Pen-Penultimate

pac
3 days ago
3 min read

Vingt-et-unième jour - Tuesday 7th July, Navarrenx - Aroue - 21.6 klms (running total approx 381.8)

I don't even know if "pen-penultimate" is a real word, but hey, it's my blog and if I want to mangle my English/Latin well, who cares?

I've written about previously, and indeed experienced multiple times, that the last few klms of any day's walk are usually the hardest. It's a mental more than a physical thing - yes after 20 klms the feet hurt and one is generally tired (and hot) - but if it's a 30 klm day the last 5 are the hardest and if it's a 15 klm day the last 3 are. A sports psychologist could no doubt explain it; my take on it is that as the end becomes closer there are part of one's thinking which says "I wish it would end!", it being the pain, the drudgery, the heat, the cold, the whatever.

Zoom out and there's a macro similarity I think. Today was our third last day, and whilst I don’t wish it to end in a "this is all too hard/I'm sick of it sense", I am looking forward to three days hence when I don't have to hurl a 10kg backpack over my shoulders and set on out for 5/6 hours walking knowing that by hour 4 my feet will be aching, no matter how strong my legs and heart feel (and they do - feel strong, that is).

This was an inescapable thought as I wandered today. And as ever, beautiful French countryside. If you've never done anything like this, I can recommend it. Even with the warmth, I can't help but notice the beauty which surrounds us.

We are staying the night in an ancient French B&B run by an Irish expat who's lived in France for 40 years. Absolutely fascinating man. The maison is about a kilometre west of Aroue, which as it turns out is perfect placement for the start of tomorrow's walk. (I can't claim any prescient credit for that - the choice was purely an accident as Aroue is a half-a-horse town and so the accommodation options around here are few, but it will work in our favour.)

There are two optional shortcuts tomorrow which we hope to take. Hope in this case because we need to not miss the turnoff to/from them; I'm not sure how well they are waymarked.

Speaking of which, we did miss a turn today which resulted in us walking down an irrigation path into a cornfield; probably only a couple of hundred metres there, and the same back out, so no great harm done. Easy to do though, especially on alternative routes, so vigilance will be the name of the game.

However, I'd have to say that highlight of the day was bumping into Robert de Niro at his paté factory:

Maybe the other highlight was the very fancy château not far from where we are staying tonight. Details a bit further down.

We are firmly in Basque country now, and reflecting this, nearly all signage is dual language. Interesting. Our host, Martin, a now retired university teacher, gave us lots of detailed background and history to the Basque people, more than I could ever possibly write down here. Another research project I suspect. (For my reference: Basque people and the ice age; Basque traders with the Americas; Basque influence on the Magellan expedition; Basque democratic history; Basque financial influence; this side/other side; physical characteristics and social norms; the list goes on.)

As we said good evening to Martin and I thanked him for his exposé he asked whether we'd been to Basque country before, to which I said yes, but mainly as tourists. To which he replied: you'll be back, they say that once you visit Basque country you'll never leave. As I said above, a fascinating evening.

Beyond the above yabber, not much else to say on the PPU day. Some photos from the day though, roughly in chronological order...