Le Puy Camino – via Podiensis: Limogne-en-Quercy to Bach

April 20, 2024

Before departing Limogne-en-Quercy, we stopped by a local grocery to pick up some snacks. This was the first “supermarket” we had encountered on our journey since leaving Le Puy-en-Velay. I had gotten used to – and loved! – the quaint “épiceries” that inhabited the many small villages we passed through. It felt rather bewildering to be wandering around a store that was so reminiscent of our way of shopping in the United States. I found that I really did enjoy the comfort and ease of shopping in small local groceries where my only concern was the food needs for that day.

It would be a 14.7 kilometers to the hamlet of Bach where we would be spending the night. Susan and I walked together today which was a nice change of pace. And, the weather was gorgeous!!

The walk today was characterized again by stone walls lining the path and some interesting sites along the “way.” Four kilometers into our hike, we passed by a spot with a “watering hole” called Lac et puits de Ju.

An interpretive sign at the site indicates that it has been a resting place for pilgrims and watering hole for animals for many years. The sign asks that all passing by “respect this place and its environment.” It also records many of the bird species that have been observed here.

Much of the walk consisted of terrain like the photograph below. It was along this path and, before reaching the village of Varaire, that we encountered an noble global awareness campaign.

The interpretive displays we happened upon are part of the United Nations Global Goals initiative. The small town of Varaire was selected as a host for this exhibition in October 2022. The 17 “totems” that represented the 17 sustainable development goals were in place by mid-December. The totems are located on the GR65 coming into town and throughout the village. There’s an informative website that describes how the citizens of Varaire have strived to live these principles in their everyday life. To learn more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals please visit this website. The 17 goals are a call to action for all countries to work together to achieve a sustainable future for the inhabitants of the planet we call Earth.

I cannot stress enough my belief that we are a global community where isolationism and nationalism have no place. We cannot live in isolation. What we do impacts everyone globally and vice versa. Seeing this exhibition was one of the highlights of my “camino” adventure.

The first panel below introduces the concept of global goals and invites people to share what would be their to-do list. It was rewarding to read the responses and also challenging to convert to English!!

Each numbered panel represents one of the 17 goals. I was grateful that these were presented in both French and English!

When I was reviewing all the photographs I took of these signs, I realized that I had taken a pretty cool self-portrait!

We started coming upon some scattered buildings as we approached Varaire. The countryside was just beautiful!

We entered the center of the village and found a sweet cafe to enjoy a hot drink and our lunch.

A few scenes around town…

We popped into the local church – Église Saint Barthélemy – before leaving town and getting back on the GR65.

The rest of the day was uneventful – we walked and we rested – and simply enjoyed the peace of the day.

Our biggest surprise of the day happened upon our arrival in the village of Bach – our destination for the day. We found the lodging where we had made a reservation only to be informed by the hostess that someone in the household had come down with Covid and so we could not stay there! Thankfully, she had prepared for this and arranged for us to stay in another gîte in town.

We were grateful that she had set this up for us. But, the gîte was just okay – mediocre food and uncomfortable beds. I will say that the hosts were very welcoming and entertaining at dinner. And, the fee was by donation only so it did not cost us very much. I will not divulge the name of the accommodation out of respect for our hosts. But, the next day I woke with a tremendous stomach ache which persisted for the entire day.

The good news is that we were not walking that day. We could not secure any accommodations between here and the city of Cahors so we opted to take a break from the “way” and get a taxi ride to Cahors. The bad news is that the taxi ride was a very rough one on winding, narrow roads and I had to endure this with an extremely sensitive stomach!

Cahors is considered the half-way point between Le Puy-en-Velay and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port – a real milestone! More to come on our stay in this more urban environment.