podiensis walkers ever read this, I highly recommend. Lovely wine, excellent tapas, and a couple of delightful French-Spanish-English speaking hosts.
So, photos:
Mostly we wandered through vineyards today. Not literally through, but alongside. Dozens of them over the course of the day. I observe with interest, given my MR involvement. All bar one today were very well tended (only one that looked what we would call derelict). Many new plantings.
And now a few general wanderings ...
And lastly, from inside the 1,000 year old Negaro church
Big day tomorrow. ~30 klms. Thunderstorms overnight (how things change!), small rain in the morning.
(Foot's a bit sore, time for a prophylactic analgaesic methinks - I write this solely for my own future reference.)
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