Madame Roxanne laid out a beautiful table for breakfast. The pieces of baguette were crunchy and their insides firm. We were served a croissant ring that was cut into six pieces. This was the first time that my croissant was not an individual crescent. Even the French people exclaimed about the originality of the ring. It was flakey and airy like the best of croissants.
Also note that the butter was served in a block on a plate and at room temperature. Unlike the foil wrapped rectangles usually served buffet style and hard, this butter spread so smoothly. We had the choice of nine different jams including kiwi and figs. The napkins were monogrammed cloth, not the thin paper ones. What a wonderful way to start the morning.
On top of that, I left with kitty love. She melted in my arms like Rooster did.
Since I left just before 8AM, I was in time to experience sunrise over the small lake next to the village. I stood for a few minutes admiring radiant glow of the sun as it emerged over the horizon transforming the sky from reds to blues.
As I left town, another distance marker appeared. To that point, I had covered 614km or 381.5 miles. If going to Santiago, 908km or 564 miles left. To St Jean Pied-du-Port, I had only 127km or 79 miles to go. Whew.
I thought that I had left the hills after Moissac. The hills and valleys were back in waves as I neared the Pyrenees. I crossed four of them today — 1900 feet of elevation gain.
Another moment reminded me that I was in an active agricultural area. As I waited to get my bearings on which way the Chemin turned, a huge combine made a K-turn at the intersection. The rear axel did the work. On the country roads, tractors and combines frequently made pedestrians take several steps off the road.
Then, it happened. The Pyrenees were in the far distance. I wondered what the pilgrims over a thousand years thought when they saw them. Spain and Santiago beyond. A milestone reached.
Although I had cloud cover during the final third of the stage, the high reached 83F. Madame Roxanne mentioned that hotel and gîte managers talked about the slew of cancellations in July and August because of extremely high temperatures. Even 80’s are high for long distance walking but tolerable (?) as I can attest. Perhaps the new high season will become October into November.
I made it to Arthez-de-Béarn by 4 PM and had my celebratory beer, a locally brewed blond at the Penguin. The fellow in the background is Bertrand whom I met two days ago. I nicknamed him TGV (Train Grande Vitesse) — France’s bullet train. He is fast.
Yiannis, my taxi driver, picked me up at the Penguin and drove me to my hotel in Navarrenx. Such transfers are necessary because the supply of private en suite rooms are limited. As I mentioned before, dormitory gîtes are out of the question. This was my second transfer. Do remember (so long ago) my first that rescued me from Decazeville back to Conques?
Dinner at the Hotel Le Commerce was excellent. The tomato focaccia was piquant — the mustard seeds added the French touch. I loved this rendition.
Although I paid a supplement of 7€ over the menu price, I had my super protein fix of steak tartare with pommes de terre on the side. The steak was not ground but sliced into thin strips. The French do it right.
My ending was a very light meringue with a vanilla flavored sauce.
This dinner ranks up there with the best that I have had on this Chemin.
Time for bed. Yiannis will pick me up at 8AM to drive me back to Arthez-de-Béarn. Then, I walk back to Navarrenx. Crazy, no?
I did wake up around 3AM to see the last two outs of the Dodgers win over the Braves. The boy can leave LA but still loves his Dodgers.
