Lynn Amber - Travel & Photography
sharing my thoughts through words and images
Le Puy Camino – via Podiensis: Arzacq-Arraziguet to Pomps
May 6, 2023
We said farewell to our wonderful accommodations in Arzacq and, once again, we’re on foot!! We did not leave town without savoring some delicious pastries first. Sustenance for the walk!
Arzacq-Arraziguet is a small village with two main squares and is a classic example of what was once a medieval market town. The Boulangerie Reinaldo was just around the corner from our last night lodging on the Place de Marcadieu. After indulging in a pastry pick-me-up, the GR 65 took us past the Place de la République – one of the other main squares.
On the edge of town is the Lac d’Arzacq and the GR 65 follows the coastline of the lake before veering off into the countryside.
A short walking distance from Arzacq is the small village of Labalette. The mile marker below welcomed me to the village and recorded distance from Le Puy en Velay and distance to Santiago de Compostela. Wow – I’ve completed 614 kilometers since leaving Le Puy. Pretty cool to see it in writing. 🙂
Today’s walk takes me through a beautiful pastoral landscape with stunning views across valleys and towards the Pyrenees.
Sitting along the GR 65 pilgrim route, the Moulin de Louvigny is an historic 18th century water mill. I read that this is privately owned now. The architecture is what really caught my eye. The building walls are constructed with small stones and plaster/stucco. It looks so ancient and I’m seeing an abundance of this type of structure in this part of France.
I love that I’m now seeing far-reaching views of the Pyrenees. Although, in some ways, it is bittersweet because I know now that the end of this camino journey is in sight. One day at a time, I try not to think about that now!
Passing through the small hamlet of Fichous-Riumayou, I stopped at the Église paroissiale Saint-Girons. This catholic church dates to the 12th century. In the 5th-century, Girons d’Hagetmau migrated from Northern Africa and became a missionary to south-western France after being commissioned by Pope Liberius in Rome. He suffered persecution at the hands of anti-Christian groups and was martyred and beheaded around 400AD. His legacy lives on in with the presence of this name in towns, churches and monuments throughout this region.
In the village of Larreule, the Église Saint Pierre is a prominent, hillside church flanked by tall sycamore trees.
I captured some more architecture photographs on this section because I was captivated by the use of natural, local materials.
Another rustic wayside rest area invited me to pause and reflect on the message given at an impromptu “altar.”
The message on the chalk board translates loosely to: “The only true journey is not to go to other landscapes but to have other eyes.”
Finally, after a long 23km day of walking, I arrived at our accommodation in Pomps. It was a hot, breezy, hilly day of trekking but it really felt good to be walking again after two days off. I reserved two spots in the Gîte d’étape communal La Halte Pompoise. This accommodation was the largest dormitory-style lodging we have stayed in – with 12 beds in our room. At 37 euros for a bed with demi-pension (dinner and breakfast) it was adequate for the cost. We met up with Gebhard here, who was a German pilgrim we had shared accommodations with earlier in the journey. At dinner, I noted in my journal that we shared conversation with a French fellow from Brittany and an Italian guy. While it seemed that many of the pilgrims on the Via Podiensis were French, we did encounter people from all over the world and it was indeed refreshing to have such a multi-cultural experience.
Rhododendron magnified
Another look at the Rhododendron maximum along the Kettle Pond Trail.
Le Puy Camino – via Podiensis: Eauze to Nogaro and Arzacq-Arraziguet
May 4, 2023
With the decision to take a rest day, Susan and I spent the morning exploring the town center of Eauze. We were fortunate that this was farm market day! It was such a relaxing and delightful time perusing the various market stands.
I found a booth that specialized in locally produced and crafted knives and decided to purchase a folding pocket knife for Jim. The Occitan region of France has an historical tradition of knife-making dating back to the 1800’s. The price range for the many knives on display was quite varied – from inexpensive to very costly. I settled on a cost somewhere in the middle with a knife I felt handled well and looked well-made – for a price of 70 euros.
(The adventure began when I realized I would not be able to take this back home in my carry-on backpack! I found a local post office and attemped to package this up and send it off. The postal clerk I encountered spoke no English and I was escorted to an automated postage machine to print out the label and pay for the postage. The directions were in French and not intuitive and I spent a very frustrating amount of time trying to get the whole thing to work. Once I thought I successfully completed the transaction (after many futile attempts), I approached the counter and the clerk asked for the receipt that showed I had paid the postage. Unfortunately, the machine never spit out a receipt so I was stymied as to how to proceed. There was a long line of patrons behind me and I had nothing to show payment. I pulled up my credit card acccount where it showed a pending amount for the postage. The clerk and I went back and forth with whether this was adequate. Finally, in exasperation, she just took my package and indicated she was moving on to the next patron. I left the post office thinking that I had probably seen the last of that knife! 70 euros down the drain!
It was a few weeks after I was home from France that I received notice of a package at the post office in my home town. Much to my surprise, it was the knife! What makes that even more amazing is that the pending charge on my credit card account for the postage disappeared and it never posted. I realized the post office in France had sent the package even without payment for the postage. I’m not sure who paid the postage but I was very grateful and humbled! Maybe the clerk took pity on me?? Or maybe the patron behind me in line picked up the tab as a kind gesture?? I will never know…)
After the farm market, we wandered around the center of town and visited the local cathedral – Cathédrale Saint-Luperc d’Eauze.
After wandering around the beautiful cathedral, we grabbed a bite to eat at a small cafe before getting back to the lodging to catch our ride to Nogaro. I so miss the coffee and pastries of France!!
We arrived in Nogaro and checked into our accommodations – the Gîte du Pied Levé. We were hungry at this point and went in search of a restaurant for lunch. We ordered a tapas plate and some wine and it was delicious!
After lunch, I wandered around Nogaro and came upon a garden center. I had fun immersing myself in the greenery of plants and flowers!
Nogaro is an important part of the bullfighting culture in southwest France and famous for the Landes-style of bullfighting. This style of bullfighting is considered to be an art and is not harmful to the animal. The Arènes in Nogaro was built in the early 20th century and hosts shows that are strictly managed by a federation. This link provides an overview of the extreme sport. The arena in Nogaro is also used for other cultural and musical events throughout the season.
Because my toe was still bothering me, we decided to take another day off and bypass the next section of the camino. We arranged for transport to our next lodging spot in Arzacq-Arraziguet the next day and spent a quiet evening.
May 5, 2023
I’m combining the next day here on this post since it is basically a travel day and I have very few photos or comments. On a bitter sweet note, we said good-bye to a couple of women who we have been intersecting with for much of our walk so far. The two French women proved to be good company and we shared a few accommodations together. Sadly, I never wrote down their names in my journal.
I understood that they were best friends and doing sections of the camino as time permits. Today was their final day on the camino for this trip. With infectious smiles on their faces, they thoroughly enjoyed each others companionship each day. One very sweet memory I have of them is in regard to a nighttime ritual they performed. Before bed each night, they would massage each others feet with a special foot cream. I can only imagine how good that must have felt! And I don’t believe I ever heard them complain about blisters or sore feet. Bon voyage camino friends!!
Somehow, our ride and luggage transfer got a little mixed up and we ended up waiting longer than expected in Nogaro. We had to vacate the lodging but our host was kind enough to let us hang out in the yard. We arrived in Arzacq around 2:30pm at the Chambres d’hôtes Dulucq. Our accommodation was a beautiful stucco building with pale blue shutters and we had our own nicely appointed room. Our hosts were a very nice elderly couple and I believe that Susan remembered staying here on her last camino.
At our lodging for dinner, we were offered homemade pâté for an appetizer and an egg and sausage main dish. I copied a photograph of the front of the lodging from a tourism website since I was negligent in securing any photographs!
With two days of rest, my toe seemed okay to travel! So, tomorrow we would be back on the trail walking to Pomps!!
Magnolia in Rest
I planted a star magnolia on our property over 20 years ago. It is a “cold-hardy” variety and the hope was that it would survive our zone 3 to 4 Vermont winters. The small tree grew well in our old mid-Atlantic environment and it was one landscape plant that I did not want to give up with the move to a colder climate.
It has been transplanted once since I originally planted it – when I re-designed my Vermont garden – and has grown into a beautiful speciman. Because it blooms in early Spring, the buds have been subjected to freezing temperatures, the delicate flowers have often been damaged with a late frost but the plant suffers through it all and continues to grow. It has been the subject of many of my photographs over the years. Is it possible to get so much joy out of one small tree? A resounding YES!
Over the years, some of my favorite photos:
Collage of Forest Floor Plants
I just snapped this photo because it’s so comforting to see the diversity of plants growing on the forest floor and interacting with the surrounding rocks. It caught my eye!
Forest Walk
Fall Forest Walk – by Lynn Amber
Between roots and rocks
The trampled leaves on the trail
Mark the path forward.
Le Puy Camino – via Podiensis: Montreal du Gers to Eauze
May 3, 2023
Today was day number 34 on the “way.” Most of the walk today was along a dirt track and via a rail/trail bike and hike route. It would total about 16km and was fairly flat which was a good thing given my sore toe! I did not take very many pictures on this section. I think my focus was definitely on my toe – and my desire to get to Eauze and get my boots off!
The countryside was littered with many vineyards. Much of the day was characteristic of the photographs below.
I stopped for lunch in the small village of Lamothe. Le Mille Bornes in Lamothe is both lodging for pilgrims as well as a cafe. I treated myself to a fruit smoothie to compliment my packed snacks.
After leaving Lamothe, the dirt track turns into a converted rail trail. Much of the trail was paved and traversed through a mix of wooded terrain and open country. I admit that at times I wondered if I had missed a turn because the rail trail did not have as many of the familiar red and white GR65 markings that I was used to seeing. I did backtrack once for a short distance but decided to just forge ahead and trust my instinct. The sighting of other pilgrims convinced me I had made the right choice.
Our lodging in Eauze was the Gîte En Chemin. Once I arrived, I dropped by bags and went in search of a pharmacy for some Epsom Salts so I could soak my inflamed toe and potentially ward off further injury. Apparently, not all small pharmacies in France keep this on hand. I asked in the pharmacy and showed photographs of what I wanted but I had no luck finding it. I ended up buying coarse salts at a grocery as a replacement.
Our host at the lodging gave me a plastic tray to use to soak my foot and her cute little dog kept me company in the backyard while I gave my toe a good bath!
Our accommodation was a small dormatory-style gîte with communal washrooms. It was simple but comfortable.
I loved how our host used old hangers to make a clothes rake!
The backyard was a cozy, natural-looking garden with little statues and knick-knacks.
After soaking my foot and assessing the situation, Susan and I determined that it was in my best interests to take a day off from walking. We decided to have a relaxing morning and get a taxi to our next destination – Nogaro. Of course, that meant skipping a section of the “way” but I was fine with that. I went into this adventure with the full knowledge that stuff happens and I would not obsess over making sure I walked every bit of the camino.
Hydrangea Transformation
Hydrangea’s Winter Phase – by Lynn Thomas Amber
Panicles transform
White to Pink to Red to Brown
At rest in Winter.
I love the texture and interest that hydrangea panicles provide in the winter. The color transition made by these cone-shaped flower heads throughout the season provides a delightful, ever-changing show.
Owl’s Head
Owl’s Head – by Lynn Thomas Amber
Carved by glacial force
Rising above a kettle pond
Keeps a watchful eye.
Owl’s Head Trail to the summit has always been one of our favorite hikes in the Groton State Forest. We always made the trek to the summit with our young family back in the day when we camped at the Stillwater campground each summer. Many times I admired the view of Kettle Pond from Owl’s Head. It’s nice to change the perspective and view Owl’s Head from the pond!
Wood Ferns
Fern Magic – by Lynn Thomas Amber
The graceful wood fern
Shines in the dappled sunlight
Of the forest bed.
November has often been my least favorite month of the year – followed by March or April depending on when mud season hits our region. I’m focusing on finding positive things in the natural world to notice this month as a way to see me through this shoulder season. The abundance of evergreen ferns in the surrounding forest is one of those November blessings. Once the deciduous foliage drops and forms brown layers of leaves upon the forest floor, the evergreen ferns rise in all their glory and are more noticable through the bare branches of the understory. It is their time to shine!
We have also been fortunate this year to enjoy a very mild, sunny start to November and that has definitely helped alleviate my trepidation of the normally gloomy month!
